The
Niagara Peninsula is the portion of
SouthernSouthern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
lying between the south shore of
Lake OntarioLake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The lake is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by the U.S. state of New York...
and the north shore of
Lake ErieLake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the thirteenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. It stretches from the
Niagara RiverThe Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
in the east to
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the
Niagara FrontierThe Niagara Frontier refers to the stretch of land south of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and extending westward to Cleveland, Ohio. The term dates to the War of 1812. This only includes the land east of the Niagara River and south of Lake Erie within the United States...
. Located in
Western New YorkWestern New York refers to the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, and surrounding suburbs. Some historians, scholars and others consider the Western New York border to be at the Monroe–Orleans County line...
, the area forms a part of the broader
Buffalo Niagara RegionThe Buffalo Niagara Region is a part of the Great Lakes region of North America, comprising most of Western New York in the United States and the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada...
.
Government
The greater part of the peninsula is incorporated as the Regional Municipality of Niagara. Cities in the region include
St. CatharinesSt. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
,
Niagara FallsNiagara Falls is a Canadian city of 83,184 residents on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. Across the river is Niagara Falls, New York...
,
ThoroldThorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara.The earliest communities in what is now Thorold emerged at Beaverdams, DeCew Falls and St...
,
Port ColbornePort Colborne is a city on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario, Canada near Niagara Falls...
and
WellandWelland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada....
. Towns include
Niagara-on-the-LakeNiagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA.-History:The original site was a Neutral Nation...
,
LincolnLincoln is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. The town's administrative and commercial centre is in the community of Beamsville.-Geography:...
,
PelhamThe Town of Pelham is located in the centre of Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada.Pelham Township was part of Welland County since the 1780s. Although during the War of 1812 there were no battles in Pelham, after the war, a major fortification was proposed in the north of the township in the Short...
,
GrimsbyGrimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is a part of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The majority of residents reside in the area bounded by Lake Ontario and the Niagara escarpment...
and
Fort ErieFort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly across the river from Buffalo, New York....
, as well as the township of
West LincolnWest Lincoln is a township in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. Main urban areas are located along the former provincial Highway 20. The administrative centre of West Lincoln is the community of Smithville, situated halfway between Hamilton and Pelham....
.
History
The area was originally inhabited by a
First NationsFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
people called the "Neutrals", so named for their practice of trading goods such as flint arrowhead blanks with both of the feuding regional powers, the
WyandotThe Wyandot are indigenous peoples of North America, known in their native language as the Wendat. Modern Wyandots emerged in the 17th century from the remnants of two earlier groups, the Huron Confederacy and the Petun...
and
IroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an indigenous people of North America. In the 16th century or earlier, the Iroquois came together in an association known as the Iroquois League, or the "League of Peace and Power"...
. The Neutrals were wiped out by the Iroquois c. 1650 as the latter sought to expand their fur-trapping territory. From this point until the arrival of
United Empire LoyalistsThe name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific name which has been given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the...
following the American War of Independence, the region was only sporadically inhabited, as the Iroquois did not establish permanent settlements in the area.
The Niagara Peninsula then became one of the first areas settled in
Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario...
by British Loyalists in the late 18th century. The capital of the new colony was established with the founding of
Niagara-on-the-LakeNiagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA.-History:The original site was a Neutral Nation...
, then called Newark. Many
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
and
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
immigrants settled in the peninsula, but by the 1800s,
ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
and
GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
immigrants heavily populated the peninsula and were the chief sources of immigrants followed by
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
, Polish, and other Eastern Europeans.
Following the agricultural period of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an settlement, the Niagara area became an important industrial centre, with water-powered mills joined later by hydro-electric power generation in
Niagara FallsNiagara Falls is a Canadian city of 83,184 residents on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. Across the river is Niagara Falls, New York...
and electricity-intensive industry in both Niagara Falls and
St. CatharinesSt. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
. While agriculture – especially fruit farming along the shore of Lake Ontario – remains important to this day, it was joined in the 19th century by industrial developments. A succession of
canalCanals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canal: aqueduct canals are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterway canals are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans.The word...
s were built to connect the markets and mineral resources of the upper
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as the "Third...
with the St. Lawrence Seaway (See also
Welland CanalThe Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada, that runs 42 km from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie to Port Weller, Ontario on Lake Ontario. As part of the St...
). General Motors built a considerable presence in St. Catharines with auto plants and a foundry, and a number of auto-parts manafucturers followed. Dry docks were also built at
Port WellerPort Weller, Ontario is a community located at a in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the Niagara Region.It is located north of the centre of St...
on Lake Ontario.
21st Century
Heavy industryHeavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
has been diminishing for the past decade or more primarily due to the slow-down of the North American automotive manufacturers. Thousands of jobs have been lost at long time area employers such as
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company, often known as simply GM, is a United States based automaker with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. GM was the world's 18th largest corporate entity and third largest automaker as ranked by 2008 revenues on the Fortune Global 500. Ranked by global unit sales for 2008, it...
,
Deere & CompanyJohn Deere was an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company— the largest agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world...
, Dana Canada Corp, Port Weller Drydocks, Domtar Papers and Gallagher Thorold Paper. Because of this, local municipalities have been forced to look at new and diversified opportunities to prevent an exodus of well trained staff.
Visiting
HospitalityHospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, or the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill...
and
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
has attracted numerous visitors to the area for more than 150 years primarily thanks to
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...
. New development beginning during the mid 1990's has spun off an upscale hospitality boom throughout the whole Niagara Peninsula.
Today, more than 10 million guests visit the peninsula annually to see the beauty of the Falls and the Niagara Parks.
EcotourismEcotourism is travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and small scale. It helps educate the traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly benefits the economic development and political empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect for...
has become more popular with more people finding and exploring out of the way places such as the
Niagara EscarpmentThe Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
, named a world
Biosphere ReserveThe UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme was established in 1977 to promote an interdisciplinary approach to research, training and communications in ecosystem conservation and rational use of natural resources.-Development:...
by
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
in 1990.
Another area of major tourism growth in the past thirty years has been the expansion of the grape and wine industry. The Niagara Peninsula is one of four recognized viticultural areas by the
VQAVintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the high quality and authenticity of origin for Canadian wines made under that system in British Columbia and Ontario...
in the
Ontario wineOntario wine is Canadian wine produced in the province of Ontario. Wines made from 100% Ontario grapes can qualify for classification under Ontario's appellation system, the Vintners Quality Alliance , depending on the varietal, the wine-making techniques employed, and other restrictions.Ontario,...
industry. The many European style wineries and
vineyardA vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture....
s have played a major role in attracting visitors seeking a unique cultural experience. Most of the local wineries offer full tours of their facilities with a few offering onsite dining featuring unique Canadian cuisine paired with their own
VQAVintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, is a regulatory and appellation system which guarantees the high quality and authenticity of origin for Canadian wines made under that system in British Columbia and Ontario...
vintages. It is common for many of these wineries' world class chefs to use fresh ingredients that are grown or acquired from local farms in season. Some wineries also feature live music and theatrical performances in the vineyard during the summer months. Visitors come during the coldest months of the year (usually December to February) to watch some varieties of grapes being harvested and pressed outdoors in the vineyard as part of the process of creating the sweetest, and among the most expensive, wine on earth -
Ice WineIce wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...
. A few Niagara Peninsula wineries have won the most prestigious international awards for their Ice Wine products, many of which are only available from the vintner.
There is an official
http://www.winesofontario.org Wine Routes Guide for those that wish to self-drive while transportation companies offering wine tours operate out of major
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and
bed and breakfastA bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals...
establishments in
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...
,
Niagara-on-the-LakeNiagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA.-History:The original site was a Neutral Nation...
and
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
. (Driving from downtown Toronto to the Niagara wine region is about two hours).
Another major attraction for the well travelled looking for cultural activities is the famous
Shaw FestivalThe Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...
Theater (named for playwright
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
) located in the village of
Niagara-on-the-LakeNiagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA.-History:The original site was a Neutral Nation...
. This is also a great place for history enthusiasts to learn about the history of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as this was the seat of its first government when it was known as
Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario...
. This is also the location of
Fort George, OntarioFort George National Historic Site is a historic military structure at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, that was the scene of several battles during the War of 1812...
, a British built and occupied fort during the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
. It was rebuilt for the public during the 1960s and is open during the summer months. Other key historical locations nearby include:
BrockMajor-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...
's Monument, the
Laura SecordLaura Secord was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812.Laura was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1775...
Monument and the battlefield sites of
Battle of Queenston HeightsThe Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major battle in the War of 1812 and resulted in a British victory. It took place on October 13, 1812, near Queenston in Upper Canada...
,
Battle of Lundy's LaneThe Battle of Lundy's Lane was a battle of the War of 1812, which took place on 25 July, 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one of the bloodiest battles in the War of 1812, and one of the deadliest battles ever fought on Canadian soil....
and
Battle of ChippawaThe Battle of Chippawa was a victory for the United States Army in the War of 1812, during an invasion of Upper Canada along the Niagara River on July 5, 1814.-Background:...
.
Living
The region's moderate year-round climate, in addition to its close proximity to the United States for easy road and air access to the southern U.S., makes it a popular retirement destination. In fact, the Niagara Peninsula has both the highest density and growth rate of seniors for any region within
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
. The highest percentage of seniors to the total population is located within the city of
Port Colborne, OntarioPort Colborne is a city on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario, Canada near Niagara Falls...
.
During the early 1990s a major telecommunications highway between metropolitan Toronto and the U.S. was upgraded to become one of North America's fastest fiber backbones. It passes through the heart of the Niagara Peninsula and enters the U.S. at
Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...
. This gave Niagara the advantage of having direct access to the backbone and attracting many new professional call centers.
Compared with the cities of Toronto, Ontario,
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and most Ontario municipalities with populations similar in size to the whole of the Niagara Peninsula, the average cost of living is very reasonable. The cost of housing, both owned and rented, is lower. The three major cities,
St. Catharines, OntarioSt. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
,
Niagara Falls, OntarioNiagara Falls is a Canadian city of 83,184 residents on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. Across the river is Niagara Falls, New York...
and
Welland, OntarioWelland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada....
are mostly urban with most needed services available locally. The remainder of the peninsula, especially to the far west and south, is either partially urban or almost entirely rural.
Centres of higher education are
Brock UniversityBrock University, generally referred to simply as Brock, is a comprehensive university located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Brock offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs that include co-op and other experiential learning opportunities to an enrolment of over 13,000...
and
Niagara CollegeNiagara College is a College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The college has four campuses: Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, home of the Tourism Industry Development Centre and...
, both offering undergraduate and post-graduate studies in many disciplines.
Transportation
The major roadway bisecting the peninsula is the
Queen Elizabeth WayThe Queen Elizabeth Way is a 400-Series freeway in Ontario, Canada. It links Buffalo, New York, USA and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto and its western suburbs. The freeway starts at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ontario and continues for 139 kilometres through Niagara Falls, St...
(QEW). This freeway connects Toronto and the United States via New York State. It is one of the major thoroughfares for the North American trucking industry and is responsible for supporting the carriage of nearly one third of all goods imported and exported. The second major roadway is
Highway 406Highway 406 is a 400-series highway in Ontario, Canada. It is currently 25 kilometres long; 20 kilometres of the route consists of a full freeway, with the remaining portion being a limited-access two-lane highway....
which begins at the QEW in west St. Catharines and ends approximately 30km south in the city of Welland. Another shorter freeway is
Highway 405Highway 405 is a short 400-series highway in Ontario, Canada that connects the Queen Elizabeth Way to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in the village of Queenston...
, named the General Isaac Brock Parkway in 2006. It begins at the QEW in Niagara-on-the-Lake, just east of St. Catharines, and ends about 15km away at
Queenston, OntarioThe Village of Queenston is located 5 km north of Niagara Falls, Ontario in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The community is bordered by Highway 405 and the Niagara River; its location on the Niagara Escarpment led to the establishment of the now-defunct Queenston Quarry in the area.Queenston...
where it connects to an international bridge that crosses into the United States at
Lewiston, New YorkLewiston is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Morgan Lewis, a governor of New York. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. This is also a major travel zone for the Canada/US trucking industry.
All cities and some towns in the peninsula have taxi services while St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland all have a local transit commission. There is also one major airbus company that services Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo airports exclusively. Most cities and some towns also have very limited inter-city bus services operated mostly by Greyhound and Coach Canada. A specialized inter-city regional bus service, owned and operated by the Regional government, began operation in late 2006 but is restricted to those requiring transport to medical appointments throughout the region and have no other means of transportation. (Other restrictions apply). The region hopes to have a fully integrated region-level transit system by the end of the decade.
Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Grimsby are all connected to the CN railway line. Via Rail offers limited daily commuter and weekend service between these three peninsula municipalities and Toronto and many points between.
Via RailVIA Rail Canada is an independent Crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada....
and
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
also offer daily southbound service from Toronto to New York City with stops at the same stations.
External links