Time Line

Economy

Politics and People

1600

1687
Louis Joncaire comes to Quebec, inaugurates French influence over Niagara Region.

1700

Early 1700s
The French-Native American “middle ground” fosters lucrative fur trade.

1750

1750s
Seven Years War ends French presence in region begins British dominance.

1763
British take over French role as paternal coordinators of fur trade system.

1776-83
American Revolution ends formal British control over American side of Niagara Native American lands increasingly seized by American nationals.

1780s
“Borderland economy” of American and
Canadian settlers flourishes.

1780s
Fleeing British loyalists settle the
Canadian peninsula and seize Mississauga lands.

1794
Jay’s Treaty calls for free trade between U.S. and Canada.

1793
Canada abolishes slavery. Late 1700s: New York slowly “grandfathers” out slavery.

1800

1793-1865
Underground Railroad brings escaped slaves through Niagara Frontier to safe haven across the river in Canada.

1816
War with England manifests itself in Niagara Frontier in failed invasion of Canada from Buffalo.

1813
Niagara, Buffalo, and other area cities burned during hostilities.

1825
Erie Canal opens.

1829
Welland Canal opens.

1842
Joseph Dart invents steam-powered grain elevator; four million bushels of grain shipped
through Buffalo.

1837
“MacKenzie’s Rebellion” against Britain in Canada nearly sparks war with the US, as the American ship Caroline is sunk by loyalists.

1852
22 million bushels grain shipped through Buffalo.

1854
Reciprocity Treaty between US and Canada provides for limited free trade and navigation
rights.

1850

Early 1850s
Railroads connect region to coal producing areas; iron smelting industry expands significantly.

Mid-1800’s
Height of first wave of immigration from Germany (U.S. only) and Ireland; 60 percent of Buffalo foreignborn.

1869
Railroad freight out of region surpasses canal freight for the first time. Region becomes barge-to-rail transshipment point at east end of Upper Great Lakes.

1866
The Fenians invade Canada from Buffalo and are easily repulsed.

1867
British North America Act establishes Canadian Parliament.

1870s-80s

Iron ore in Lake Superior mined and brought to Buffalo for processing; metalworking becomes major manufacturing base Power stations built on U.S. side of Niagara Falls.

1890s
St. Catharines hydroelectric plant opens.

1870’s-1924:
Second wave of immigration brings Poles, Italians, and Jews from eastern and southern Europe.

1900

1900:
Lackawanna Steel and Iron Company locates south of Buffalo.

1900
Buffalo second only to Chicago in number of railroad terminuses Huge growth in diverse manufacturing sector.

1901

McKinnon Dash & Metal Works opens in St. Catharines.

1902

Power stations built on Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

1905

Packard Electric Company produces Oldsmobiles in St. Catharines.

1909

Twenty-five electric companies located near Niagara Falls.

1922
Bethlehem Steel buys Lackawanna Steel.

1928
GM buys McKinnon Dash & Metal Works.

1930s
Great Depression.

1932
Port Weller Dry Docks completed.

1933
Welland Canal improvement allows ships to pass without stopping.

1938
Bethlehem Steel retools to make steel for cars; GM and others locate plants in Buffalo Trade agreements end era of high tariffs.

1940s
Brief war-propelled boom Hooker Chemical contaminates Love Canal area.

1950s
Due to declining government contracts, growth of trucking industry, and changes in railroad patterns, trade and manufacturing in region begin to decline.

1950s
School and neighborhood settled in contaminated Love Canal area.

1959
St. Lawrence Seaway dramatically upends regional economy, depriving it of any significance as a stopping point along the east-west trade routes.

Late 1970s
Love Canal evacuated.

1994
After 7 years of preparatory work, the North American Free Trade Agreement takes effect.

1917
Third wave of migration to U.S. side, bringing African Americans from the South to industrial centers of the north; particularly intense during and between the two World Wars.

1940s
Canada finally drops border defenses designed to foil American attack