Burlington Heights (Ontario)
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Burlington Heights refers to a
promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...
or area of flat land sitting elevated (at about ) above the west end of
Hamilton Harbour Hamilton Harbour, formerly known as Burlington Bay, lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington ...
in the city of
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
which continues as a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
to the north toward the city of
Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...
. It separates
Cootes Paradise Cootes Paradise is a property of the Royal Botanical Gardens at the western end of Lake Ontario, and a remnant of the larger 3700 acre Dundas Marsh Crown Game Preserve established by the Province of Ontario in 1927. It is a 600 hectare environment ...
Marsh on the west from the harbor on the east. Geologically the Burlington Heights is a sand and gravel bar formed across the eastern end of the Dundas Valley by
Glacial Lake Iroquois Glacial Lake Iroquois was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed at the end of the last ice age approximately 13,000 years ago. The lake was essentially an enlargement of the present Lake Ontario that formed because the St. Lawrence River down ...
. It is the northern continuation of the longer Iroquois Bar which extends south into Hamilton. Burlington Heights is traversed by
York Boulevard York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6, it starts in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over Hamilton Harbour, ...
. In the south, extensive parkland surrounds
Dundurn Castle Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835. The forty-room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighti ...
on the east side of the road and the large
Hamilton Cemetery Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, is the oldest public burial ground in the city. It is located on Burlington Heights, a high sand and gravel isthmus that separates Hamilton's harbor on the east from Cootes Paradise on the ...
on the west side. North of Dundurn Castle a city park is named for Sir John Harvey. The southern portion of the Burlington Heights was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1929, because of its strategic and military importance to the British during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. Dundurn Castle was later designated as a National Historic Site in its own right in 1984. Royal Botanical Gardens is another National Historic Site adjacent to the Burlington Heights National Historic Site. Royal Botanical Gardens owns and manages the properties on the Burlington Heights peninsula north of the
Desjardins Canal The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins, was built to give Dundas, Ontario, easier access to Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes system of North America. Although a technological achievement and a short term commercial succes ...
.


History

In the late 18th Century
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
people used the Burlington Heights extensively. These people known as Mississaugas traveled along the northern shore of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
throughout the year as various resources became available. The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewāquonāby), an Anishinaabe farmer, missionary, and writer, son of Tuhbenahneequay and Loyalist surveyor
Augustus Jones Augustus Jones ( – November 16, 1836) was an American-born Upper Canadian farmer, land speculator, magistrate, militia captain and surveyor. Jones trained as a surveyor in New York City, and fled as a United Empire Loyalist to Uppe ...
, was born on the Burlington Heights in 1802.Smith, Donald B. 2013. Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and the Mississauga Indians, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario. 408 Pages. These people are now known as the
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation ( oj, Mazina'iga-ziibing Misi-zaagiwininiwag, ''meaning: "Mississauga people at the Credit River"'') is a Mississauga Ojibwa First Nation located near Brantford in south-central Ontario, Canada. In April ...
.


19th century


War of 1812

The "Heights" were the location of a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
post during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. The British army post was established on the commandeered property of Richard Beasley in May 1813. Batteries (on the north and south ends), a magazine,
Sally port A sally port is a secure, controlled entry way to an enclosure, e.g., a fortification or prison. The entrance is usually protected by some means, such as a fixed wall on the outside, parallel to the door, which must be circumvented to enter an ...
and earthworks were built to create a line of defence. Troops with the 8th (The King's) and 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiments of Foot were stationed at the Heights after being forced to retreat from American troops advancing into the Niagara Peninsula in May 1813. From Beasley's Establishment the British forces, under the command of General John Vincent and Sir John Harvey launched a successful attack on a much larger American force early on the morning of 6 June 1813, at Stoney Creek. On 29 July 1813, an American naval squadron arrived near the Burlington Heights in an attempt to dislodge the British forces from the promontory, and to relieve the British-Native blockade of Fort George. Approximately 500 American soldiers disembarked at Burlington Beach under the command of Colonel
Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
, but he found the defenders too well-entrenched in the heights for any assault to be successful. As a result, the American force withdrew from the area, opting instead to
raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...
the settlement of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. Because of the Heights' importance to the British Army during the War of 1812, the southern portion of the promontory was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...
in 1929.


Post-War of 1812

After the War of 1812, former British barracks on the northern part of the peninsula were used as a hospital for immigrants with contagious diseases, most notably during an outbreak of
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
between 1832 and 1833. In 1832 Beasley sold his property on the Heights to Sir Allan Napier MacNab, who built the 72-room
Dundurn Castle Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835. The forty-room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighti ...
on the site of Beasley's house. Before 1852, the Heights separated Cootes Paradise Marsh from Hamilton Harbour. That year the
Desjardins Canal The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins, was built to give Dundas, Ontario, easier access to Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes system of North America. Although a technological achievement and a short term commercial succes ...
, which had opened in 1836 and which allowed shipping to reach Dundas from Hamilton Harbour, was straightened by an excavation through the Burlington Heights. On March 12, 1857, the
Desjardins Canal disaster The Desjardins Canal disaster was a rail transport disaster which occurred near Hamilton, Ontario. The train wreck occurred at 6:15p.m. on when a train on the Great Western Railway crashed through a bridge over the Desjardins Canal, causing the t ...
occurred when the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
bridge over the Desjardins Canal collapsed as a result of a derailment caused by a faulty axle on a locomotive, killing 59 people. This remains Canada's second-worst railway accident in terms of deaths.


20th century

In 1926 the City of Hamilton purchased most of the Burlington Heights north of the Desjardins Canal for a civic beautification program and construction of a new bridge over the canal. The program was carried out as the "Northwestern Entrance to the City of Hamilton" between 1927 and 1932. The resulting gardens were incorporated into Royal Botanical Gardens in 1932. The southern portion of the Burlington Heights was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1929, because of its strategic and military importance to the British during the War of 1812. Other properties on the Heights were also designated as a National Historic Site, including Dundurn Castle in 1984 because of its architectural significance and the remarkable degree to which the overall "picturesque" estate remains intact. The northern portion of the Burlington Heights was designated as part of the Royal Botanical Gardens National Historic Site of Canada in 1993, as it includes significant gardens originating in the 1930s
City Beautiful Movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
and the work of
Thomas Baker McQuesten Thomas Baker McQuesten (June 30, 1882 – January 13, 1948) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1934 to 1943 who represented the riding of Hamilton—Wentworth. He served as a ...
.


In popular culture

The novel ''The Fishers of Paradise'' by Rachael Preston is set in 1930 among members of the boathouse community that once lived along the shores of Cootes Paradise Marsh and the Burlington Heights.


See also

*
Queenston Heights The Queenston Heights is a geographical feature of the Niagara Escarpment immediately above the village of Queenston, Ontario, Canada. Its geography is a promontory formed where the escarpment is divided by the Niagara River. The promontory fo ...


References

{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Hamilton, Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario