Honouring the Land Beneath our Feet and the Treaties that Bind Us

Long before the Governor’s Road wound through the settlement of Waterdown and an inn began operating on the southeast corner of what is now Mill and Dundas Street, there was a path atop the escarpment that was part of the Indigenous Trail running through the heart of the village. The record of registered archaeological sites indicates the area has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples beginning by at least the Early Archaic Period (7,500 B.C.).

Present day Waterdown is located on the Treaty territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, as well as lands used by the Chonnonton Nation (called the “Neutral Nation” by the French and the “Attiuoindaron” by the surrounding Aboriginal Nations) and Haudenosaunee Confederacies.

The name Chonnonton means “the people who tend or manage deer”. With the ongoing development in Waterdown, more than 104 Aboriginal sites have been discovered revealing the lives of the Chonnonton people ultimately destroyed by the Wendat-Haudenosaunee Wars of the mid-17th century.

Peace was established between the Haudenosaunee (also called the Naadwe) and Anishinaabe Peoples with the exchange of the “Dish With One Spoon” wampum in the late 17th century.

Around 1695, the Eagle was recognized as the leading dodem of the Mississauga/Anishinaabe People whose territory commenced at Long Point and moved eastward along the shore of Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario and northward to the River Rouge, Lake Simcoe then circling along the dividing ridges to the head waters of the River Thames back to Long Point. These lands, including the City of Hamilton, remain the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

The moccasins symbolized in the metal work here represent the Indigenous-led Moccasin Identifier initiative dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of Indigenous Treaties and history across Canada.

Learn more here – Moccasin Identifier initiative

The Evolution of a Transportation Corridor

What started as a trail Indigenous people lived by and walked on for millennia became part of the ‘Governor’s Road’ designed by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1793 as a military link between Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake St. Claire and Lake Huron. Settlement happened shortly after as land grants were offered to military personnel. It changed from a foot path to a single land track to accommodate wagons and carts. By the 1830’s, the corridor became a well-travelled stagecoach line with a steady passenger trade in place.

The shifting look of Dundas Street mirrors the evolution of modes of transportation along the route. By the early 1900s, automobiles began to appear on local roads, as did local businesses servicing gas-powered vehicles.

• In 1913, George Potts operated a blacksmith business on Dundas Street, east of Franklin.
• Beginning in 1930, two mechanics, Harry Lillycrop and Bob Harvey, operated L.& H. Garage out of the blacksmith’s shop until George Potts decided to “unretire”. They then moved to Alton’s Garage on the southwest corner of Franklin and Dundas.
• This property later operated as Messecar Brothers, a garage that was open 24 hours a day and was reputedly the only garage on Highway #5 with a towing truck between St. George and Islington.
• In 1955, the Messecar Garage moved to a new building Dundas Street at Berry Hill Drive and operated there until destroyed by fire in 1985.
• The original station would then subsequently run as an Imperial Oil, then Esso gas station under various owners until it was torn down in 1995 and sat vacant until the new Brown Dog, now Copper Kettle building was erected in 2011.
• The 1980s image depicted here shows a 1950s era automobile. That’s because Waterdown has often been home to antique car shows and nearby country roads are popular among car enthusiasts. You often see classic cars travelling through downtown Waterdown on their way to local Cruise nights or on weekend pleasure drives.
• Today, the section of Dundas Street that travels through Waterdown remains a busy transportation corridor for commuters and commercial vehicles. As many as 20,000 eastbound and westbound vehicles drivers pass through the village of Waterdown every day.

Credits

Mural art by Bhairavi Jathar Talpade

Metal art by Soul Metal, Carol Nasvytis

Learn more about the Heritage Art Walk HERE.