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Bishop St:
N43.38766, W80.34844
4
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2
Grand River along Linear Trail
Limestone bluffs
The confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers
Bob McMullen
Trail
1
2
What land use pattern can you detect at
this location? The area now occupied by
the apartments and townhouses was an
industrial site since the early 19th century.
It was first [1805 – 1832] part of John Erb’s
farm property. The first building erected
near this spot was a tannery, operated by
Isaac Salyerds. In 1866 Henry Bernhardt
purchased the lot for $400 and eventually
this became the site of the Bernhardt Rock
Brewery. During the Prohibition Era, 9%
beer was produced for sale in the USA.
Rumour suggests that a remnant of the
original spring still flows through the
bedrock. Dumped fill hides the original
cliff face.
Now for some natural history. What
physical feature do you see across the
river? You see dolomitic limestone cliffs
that were formed about 450 million years
ago. These outcrops are the result of reefs
created when this entire area was part of
the Michigan Basin, a tropical sea. These
Silurian marine rocks contain an
abundance of marine invertebrate fossils.
Some of these ancient colonial organisms
built the reefs which you are now
looking at.
Produced by Cambridge Trails Advisory Committee.
For more information call 519.740.4681 ext. 4275 or
e-mail [email protected] or visit www.cambridge.ca.
3
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5
Early settlers required fording places over
the rivers for their horses and wagons. Ellis
Little (1988) states that Nathaniel Dodge
built a log cabin in the 1790s on the hill
near the present location of Cruickston
Park. Settlers followed a small creek down
to the Grand and then crossed over the
Dodge’s property. Bridge building caused
this ford to be abandoned by 1820. Little
locates the ford “just past the Sewage Plant
on Lowther St. at Linear Park.”
Around 1839 Jacob Hespeler dug a
“hydraulic canal”, a pond and a “tail race.”
Mrs. Erb’s refusal to grant certain water
taking rights ended his plans to build a grist
mill on the Grand. You will walk along the
canal wall today all the way to the
confluence of the rivers. Hespeler’s next
step was to buy land and build on King St.
In 1845 he bought land with water
privileges from Abraham Clemens and
moved again. Guess where?
Welcome to the confluence of the Speed
and Grand Rivers. An 1845 map places
Joseph Bechtels buildings near this
location. Otto Klotz claims that Preston
merchants built a bridge across the Grand
River.
6
Look for the poles supporting wires across
the river. Now, look around and find the
earthen “berm”. In 1858 a bridge for the
Preston-Berlin Railway carried the tracks
across the Speed River. Two years later, ice
damaged the bridge and the company
folded.
7
In 1863, two Americans, Abbey and Risley,
leased land from Joseph Erb and set up a
hop yard. John D. Moore eventually owned
some of the fields. By 1900 the hop fields
included almost all of the land bordered by
the river, Argyle St. and Hamilton St.
Several hundred First Nations People from
Brantford were employed each August to
pick the hops.
8
Heise’s sawmill was located near
Queenston Rd. in this block. It was later
moved closer to the hop fields.
9
As you approach the end of the trail, look
across the river. In 1807 John Erb built
Preston’s first grist mill beside a sawmill
built the previous year. The site of this grist
mill, now called Dover Mills, is the oldest
continuously operating industrial site in the
Region of Waterloo. A hamlet known as
Cambridge Mills grew up around the mill
and was the first urban settlement in the
region.
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada