Welland, ON: A city divided

Welland, Ontario, is a city divided.

It’s not divided in they way you might think, though, with political issues hanging over it, or negative elements asserting their superiority

It’s divided by water – with the two sides accessible in the city centre – and this is the thing that makes Welland unique, attracting both visitors and locals to view and enjoy the Welland Canal, the Welland Recreational Waterway and the PenFinancial Flatwater Community Centre.

McGarr Realty Corp. recently put the spotlight on Wetland, showing the city’s attractiveness to people purchasing homes in Niagara (great prices; awesome community!).

With this entry, we’d like to discuss why Welland is unique – and that means examining its history, just a little bit.

Currently, Welland is one of the largest cities in Niagara’s southern tier, hosting a population of more than 50,000. Its electoral district is Niagara Centre.

In 1867, the British North America Act created the riding of Welland, bringing together smaller townships to form a political region that covered the bulk of Niagara. Those riding boundaries were redrawn in 1892, and again in 1952, 1966, 1976, 1996, 2003 and most recently, in 2013. 

Water played a large part in the city’s development, as it grew up on both sides of the Welland River and Welland Canal, which links Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as a shipping route of the St. Lawrence Seaway System.

The area was first settled in the late 1700s by United Empire Loyalists, families loyal to the King of England. Rich in agricultural history, the area saw a shift to industry with the development of the canal system, which by 1829 permitted shipping of goods via boats into the interior of the region, joining Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.

The present-day 44-kilometre Welland Canal is the fourth version of a waterway link between the two Great Lakes. The present-day canal was competed in 1932, deepened in the 1950s as part of the Seaway project, and further straightened in 1973, when a Welland Canal realignment project was completed, allowing ships to bypass the city. 

This bypass is what created today’s recreational waterway and “island” at Welland’s city centre – formerly the east end of the town. Merritt Island – named for William Hamilton Merritt, the initiator of the Welland Canal project (“Merritt” takes place of pride in local names) – features Merritt Park, a popular location for picnicking, family and community fun, with paved trails that welcome bikers, hikers, strollers and special events.

In addition to the city’s nickname “the Rose City,” Welland has also been called “the place where rails and water meet.” That’s certainly true! But the official nickname was chosen in 1921, when the city’s Rotary Club invited schoolchildren to write an essay to help choose an official flower. The winning entry picked the rose, according to an article in Welland’s newspaper, The Tribune.

Indeed, the rose figures prominently in annual community events: Welland’s Rose Festival is one of Niagara’s longest-running festivals (more than 50 years). It invites participation from within the community, with events like a parade; baby show; rose show; park concerts and more at various venues, including Merritt Island and Chippawa Park, where a public rose garden named for Joseph L. Mocsan can be visited. Plan your visit for June during the festival, when the bushes are in bloom!