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On what was
originally land owned by the Iroquois, the first settlers in the
area were Mennonites from Pennsylvania. Abraham Erb, known as the
founder of Waterloo, owned the land that eventually became the center
of town, and ran a sawmill and a grist mill that were among the
first industries in the area.
1816 was the
year that Waterloo Township was named, after the battle at Waterloo
where Napoleon was defeated. Waterloo was incorporated as a village
in 1857, as a town in 1876, and finally as the City of Waterloo
in 1948.
Early
Industry
Besides Abraham
Erb's two mills, there were three breweries established in Waterloo
in the late 1800's, due to the influx of German settlers in the
area. Names like Kuntz Breweries, Labatt's, and Seagram's have all
been major players in the liquor and beer industry. Labatt's and
Seagram's were located in Waterloo until fairly recently.
Waterloo is
also well-known for insurance companies, and several of them were
established in the 1800's. Clarica (formerly the Mutual Group, the
Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada, and Ontario Mutual Life
Assurance Company) was established in 1868 at the corner of Erb
and Albert Streets. The Equitable Life Insurance Company was established
in 1920, and Manulife Financial purchased the existing Dominion
Life Assurance Company of Waterloo and moved its corporate headquarters
in 1985. The Economical Insurance Group, originally from Kitchener,
moved to Waterloo in 1989.
Downtown
Landmarks
The Old
Waterloo Post Office was completed in 1912 and was the first
major Federal building in Waterloo. It once contained citizenship,
customs and excise, and immigration offices as well as the postal
services. The building was sold in 1964 to the University of Waterloo
Optometry Department and has been held by many tenants since then.
It is now home to the Times Square restaurant.
The CN
Railway Station, currently housing Paul Puncher's men's
clothing store, was built in 1910 and served the Grand Trunk Railway.
Canadian National bought Grand Trunk in 1917, and passenger service
for Waterloo continued through to 1934. The station was closed by
CN in 1949, and sat empty for many years until purchased and restored
in 1997.
The Hotel
Waterloo (known then as Zimmerman House) was built in 1880
on Erb Street and the front section on King Street was completed
in 1890. It was built on the site of Waterloo's first hotel, Bowman
House (1840). Due to prohibition in 1920, the hotel closed and reopened
as a gaming establishment until 1935. The name Hotel Waterloo was
adopted in 1935, but was changed to Waterloo House in 1978. A vacant
building from 1989 to 1997, it once again has the Hotel Waterloo
name and has stores, restaurants, and a full service hotel.
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