New Prussia is an unincorporated rural community in the township of
Wilmot,
Region of Waterloo,
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
Nith River flows a short distance east of the settlement.
New Prussia prospered during the mid-1800s, though little remains today of the former settlement.
History
New Prussia was settled by
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
immigrants from the
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...
of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
.
Early Catholic church services were held by itinerant
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
s.
A school was erected in 1859 and named "SS#18, New Prussia School". An addition was added in 1952. The school closed in 1966, and was converted into a commercial property. The extant school building has been described as "one of the last physical remnants of the settlement" of New Prussia.
In 1863, the Guenther House was built, and has remained one of the longest continually run century farms in the area. The house is listed on the Wilmot Township Heritage Register.
Decline
The population of New Prussia declined during the late 1800s when many German immigrants in Waterloo County moved west to
Bruce County
Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It has eight lower-tier municipalities with a total 2021 population of 73,396. It is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, the sixth Governor General of t ...
to purchase inexpensive Crown land. This westward movement of German immigrants was called "Saugeen fever", after the
Saugeen River
The Saugeen River is located in southern Ontario, Canada. The river begins in the Osprey Wetland Conservation Lands and flows generally north-west about before exiting into Lake Huron. The river is navigable for some distance, and was once an im ...
which flows through Bruce County.
The Wellesley Alliance Church is today located in New Prussia.
See also
*
List of unincorporated communities in Ontario
The following is a list of unincorporated area, unincorporated and informal communities in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, Canada. These communities are not independent communities, these are usually a part of a towns ...
References
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Communities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
Wilmot, Ontario