Burlington History

Garden of Canada

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Garden of CanadaTues., June 13, 1978 Before these weekly articles finish for the summer, we will try and jog your memory of summers in Burlington that some of you can remember.  This was an agricultural community with the farms beginning north of Caroline St. The large home and beautiful gardens and orchards of O.T. Springer stood on the edge of town ...
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Burlington High School, 1919

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Burlington High School, 1919Tues., June 6, 1978 BACK ROW: Chris Fothergill, Unnamed, George Clifton, Henry Ogg, Earl Merner, George Wood, Emery Horne, Russ Smale, Harvey Hutchins, Gordon Blair, Donald Sutton, Lloyd Tufford, Albert Tuck, McLean Anderson, Harry Stephenson, Russ, Clare Howard, Charles Hovey. SECOND ROW: Newton Ghent, Ross Marris, Hattie...
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Who Lies in the Crypt

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Who Lies in the CryptTues., May 23, 1978 Who built the crypt near the north east corner of Guelph Line and Dundas Street? Caleb Hopkins in the answer. On an 1855 maps, the crypt is called the "Hopkins Burial Crypt." Caleb Hopkins, who came to Upper Canada as a teenager, settled on this corner where he farmed and planned a prosperous village which he n...
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Hopkins and Big Macs

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Hopkins and Big MacsTues., May 16, 1978 Recent disregard of the crypt at Nelson Village (Guelph L. and Dundas St.) has renewed interest in the Hopkins family. Two weeks ago, you may have noticed that Silas Hopkins was the first person to draw a location ticket for Nelson Twp. It was Lot 3, Conc. 1 N.D.S. A widower, at retirement age (65) he must have ...
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Roads and Schools Before 1812

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Roads and Schools Before 1812Tues., May 9, 1978 By 1809, the combined population of Nelson and East Flamborough Townships (which included Brant's Block) had reached the grand total of 295 people; 80 men, 70 women and 145 children. Hardly a crowd but already there were worries over such things as roads and schools. On January  2, 1806, seventy-six sett...
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Lottery Day

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Lottery DayTues., May 2, 1978 June 20, 1806 was a very busy day in Nelson Township. That was the date announced for the drawling of tickets and signatures of the winners for the newly surveyed land. Forty people drew their lots. The mechanics of setting up such an administrative night-mare in days before roads, mail or newspapers makes for lively spec...
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A New Township

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford A New TownshipTues., April 25, 1978 "Over Home" in Britain, the word 'street' had existed for centuries as the term for military roads. When Lt. Governor Simcoe hand a military road surveyed in 1793 from York to the head of the Lake and westward to London, the terminology 'street' was natural. Dundas Street was named to honour Henry Dundas, Home Secre...
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Burlington in 1806

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Burlington in 1806 Tues., April 18, 1978 Before the story moves to the next area of settlement, Dundas Highway, it might be wise to analyze the pattern of settlement of the area to 1806. It is quite obvious that available land influenced our first settlers in East Flamborough, that is those who has enough money to buy the land. Free land grants in th...
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Painting and Auction Sale

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Painting and Auction Sale Tues., April 11, 1978 Very few families in Burlington have the continuity in farming of the Davis' and Ghents. Descendants of each family farmed here from 1806 until the 1950s. The Ghents reached their 150 year anniversary before Newton sold his farm on Maple Avenue. The second white child of Brant's Block became very active...
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Reader Input

Burlington Gazette - History by Helen Langford Reader Input Tues., April 4, 1978 Corrections in the stories of the woman of our Davis and Ghent families have provided interesting side lights of the past weeks. One of Hannah's relatives tells me that Hannah's surname was really Philipse not the Anglicized Phillips. Phillipse eas derived from the name Flypse - believed to be Dutch in origin. The nam...
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