Beach Boulevard is a Lower city street in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada, east of the

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 ...

on a thin piece of land that crosses over

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 (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

and stretches from where

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...

becomes Eastport Drive in the south to near the Lift Bridge in the north at Eastport Drive (again). It runs parallel with the

QEW The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Peace Bridge in Fort ...

and the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway Bridge.

History

The first Indigenous peoples to settle in the Hamilton area called the bay ''Macassa'', meaning "beautiful waters". It was not until bridges were built, the

marshes In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

drained and a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

cut through the bar that Hamilton started to expand. Before that its chief importance was as a military station, guarding Burlington Heights and the head of the lake. One of the residences had served as one wing of the old Hamilton fort which had been used in the War of 1812. This building was moved around the time of the First World War by 16 teams of horses – a journey which took 6 weeks. The spot is about eight miles from the city and was reached by Steam or electric street cars or by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

. On May 24, 1877, the first "Beach Train" rolled along the strip, the Hamilton and North-Western Railway. Electrical Radial service began in 1905. After that, the

Hamilton and North-Western Railway The Hamilton and North-Western Railway (H&NW) is a former railway in Ontario, Canada. It ran north from Hamilton on the western end of Lake Ontario to Collingwood on Georgian Bay and Barrie on Lake Simcoe. Through the purchase of the Hamilton an ...

stopped carrying passengers along the beach strip. But it carried freight until the line was abandoned in 1982. In 1903 a Mr. H. Knapman formed the Canadian Amusement Company and opened up an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

, operating from 1903 to 1978 on Burlington Beach, which today is known as Hamilton Beach. It featured boats, boathouses, swings & slides, snack bars and a fun house named the Crazy House. Shortly thereafter

carrousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English English is the concept of using the English language as a global means of communication similar to an international auxiliary language, and ...

s and a

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

were added and by the 1950s a small

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

and pony rides were included in the parks' inventory. A wooden dance floor was installed for the Pier Ballroom with Sunday-evening talent contests with popular artists international performers appearing. In 1978 the City of Hamilton did not renew the Canal Amusement Park lease and the park was closed. North of Beach Boulevard on

Lakeshore Road Lakeshore Road (originally Lake Shore Road) is a historic roadway in the Canadian province of Ontario, running through the city of Burlington and the town of Oakville in Halton Region, as well as the city of Mississauga in Peel Region. As it ...

is an historic

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

and the Joseph Brant Museum, a replica of the home of

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

. The Beach Strip is a 4-mile, (quarter mile wide), strip that stretches from Spencer Smith Park in Burlington to Confederation Park in Hamilton. This strip of land was known to the

aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

in the area as ''Daonasedao'', which translates to "where the sand forms a bar". Thousands of years ago, the beach was formed as a baymouth barrier bar from

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

deposited by

waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

breaking in deep

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

offshore. As the process continued, a

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

gradually developed and eventually a continuous strip of sand was formed, creating an

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

separated from Lake Ontario. Since then, the area has been altered considerably by fill used for construction of the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, the

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...

and the Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Hamilton's deep sea port is accessed by ship canal through the beach strip into the

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

and is traversed by two bridges, the QEW's Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway and the lower

Burlington Canal Lift Bridge Burlington Canal Lift Bridge is a vertical lift bridge located to the north side of the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway in Burlington, Ontario. Built in 1962, the bridge is the sixth bridge to span the Burlington Canal since 1830. The brid ...

. (Requires navigation to relevant articles.) While the township of

Saltfleet Saltfleet is a coastal village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately north of Mablethorpe and east of Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth. The village is part of the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Ski ...

and the City of Hamilton helped develop the Beach Strip in the 1800s, the community retained a certain practical independence from both. In 1907, the provincial government recognized its distinctive character by creating a special form of government to address local concerns. For the next 50 years, an appointed Beach Commission established and enforced local by-laws, collected taxes, and supervised the community's own police force. In 1957 the City of Hamilton successfully annexed the Beach Strip, south of the canal, arguing that the city could more efficiently look after the area. In 1964, the City of Burlington took over the administration of the section north of the canal. Beach residents nevertheless retained their strong sense of independence. During the late 1960s and 1970s they organized various groups, such as the Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee, to protect the distinctive interests of their community. Following a

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

in 1973, the City of Hamilton proposed to assist residents by buying their homes, as part of a long-term plan to tear the houses down and transform the residential area into a lakeside park. While some residents sold their homes, many others refused. They forced Hamilton politicians to revise their long-term plans for the area.

Waterfront trail

The Trail in Hamilton splits into two sections: The Hamilton Waterfront Trail (west) and the Hamilton Recreation Beach Trail (east). Both trails are largely off-road, 6 metres wide, paved

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

. The Hamilton Beach Recreation Trail follows the Lake Ontario shoreline for about 8 kilometres, from Burlington under the

to the Hamilton Beach and Confederation Park and into Stoney Creek.

Dieppe Veterans' Memorial Park

The

Dieppe Veterans' Memorial Park Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England. ...

is dedicated by the City of Hamilton to the young men of Hamilton and surrounding communities who died on the stormy beaches of the Port Dieppe, France, on 19 August 1942. A total of 913 Canadian sailors, soldiers and airmen were killed during this raid. The

Royal Hamilton Light Infantry The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, based at John Weir Foote VC Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario. The RHLI is part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group, which is part of 4t ...

(Wentworth Regiment) lost 197 soldiers during this battle. Their names appear here along with other Hamiltonians who died while serving with other Canadian units in Dieppe.

Skyway Bridge

The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, originally called the ''Burlington Bay Skyway'', is a pair of

high-level High-level and low-level, as technical terms, are used to classify, describe and point to specific goals of a systematic operation; and are applied in a wide range of contexts, such as, for instance, in domains as widely varied as computer scienc ...

freeway bridges located in Hamilton and Burlington,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The Skyway, as it locally known, is part of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway linking

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. The town is located at the south eastern corner of the region, on the Niagara River, directly across the Canada–United States border from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of ...

with

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The first bridge was completed in 1958 and officially opened 30 October 1958, crossing the narrow bar separating

Burlington Bay 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 ...

from Lake Ontario. This allows for

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

ship traffic to flow underneath while four lanes of

Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. T ...

road traffic may flow on top of it, neither disturbing the other. The bridge was designed by John Turner Bell. The bridge had tolls when constructed, but these were removed 28 December 1973 after they were found to heavily impede traffic flow. Truck drivers in particular had refused to take the tolled bridge since they were not only charged the full toll, but it also took them extra fuel to ascend the Skyway. Several Beach Strip children were killed by tractor trailers, which led to a large group of local women setting up a barricade with baby strollers to put a stop to the tractor trailer traffic being allowed on the beach strip – forcing them to use the skyway bridge. With the lifting of tolls on the bridge, trucks were banned from using Beach Boulevard.

Landmarks

''Note: Listing of Landmarks from West to East.'' *

Canada Centre for Inland Waters Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the ...

* Waterfront Trail (runs parallel with Beach Road, north side) * Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway Bridge * Burlington Bay Canal (completed in 1832) * Burlington Canal Lift Bridge (Eastport Drive) * Lighthouse ** Original site of the Canal Amusement Park * Sunrise Art Gallery * Dieppe Veteran's Memorial Park * Burlington Beach * Beach Boulevard Park 1 * Ontario Correctional Services College (Bell Cairn Campus) * Bell Cairn (school bell), original site of the Beach Bungalow & Bell Cairn Schools * Kinsman Playground (park) * Beach Motor Inn (motel) * Branthaven Homes, lakefront townhomes (Old site of ''Dynes Tavern'') * Skyway Park * Van Wagner's Beach beside Lakeland Community Centre * Pebbles on the Beach (statue) * Lakeview by Carmen's (Wedding & Event Venue) * Lakeland Go-Karts * Lakeland Pool * Beach's Grill & Patio (summertime) * Hutch's Restaurant * Baranga's on the Beach (Beach Bar Restaurant) * Adventure Village *

Confederation Park Confederation Park ''(French: Parc de la Confédération)'' is a public park and National Historic Site of Canada, located in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the south by Laurier Avenue and Ottawa City Hall; on t ...

** Wild Waterworks (largest outdoor wave pool in world) ** Confederation Park campground (seasonal)

Communities

''Note: Only one neighbourhood on this thin stretch of land that crosses over

.'' * Hamilton Beach

Images

Image:Beach Boulevard Community.JPG, Image:Burlington Bay Lighthouse.JPG, Lighthouse,
Burlington Bay Canal Image:Burlington Canal Lift Bridge A.JPG, Burlington Canal Lift Bridge Image:Pebbles on Beach.JPG, Pebbles on the Beach
(statue)

References

* MapArt

Atlas - Page 637, 638 - Grids A16, A17, B17, B18, C18, C19, D19, D20

External links

Bay Area Restoration Council (www.hamiltonharbour.ca)

Beach Canal Lighthouse Group

Confederation Park/ Wild Waterworks (www.conservationhamilton.ca)

Google Maps: Beach Boulevard (Hybrid)

Hamilton Beach Community Forum

Hamilton Port Days Festival(www.hamiltonport.ca)

Hamilton Waterfront Trust (www.hamiltonwaterfront.com)

Tourism Hamilton
(www.tourismhamilton.com)

Video

{{Hamilton Roads in Hamilton, Ontario