History and High Tech
in Waterloo
3 km round trip (45 minutes on foot)
Start: Waterloo Park
This short tour passes many historic buildings in uptown Waterloo as well as modern architectural gems, such as the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
The Haldimand Tract was granted to the Mohawk Nation in 1784 for serving on the British side in the American Revolution. The tract included all land for six miles on either side of the length of the Grand River. Block 2 of the Haldimand Tract was purchased by a group of Mennonite settlers from Pennsylvania and eventually became Waterloo Region. Abraham Erb, one of the original group of settlers, is considered the founder of the City of Waterloo. His share of the Block 2 included a swampy area around Laurel Creek, which he dammed to form a mill pond to power a grist mill, essential for grinding the grain grown by newly arriving farmers. The town of Waterloo grew up around his mill.
Park (1) at Waterloo Park (free parking and public washrooms). Waterloo Park was created in 1890 from a 65 acre farm purchased by the city from Jacob Eby, a descendant of the original settlers. Walk downhill to Silver Lake, created by Abraham Erb’s dam. Notice the modern metal sculpture beside the lake, which intermittently sprays a cooling mist in the summer. Turn L and walk around the lake. The modern building on the other side of the lake is the Perimeter Institute. Continue along the trail to the replica of Abraham Erb’s mill (2) at Caroline St N.
Turn R onto Caroline St N and continue to Erb St W. Turn L and cross at the lights, staying on the north side of Erb St W. The large modern church on the corner is Knox Presbyterian (3), built in 2011. Continue along Erb St W past the cenotaph and a modern office building, the Marsland Centre. This building was erected on the site of the City of Waterloo’s first Victorian city hall, built in 1874 and sadly demolished in in 1969. It housed Waterloo City Council until the new purpose-built city hall was built. On the other side of Albert St, the imposing building (4) with large pillars was built in 1880 for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. It served as the Waterloo police detachment for many years. Today it is Den 1880, a modern high tech co-working space. Cross Albert St and turn L and walk up the R hand side of the street. Notice the modern library building on your left. Take the R hand fork at Albert St and Dorset St and walk up Dorset St. The building in the triangle between Albert and Dorset is the former Carnegie library (5), opened in 1905. Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy American industrialist who gave grants to numerous communities in Canada and the US to build libraries on condition that the town donated the land and agreed to maintain the library.
Turn R at the Carnegie Library onto Princess St E. Notice the Original Princess Cinema, an art-house cinema, on your L. At the corner of King St is the Huether Hotel (6). Wilhelm Rebscher founded the first brewery in Waterloo on this site, which operated from 1842 to 1856. The Huether family then took over the brewery and renamed it the Lion Brewery. The current building was constructed in 1870 and was used as both a commercial hotel and, for many years, the Kuntz brewery. The building was purchased by the Adlys family in 1953. They continued to operate the hotel and a brewery, which they again called the Lion Brewery. Today, after many renovations, the family still own the building. Instead of a hotel, the family continue to operate the Lion brewery, as well as a café, 2 restaurants and a Jazz club in the building. The Lion Brewery Restaurant includes a barrel vaulted room at the back, which was re-discovered in 1961. This was used as a secret warehouse during prohibition.
Take a break for a coffee and then turn R onto King St. Notice the Princess Twin Cinemas on the other side of the street, built in a renovated furniture store. In addition to screening popular movies, the cinema hosts the annual Paddling Film Festival every spring. On your R at the corner of Dupont St is a brick building with an imposing clock tower. This was Waterloo’s original post office (7), built in 1913.
Continue south on King St. Notice the Waterloo Hotel (8) on the other side of the street, at the corner of Erb St and King St. The Farmer’s Hotel first opened on this site in 1835. It burned to the ground in 1850, and was rebuilt. The addition on the back along Erb St E was built around 1880 and is still extant. After the front portion of the hotel burned to the ground again, the current building was constructed. Notice the 1890 date stone high up on the facade. The hotel was renamed the Waterloo Hotel in 1935 and operated until recently. It is now occupied by a number of businesses.
Cross Erb St. Notice the name, “Molsons Bank” high up on the facade of the large stone building (9) on the south west corner of Erb and King, which is now a branch of the Bank of Montreal. The building is a monument to the vagaries of local municipal politics. Waterloo’s town square was located on this property from 1816 to 1914. In 1914, city council refused to buy the property from its owner, William Snider, and he sold the land to Molsons Bank, which built the current building. Molsons merged with the Bank of Montreal in 1925, leaving only the name behind.
Continue south on King St S. The Abe Erb Brew Pub (10) on your R sits on the site of Abraham Erb’s original mill. Cross King St S at the pedestrian lights before the train tracks, just before the new Waterloo public square. After you cross the road, continue on the path to the R of the train tracks between the buildings. At Regina St S, notice the train station (11) on the other side of the street, now a men’s clothing store. The station was built in 1910 for the Grand Trunk Railway. On your R is the Button Arts Factory (12), a community arts centre. The building was constructed in 1885 by Richard and Rudolph Roschman as a button factory, making buttons from shells. At one time, it was one of 5 button factories in the region, part of an enormous furniture and clothing making industry.
Turn R and continue south on Regina St S. On your L as you come to William St E is Waterloo’s new city hall (13). On the R is the Region of Waterloo’s Public Health Building (14). Turn R onto William St E. The Waterloo Pumping Station (15) on the other side of William St E was built in 1899 as the first municipal well in Waterloo, and is still in operation. Walk up William St E back towards King St S. The small brick building (16) on your R is now a Credit Union but was once the livery stable for a hotel on the corner of William and King.
Cross King St W at the lights and proceed along William St W. On your left is Brewmeister’s Green Park (17), named in tribute of Waterloo’s historical brewing industry. The large brick house south of the park is the Kuntz-Labatt House, owned by David Kuntz, who first founded Kuntz Brewery on the site of the Huether Hotel, before founding the Spring Brewery on this site, which was eventually sold to Carlings. The small park has a fountain and a Bavarian-style gazebo. This is the automated Oktoberfest Carillon, which plays bells every half hour, followed on the hour by a seasonal tune.
After you pass First United Church (18) on your R, cross Caroline and turn R. Proceed up Caroline St on the multi-use trail, passing the Willis Way Station (19) of the ION, Waterloo Region’s light rail system. Note “Seagram Distillers” painted on the side of the former Seagram’s warehouse on your L. Turn L onto Father David Bauer Dr and walk past another Seagram’s warehouse. These 2 buildings have been converted into condominiums. As you turn the corner on Father David Bauer drive, the building on your left houses the Solé Restaurant (20). Originally built around 1858 as a foundry, it became a maintenance facility for the Seagram distillery, before being converted to a restaurant.
Proceed to the corner of Father David Bauer Dr and Erb St W. Cross Erb St at the lights and turn R. The small train station on the L is the City Waterloo’s visitor information centre (21). The modern building on the other side of Erb St W is CIGI, the University of Waterloo’s Centre for International Governance Innovation (22). Continue to the corner of Erb St W and Caroline St N. The Seagram’s barrel warehouse (23) on the opposite side of Erb St W was built in 1905 as a barrel warehouse to age Seagram’s whiskey. Seagrams prospered during prohibition as it was legal to make alcohol for export—although the means by which it was exported to the United States were often not legal. The warehouse is now used as an office building.
At the corner of Erb St W and Caroline St N turn L onto the Laurel Trail. Pay a visit to the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery (24) (free admission) before proceeding up the multi-use trail. The building on your right is the Perimeter Institute (25) a world-renowned institute for Theoretical Physics. The facade, with its random placement of windows, is reminiscent of computer punch cards used by early computers.
Just before the bridge over Laurel Creek, you pass a small gazebo for the Trans Canada Trail (26), which passes along this very trail. Cross the creek by the right hand bridge, and enjoy the view of Silver Lake and the Perimeter Institute. Then turn R up the hill back to the parking lot. Finally, on your left at the top of the hill, you will see a log cabin. This was Waterloo’s first schoolhouse (27), originally built in 1820 on land donated by Abraham Erb for a school, on the site where MacGregor Senior Public School now stands. When a new school was built in 1842, the log building was moved to Berlin (now Kitchener), close to the site of Kitchener Collegiate Institute, where it became the home of Levi Carroll, a former slave from Maryland, and his family. Many years later, Levi moved into the Berlin House of Industry and Refuge (aka the poorhouse) in his 90s and the house was left empty. It was saved from demolition by a campaign led by Isaac Erb Bowman, a descendant of Abraham Erb, which led to it being moved in 1894 to the newly formed Waterloo Park, where it stands today.
You are now back at the parking lot (1) where you started the walking tour.
Bike Riders Pass the Seagram Lofts, courtesy of Ontario by Bike
Waterloo’s Original 1820 Schoolhouse