The Scarlet O'Hara's
Waterloo Ontario Canada
The city of Waterloo is known as the fresh-water sailing capital of North America and prides itself in being a major port for scenic entertainment cruises of the breathtaking Thousand Islands. The 1000 Islands are one of nature’s great masterpieces.
They are a group of islands, large and small, that occupy the St. Lawrence River shared by both Ontario and New York State. The First Nations people who inhabited the area long before the arrival of the first settlers called it the "Garden of the Great Spirit." Having been surveyed by the British, many of the islands of any size bear the name of a British Admiral, battle or ship.
Waterloo is said to be “a city built on a grand heritage and defined by an exquisite ability to blend the beauty of yesterday with the passion and sophistication of today.” Waterloo is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because of the many historic buildings built from limestone.
The history of Waterloo is rich and varied. The story begins with a treaty between the British government and the Iroquois League of Nations. In 1794, the land containing present day waterloo, 675,000 acres, was awarded to the League of Nations. Shortly afterward, the group sold 93,000 acres of the land to Richard Beasley.
By combining their resources, group of German Mennonites from the state of Pennsylvania found a strong appeal in this land and purchased as much as they could from Beasley. After making the purchase, the Mennonites began dividing the land into sections. Two of these sections were bought by Abraham Erb, the man who is sometimes credited for founding the city. It was on his two sections of land that the town was build and the mill he had there became the focal point for the city.
In 1816 the township for the land took the name Waterloo, commemorated the location of the battle that saw Napoleon’s defeat. It is a fitting name because when that war ended, this region witnessed a huge influx of German immigrants. So many, in fact, that they eventually out-populated the
Mennonites.