08/10/31: Niagara-on-the-Lake is old

Niagara-on-the-Lake is old town – not only its buildings, but its average inhabitant as well. The prior, one may say, has led to the latter.

Wealthy retirees from the bustling metropolises of Southern Ontario, Western New York and European locales, with romanticized memories of “pretty”, “nostalgic” weekend escapes made decades before, find themselves drawn back to the historical ambience (or in many cases, the artificial historicism) that, by comparison, makes them feel young, and allows them to live in a fantasy where time stands still. In a world seemingly consumed with progress and newness, they seek to live out their last years in an environment they feel places high value on preserving the past – where “old” things are treasured, not trashed.

First founded in 1781, under the name Newark, the town was a British military base but quickly became a haven for loyalists escaping United States in the tumultuous years after the American Revolution. Later renamed Niagara, it was declared the first capital of Upper Canada in 1792. In 1796, however, the capital was moved to York (later renamed Toronto) across Lake Ontario, to keep a safer distance away from the Americans settling on the east bank of the Niagara River.

A feudal hotspot during the War of 1812, Niagara was burnt to the ground by retreating American soldiers in 1813. But like a phoenix, the town quickly rose from its ashes – this time out of range of enemy canons at Fort Niagara. Within a few years after the war, the intersection of King and Queen had given birth to dozens of new buildings, and the town quickly became a centre of commerce.

Being less than ## km away from Niagara Falls, “One of the 10 Wonders of the World”, it was inevitable that tourism would also play a major role in Niagara’s development. Aided by the newly built stairway down the bank at Table Rock, the cross-river ferry service there, and the hotel development above – now known as Clifton Hill – the tourism industry in Niagara Falls gained momentum from the 1820’s onward. Upper class visitors who’d travelled by boat, could then make their way to Niagara-on-the-Lake by way of the first stagecoach in Upper Canada – which ran from the late 1700’s and1896 along the upper bank of the Niagara River as far south as Chippawa, and is now strangely commemorated by the only “greasy spoon” restaurant in town, the Stagecoach, also affectionately referred to by locals as the “Roach Coach.”

Tourism, in Niagara Region, has now grown into to a ## billion-dollar industry, attracting visitors from all over the world. The population of Niagara-on-the-Lake seemingly quadruples in the summer months when sidewalks are flooded with camera-bearing culturists, whose aim is to savour a bit of old town life, but ironically bring much of the city with them and in doing so, water-down the potential pungency of the town.