Early history The
Iroquoian speaking
Chonnonton peoples who were also known as the "people of the deer" lived in the region. The Chonnonton would grow vegetables like corn, beans, and squash while living in
longhouses. In 1647 the
Seneca conquered Chonnonton villages from east of the Niagara River. The
Haudenosaunee then destroyed the villages in the 1650s. After these attacks and smallpox epidemics, the Chonnontons disappeared completely, with the last recorded appearance of them in 1671 by French explorers. St. Catharines falls within the original territory of the
Mississaugas. A treaty signed in 1782 between the Mississaugas and the British government ceded a large tract of land, which included the St. Catharines area, to the Crown for the purpose of European settlement. St. Catharines was settled by
Loyalists in the 1780s. The Crown granted land in compensation for services and for losses in the United States. Early histories credit the Loyalists Serjeant Jacob Dittrick and Private John Hainer as among the first settlers to come to the area in 1790. They took their Crown Patents, where Dick's Creek and 12 Mile Creek merge, which is now the city centre of St. Catharines. Historians have speculated that Dick's Creek was named after
Richard Pierpoint, a
Black Loyalist and former American slave, from an oral history account and events that had taken place around that time that would be consistent with him being the source of the name. Secondary to water routes, indigenous trails provided transportation networks, which resulted in the nearby radial road patterns. The surrounding land was surveyed, and ownships were created between 1787 and 1789. After the
Butler's Rangers disbanded in 1784 and settled the area, Duncan Murray, as a former quartermaster in the
84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants), was appointed by the Crown to distribute free government supplies (victuals) for two years to the resettled Loyalists. He did this from his mill, built on the 12 Mile Creek in
Power Glen. After his death in 1786, his holdings were forfeited to the merchant Robert Hamilton of Queenston, who tried to operate for profit the well-established Murray's Distribution Centre and Mill under the management of his cousin. Among other ventures, Hamilton became land wealthy by expropriating lands from subsistence Loyalist settlers who were incapable of settling their debts. Murray's distribution centre, later Hamilton's warehouse, and its location have long been a mystery. Hamilton's major profits were derived from transhipping supplies for the military and civic establishments from his
Queenston enterprise, not from charitably supplying the subsistence Loyalist settlers. Hamilton lacked interest in social development and sold his business to Jesse Thompson before the turn of the 19th century. ;
Harriet Tubman attended this church while she lived in St. Catharines. The Merritt family arrived after this time and was among the later Loyalists to relocate after the American Revolution. They were from the
Carolinas,
New York, and
New Brunswick. In 1796, Thomas Merritt arrived to build on his relationship with his former Commander and
Queen's Ranger,
John Graves Simcoe, who was now the
Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. The first
Welland Canal was constructed from 1824 to 1833.
William Hamilton Merritt worked to promote the ambitious venture by raising funds and enlisting government support. The canal established St. Catharines as the hub of commerce and industry for the
Niagara Peninsula. Merritt played a role in making St. Catharines a centre of
abolitionist activity. In 1855, the
British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel; was established at the corner of Geneva and North Streets on land granted to the congregation by Merritt in the early 1840s. The area became known to refugee slaves from the United States as a place of "refuge and rest;" it was a destination, one of the final stops in Canada on the
Underground Railroad for African-American refugees fleeing slavery. The abolitionist
Harriet Tubman then lived in St. Catharines. By the mid-1850s, the town's population was about 6,000, of whom 800 were of African descent. St. Catharines remains an important place in
Black Canadian history. At an unknown early date, an inn was built by Thomas Adams on the east side of what is now Ontario Street. It became a community meeting place, election centre, stagecoach stop, and mail delivery deposit. That had been preceded by the church and a log school house completed before 1797, all on the east bank of the 12 Mile Creek, at the extreme west end of what was then known as Main Street. It was an extension of the old
Iroquois Trail and was renamed St. Paul Street by the settlers and their descendants by the mid-19th century. Later, several mills, salt works, numerous retail outlets, a ship building yard, distillery, and various other businesses were developed. Incorporated as a village in 1845, St. Catharines had a population of about 3,500 in 1846. The primary industry was flour milling. Other industry included ship repairs, four grist mills, a brewery, three distilleries, a tannery, a foundry, a machine, and a pump factory. There were a variety of tradesmen, three bank agencies, and eight taverns. Stage coaches offered service to other towns and villages. There were already six churches or chapels, a post office that received mail daily, a grammar school, and a weekly newspaper. St. Catharines was incorporated as a city in 1876. The city expanded when it annexed
Grantham Township,
Merritton, and
Port Dalhousie in 1961. Further westward expansion occurred in 1970, when part of
Louth Township was amalgamated into St. Catharines as part of a province-wide move to regional government, extending the city boundary to Fifteen Mile Creek, while the remainder of the township was assigned to
Lincoln.
Origin of name Before it was called St. Catharines, the settlement near Twelve Mile Creek was known by various names, including Shipman's Corners and The Twelve. The name and the spelling were standardized as St. Catharines when the town incorporated in 1845. The Catherine after which the city is named is unclear. Common theories include
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Catherine Butler (wife of
Colonel John Butler), and Catherine Askin Hamilton (wife of
Robert Hamilton). Catharine Rodman Prendergast Merritt, wife of William Hamilton Merritt, may be the source of the -ar spelling. ==Geography==