Willoughby Township, Ontario Explained

Official Name:Willoughby
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Ontario
Subdivision Type2:Regional municipality
Subdivision Name2:Niagara
Subdivision Type3:City
Subdivision Name3:Niagara Falls
Established Title:Settled
Established Date:1770s
Timezone:EST
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4
Coordinates:43.0108°N -79.0772°W
Postal Code Type:Forward sortation area
Postal Code:L??
Area Code:905 and 289
Blank Name:NTS Map
Blank Info:030L14
Blank1 Name:GNBC Code
Blank1 Info:FDTRA

Willoughby Township is the rural southern portion of Niagara Falls, Ontario, between the village of Chippawa and the boundary with Fort Erie. Included is historic Navy Island in the Niagara River and the site of the Battle of Chippawa, fought between British and American forces on July 5, 1814. In 1970, most of the township merged with the city of Niagara Falls with the creation of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, ending county government in Niagara.

European settlement began in the 1770s and 1780s, with Willoughby mostly uncleared and covered in thick forests and marshes. These first settlers were United Empire Loyalists escaping the American Revolution. More groups of pacifist Pennsylvania Dutch families arrived in the 1790s. The 19th century saw increasing settlement, mainly by German-speaking farmers from Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, and other German regions attracted by cheap land as well as freedom seekers travelling the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the United States. Today settler's names continue to dot the township's roads and cemeteries. The Willoughby Township Hall opened in 1877 and is still used for community events and meetings.

The Willoughby Historical Museum has displayed the township's history since 1968 in a former school house along the riverside Niagara Parkway, three miles south of Chippawa. The Niagara Falls Museums operates this site as an organization dedicated to the area's unique history.[1]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Willoughby Historical Museum . City of Niagara Falls Museums . November 14, 2021.