Burlington

Burlington, on the western tip of Lake Ontario in Halton Region, has an origin story unlike anywhere else covered in this guide — its founder wasn't a British colonial official, but a Mohawk war chief.

Named by Simcoe, settled by Joseph Brant

John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor, named the western end of Lake Ontario "Burlington Bay" in 1792, after Bridlington in Yorkshire, England. But the land itself was granted separately: under an 1797 treaty, the British gave roughly 3,450 acres on Burlington Bay to Mohawk chief Joseph Brant in recognition of his service to the Crown during the American Revolutionary War. Brant and his household settled the land around 1802, and is accordingly considered Burlington's actual founder — the city still holds an annual Joseph Brant Day each August in his honour.

From Wellington Square to a city

Brant's land grant became the start of the village of Wellington Square. In 1873, Wellington Square merged with the neighbouring village of Port Nelson to form the Village of Burlington, upgraded to a town in 1914 and finally incorporated as a city in 1974, once its population passed 100,000.

Halton Region today

Burlington sits in Halton Region alongside Oakville and Milton — the westernmost tier of the GTA, generally more affluent and lower-density than the York and Peel Region suburbs covered elsewhere in this guide.

Sources

• City of Burlington — History and Heritage
• Wikipedia — Joseph Brant
• Wikipedia — Burlington, Ontario

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