Stamford Presbyterian Church-3121 St Paul Ave-Niagara Falls-Ontario-20221117

Stamford Township is a former incorporated and now geographic

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

, later

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, on the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

. In 1962 the township was

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

with the city of

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

History

It was originally designated Township #2 in the Home District of the Quebec Colony in Canada. Following the creation of Upper Canada in 1791, Township #2 was renamed Stamford and placed within the newly created County of Lincoln. When Lincoln county was divided into Lincoln (north) and Welland (south) counties in 1851, Township #2 was placed in Welland County. The first survey took place around 1776, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Twelve European-American families came to settle in the area, including the Cooks and Durhams from New Jersey. It was developed and settled initially by

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

, primarily from New York State and other areas of the British colonies with the first two settlers being the Thomas McMicking and Philip Bender families. The

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

granted land to Loyalists in Upper Canada to compensate them for their losses in the Revolution and to settle this area. As the second township in the region surveyed, it was named Township #2, and sometimes referred to as Mount Dorchester for Sir Guy Carleton Lord Dorchester. Another survey was conducted in 1787, following the United States achieving independence. The area was named Stamford in 1787 by

John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...

, the first

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

, as the largest area in the township was already known as Stamford Village. It was given royal status in 1791. New settlers were initially mostly ethnic British, although some from New York also had more distant Dutch, Mohawk and French ancestry. The first municipal government was established in 1793. Its first two Wardens were John Wilson and Thomas McMicking. Stamford Village was the largest community in the township, dating back to 1783. Although as a village it had no formal municipal government or status, it was referred to as Stamford, apparently after Stamford Village in Delaware County in New York where some pioneers originally settled. The building of the Stamford Meeting House took place in 1787 next to the local cemetery which villagers called God's Half Acre. This Meeting House became the Stamford Presbyterian Church, the first Presbyterian Church in Upper Canada (circa 1844).

References

{{coord , 43.1653, N, 79.0645, W, display=title Geographic townships in Ontario Neighbourhoods in Niagara Falls, Ontario

History

See also

References