Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society

Head-of-the-Lake Historical SocietyHead-of-the-Lake Historical SocietyHead-of-the-Lake Historical Society
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Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society

Head-of-the-Lake Historical SocietyHead-of-the-Lake Historical SocietyHead-of-the-Lake Historical Society
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Membership
    • Contact
  • Events
  • Projects
  • Publications
  • Gallery
  • Resources

Quick Links

Learn more...

  • Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead National Historic Site
  • Ancaster Township Historical Society
  • Archives of Ontario
  • Association of Canadian Archivists
  • Backus-Page House Museum
  • Banting House National Historic Site of Canada’s
  • Bell Homestead
  • Black Creek Pioneer Village
  • Brant Historical Society
  • Brockville Museum
  • Burlington Historical
  • Canada’s History
  • Canada’s Penitentiary Museum
  • Canadian Archaeological Association
  • Canadian Automotive Museum
  • Canadian Military Heritage Museum
  • Canadian War Museum
  • Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
  • Chiefswood National Historic Site
  • Comber & District Historical Society Museum
  • Crawford Lake
  • Dundas Museum and Archives
  • Dundas Valley Historical Society
  • Elgin County Heritage Centre
  • Erland Lee Museum
  • Flamborough Archives & Heritage Society
  • Fort George National Historic Site
  • Fort Henry
  • Grey Roots History Museum
  • Grimsby Historical Society
  • Guelph Museums
  • Halton County Radial Railway
  • Hamilton Civic Museums
  • Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society
  • Hamilton Police Historical Society & Museum
  • Hamilton Public Library- Local History and Archives
  • Historical Perceptions
  • HMCS Haida National Historic Site
  • Internet Archive: Head of the Lake Historical Society
  • Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History
  • Kingston Pumphouse Museum
  • Kingston Penitentiary Tours
  • Lang Pioneer Village Museum
  • Library and Archives Canada
  • Lucan Area Heritage & Donnelly Museum
  • Marine Museum of the Great Lakes
  • McMaster University Archives
  • Military Communications And Electronics Museum
  • Murney Tower Museum
  • Museums of Burlington
  • Museum of Health Care
  • Museums of Mississauga
  • Museum of Naval History
  • Museum of Ontario Archaeology
  • Nelles Manor Museum
  • Niagara on the Lake Museum
  • Niagara Railway Museum Inc.
  • Norfolk County Archives
  • Norfolk County Heritage & Culture
  • Oakville Historical Society
  • Ontario Black History Society
  • Ontario Heritage Trust
  • Ontario Museum Association
  • Oshawa Museum
  • Port Colborne Historical & Marine Museum
  • Port Dover Harbour Musuem
  • Region of Waterloo Museums & Archives
  • Royal Botanical Gardens
  • Russell and District Historical Society
  • Rymal Station Heritage
  • South Dumfries Historical Society
  • St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre
  • Stoney Creek Historical Society
  • The Canadian Canoe Museum
  • The Hamilton Spectator
  • The Hermitage
  • The Ontario Historical Society
  • The Paris Museum & Historical Society
  • T H & B Historical Society
  • Thousand Island Boat Museum
  • Tilbury And District Historical Society
  • University of Toronto Archives & Records Management Services
  • Waterford Heritage & Agricultural Museum
  • Waterloo Historical Society
  • Welland Historical & Marine Museum
  • Western University Archives

Fun Facts!

Did you know that...

  • ...Hamilton has an area of 54.38 square miles or 38,055.04 acres, of which 5,641.98 acres are water?
  • ...the phrase “Golden Horseshoe” was first used by Westinghouse President, Herbert H. Rogge, in a speech to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on 12 January 1954? “Hamilton in 50 years will be the forward cleat in a ‘golden horseshoe’ of industrial development from Oshawa to the Niagara River.
  • ...Hamilton was incorporated as a police village in 1833 and as a city in 1846?
  • ...the city’s motto is “Commerce, Prudence, and Industry”?
  • ...at various stages in its history, Hamilton has been known as the “Birmingham of Canada”, “The Pittsburgh of Canada”, “The Electric City”, “The Ambitious City”, “Steel Town” and “Tiger Town”?
  • ...Hamilton is twinned with nine other cities- Shawinigan, Quebec; Mangalore, India; Fukuyama, Japan; Racalmuto, Italy; Flint, Michigan; Ma’Anshan, China; Abruzzo, Italy; Sarasota, Florida; Monterrey, Mexico?
  • ...Hamilton’s civic flower is the yellow chrysanthemum?
  • ...the Royal Botanical Gardens encompass 2,700 acres of gardens and woodlands?
  • ...the mean depth of Hamilton Harbour is 13 metres; the maximum depth is 25 metres?
  • ...in 1912 the Hamilton Harbour Commissioners were formed by an Act of Parliament to take over administration of the harbour from the City?
  • ...the first canal was dug through the Beach Strip in 1823?
  • ...Burlington Heights was a major defensive strong point for British and Canadian forces during the War of 1812?
  • ...King Street, York Street, John Street and Mohawk Road were once indigenous trails?
  • ...established in April 1903, the Hamilton Automobile Club was the first such club in Canada?
  • ...the first automobile race in Hamilton occurred on 8 August 1904?
  • ...the Skyway Drive-In, Canada’s first drive-in, opened on the 10th of July 1946 at Highway 8 near Gray’s Road in Stoney Creek?
  • ...Hamilton once had two incline railways which moved people up and down the escarpment - The Wentworth Street Incline and the James Street Incline?
  • ...the Burlington Bay Skyway Bridge was opened on 30 October 1958 as a toll bridge? (Toll charges were abolished as of the 28th of December 1973.)
  • ...the first public bowling alley in Hamilton opened in 1890 at the rear of the J.W. MacDonald Tobacco Shop at 66 James Street North?
  • ...Hamilton was host of the first British Empire (Commonwealth) Games in 1930?
  • ...the first Tim Horton’s was opened on May 17th 1964, on Ottawa Street North?
  • ...three Lieutenant-Governors of Ontario have called Hamilton their home- Sir John Morison Gibson, 1908-1914; Sir John Strathearn Hendrie, 1914-1919; Lincoln Alexander, 1985- 1991?
  • ...Canada’s first woman cabinet minister, Ellen Fairclough, is from Hamilton?
  • ...Quinto Martini of Hamilton was the first Italian Canadian elected to Parliament?
  • ...six Canadian stamps have been issued which directly relate to Hamilton - the United Empire Loyalist Statue stamp; the Hamilton and the Scourge stamp; the Royal Botanical Gardens stamp; the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless stamp; the Hamilton Sesquicentennial stamp and Ellen Louks Fairclough stamp?


contactus@headofthelake.ca, P.O. Box 896, Hamilton, ON L8N 3P6


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