A Hub for Travellers
The American Hotel, built c. 1824, is one of the oldest and longest operating hotels in Ontario. The site was selected for its proximity to waterpower from the Grindstone Creek and its location along what would become a well-travelled stagecoach line running from Ancaster to York. The hotel replaced a log school that had been erected in 1815 by Alexander Brown to school his own children. Miss Mary Hopkins was the village’s first teacher.

Throughout its long history, the hotel has been known by a variety of names including the North American Hotel and American House. The two-storey building once boasted an upstairs ballroom, used for grand social events such as dances and parties and as the local voting site for East Flamborough Township and Wentworth County elections, as far back as the 1840s. An archway on the Mill Street entrance permitted carriages to drive through, allowing ladies to alight inside the hotel. For years, the bar area of the hotel was designated ‘men only’. The wall segregating the male and female rooms was removed in 1966. The building continues to be a favourite local gathering place with live music often playing in the main dining room or outside on the patio.

Smokey Hollow Falls Fueled Waterdown’s Industrial Origins
The village of Waterdown sprang up around the Grindstone Creek and the power potential of the Smokey Hollow Falls. It was here that Alexander Brown and Merren Grierson became the first European settlers in 1805, building a sawmill near this spot. What became the Village of Waterdown was founded by industrialist Ebenezer Culver Griffin who, after purchasing land from Alexander Brown in 1821, had the village surveyed in 1830. Griffin saw the potential of the Grindstone Creek to power an industrial complex that soon supported saw, grist and flour mills, a woollen mill, a brass foundry and other factories. It was Ebenezer Griffin that is credited with giving the village its name “Waterdown”. As late as 1890, Smokey Hollow was the site of two large mills, fourteen buildings, three homes and nine outbuildings. However, by 1912 all mill production had ceased due to a series of fires and a decrease in waterpower from the Grindstone Creek.

Dundas Street acted as a social divider in the village. North of Dundas was where you found stately homes built by early mill owners and industrialists. South of Dundas was largely more working class.

While little evidence of the mills remains, the Grindstone Creek continues to meander through the valley. Thanks to a group of determined high school students and forward-thinking village residents, the mill property was purchased and landscaped to become the Smokey Hollow Falls park, opening in 1994. The park is part of the Bruce Trail system and is popular with hikers.

Credits

Mural art by Bhairavi Jathar Talpade

Metal art by Soul Metal, Carol Nasvytis

Learn more about the Heritage Art Walk HERE.