The first settlers to this area were freed slaves, who formed what was known as the Pierpoint Settlement, named after their leader,
Richard Pierpoint, a
United Empire Loyalist originally from
Bondou,
Senegal in Africa. Along with a half dozen other men who had also fought with the British during the
American Revolutionary War, Pierpoint was granted land in Garafraxa Township somewhere around what is now Scotland Street in Fergus. Another settlement was founded nearby in 1833 and was first called Little Falls because of the scenic (water) falls, now between the Public Library and the Fergus Market. The primary developers were
Adam Fergusson and
James Webster, who had purchased 28 km² (7,000 acres) of land. Both were later lawyers by profession. The first bridge over the river in the heart of the settlement was built in 1834 by Fergusson. The first house was built in 1833, a hotel was built in 1844 and in 1835, a sawmill, grist-mill, church and school were opened. The post office was established in 1836. Fergusson was also a founder of the first curling club in Ontario; it was opened in 1834, and is still active today. After 1838, Scottish settlers purchased the land in what was previously Pierpoint Settlement. James Webster was the one who opened the Fergus Mills and cleared a great deal of land for farming. Alexander Dingwall Fordyce joined Ferguson and they controlled all of the industry in Fergus until 1855. Until approximately 1850, an unwritten policy of restricted growth was implemented. Because Fergusson, Webster and some other Scottish emigrants owned the land, only Scots could purchase village lots. However, in order to accommodate Irish settlers, Webster founded the town of Arthur (just north of Fergus) in 1840. By 1846 the settlement had 21 businesses. The population was 184 mostly of Scots.The community had a church and a post office and several tradesmen. James Wilson arrived in 1855 and opened an oatmeal mill, then a flour mill, then a saw mill and then a woolen mill and a factory, Monkland Mills, that supplied oatmeal for export. They and other Scots living in the settlement established a booming economy using the waterfalls on the Grand River to power local industry. They built solid stone houses, factories and other buildings which still characterize Fergus. Many of the buildings from the 1800s are still in use today. In addition to Scots, the other settlers in this area were Irish or freed slaves from the U.S. By 1869 the population was 1,500. On November 29, 1890, electricity became available in the village through the efforts of Dr. Abraham Groves. More extensive provision of power, by Ontario Hydro, began in 1914. Fergus was a centre for agricultural equipment manufacturing under
Beatty Brothers Limited, which was founded by George and Matthew Beatty in 1874. Originally from
Albion Township, the brothers acquired an earlier equipment manufacturer in the area, Grindley, and began producing their own lines of farm equipment. The company spearheaded the transition from small-scale local artisan manufacturing of farm equipment of the mid- to late-19th century to standardized product lines, large factory floors, and national distribution of products that characterized the era of
Fordism. By the turn of the century, the company's operations, centred around the Foundry building (most recently in use as the Fergus Marketplace), dominated downtown Fergus. Around this time the company began to transition to
appliance manufacturing and away from its roots in farm equipment, taking advantage of the growing suburban consumer market of the mid-20th century. With heavy competition from American manufacturers like Westinghouse, however, the company was ultimately taken over in successive mergers starting in the 1960s, which culminated in the final closure of the last remaining ex-Beatty plant in Fergus in 2013. The first library, built with a Carnegie grant, opened in 1911 and is in the register of Canada's Historic Places. In 1953, the village was incorporated as the "Town of Fergus" and in 1999 became a part of the Township of Centre Wellington. A historic plaque was erected at the museum, indicating that the "government-supported poorhouse" was "the shelter of last resort for the homeless and destitute, who traded spartan accommodations for domestic or agricultural labour". ==Geography==