Willoughby Township, Ontario
European settlement began in the 1770s and 1780s, with Willoughby mostly uncleared and covered in thick forests and marshes. These first settlers were United Empire Loyalists escaping the American Revolution. More groups of pacifist Pennsylvania Dutch families arrived in the 1790s. The 19th century saw increasing settlement, mainly by German-speaking farmers from Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, and other German regions attracted by cheap land as well as freedom seekers travelling the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the United States. Today settler's names continue to dot the township's roads and cemeteries. The Willoughby Township Hall opened in 1877 and is still used for community events and meetings.
The Willoughby Historical Museum has displayed the township's history since 1968 in a former school house along the riverside Niagara Parkway, three miles south of Chippawa. The Niagara Falls Museums operates this site as an organization dedicated to the area's unique history.
References
- ^ "Willoughby Historical Museum". City of Niagara Falls Museums. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
External links
- Niagara Falls Thunder Alley: Townships History
- www.niagarafallsmuseums.ca
- Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections
- Willoughby at Geographical Names of Canada