143:, which pledged to the Haudenosaunee an allotment of land "six miles deep from each side of the river beginning at Lake Erie and extending in that proportion to the head of the said river, which them and their posterity are to enjoy for ever." The Six Nations opposed the canal development project. This resulted in a land dispute between the promoters of the company and the Six Nations. When the company was finally chartered, it was with the Six Nations as its largest shareholder; these shares had likely been purchased by the government of Upper Canada on behalf of Six Nations without their knowledge, in order to give them a financial stake in the project. Over the years, the government continued to purchase shares on behalf of the Six Nations, until they owned over 75% of the company.
155:, a prominent businessman and financial backer of the Grand River Navigation Company, taking an interest in it. The oldest surviving document referring to the place as "Indiana" was a letter written in 1833. Other early documents which used the new name include an 1834 advertisement placed by Thompson soliciting for canal workers at Indiana and an 1835 petition by townspeople for the government to construct a bridge across the river. A prominent lumber merchant, Thomas Lester, arrived in 1837.
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such as an attempt to revive the Grand River
Navigation Company in reduced form (as the Haldimand Navigation Company) were a failure. The water-powered Ruthven Mill was a major source of income for Thompson, who sought to develop better infrastructure for the control of water power along the river and cooperate with other mill owners to do so. He invested thousands into repairing and upgrading the mill, including a major overhaul in 1870.
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68:. The Indiana site was known as 'Grand Rapids' before the first white settlers arrived in the 1830's, a village of members of the Lower Cayuga nation of the Six Nations, who moved from the NY state area after the 1784 Haldimand Tract Proclamation granted Six Nations about 950,000 acres of land along the Grand River. Indiana flourished in the mid- 1800's as a
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similar to many mill towns of the era, development was instead varied, with numerous small rural-industrial enterprises, as well as a diverse housing stock that included frame, brick, log, and stone houses, with the vast majority built out of wood. Only 50 to 60 of the over one hundred lots were ever
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Thompson, however, continued to focus on water power, developing a secondary mill site at Deans, which was intended to be a sawmill. In 1879, Thompson funded the construction of a new dam on the Grand River, but by
February 1880 he discontinued the project under mounting expenses. In April 1881, the
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By the mid-1880s, Thompson was intermittently pursuing both the sale of the mill and also potential upgrades; meanwhile, production at the
Ruthven Mill had ceased. In 1885, Thompson pursued the sale of the entire property including his mansion, but nothing came of this, possibly because he was ill.
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By the early 1840s, the Grand River
Navigation Company had begun to collapse, and Thompson divested himself from it by selling most of his shares to the Six Nations and distancing himself publicly from the company. Lots in Indiana were sold off by the company piecemeal along with general land sales
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who was an elder in the
Presbyterian church, but also donated widely to other religious organizations, while also personally providing charity to Indiana residents. He pursued a number of business and development interests, but was not as lucky or as shrewd in business as his father, and projects
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While
Indiana did not have the full characteristics of a company town in terms of rigid planning and direct control by a paternalistic owner, it nevertheless was guided by David Thompson as a wealthy patron with a vested interest in overseeing his large workforce. Thompson sponsored a small local
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was constructed in 1871 through Cayuga, bypassing
Indiana, it placed Indiana at a disadvantage. Thompson, whose land had been expropriated for railway construction, was also being lobbied as the local member of parliament by Haldimand businessmen to support railway expansion in the area. He
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The younger David
Thompson was noted for being more generous than his father, as well as more interested in civic and religious affairs. He spent much of his childhood in Indiana and despite being a second son, he was designated as his father's heir, possibly due to his brother James'
101:. The Grand River had long been a focal point for trade and general transportation in the area. The river was shallow at many points, however, which made it relatively easy for westward-travelling settlers to ford with wagons, but difficult for river freight operations. The
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at Deans failed, landing
Thompson a repair bill in the thousands of dollars and causing him to lose interest in further development at Deans. By the early 1880s, the dam failures were continuing, and other dams along the river had begun to shut down.
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Archives of
Ontario: County of Haldimand Map No. 21a – The Southern Part of the Province of Ontario – (Detail) Haldimand Province of Ontario. Department of Lands & Forests. 1950. RG 1-707 Ministry of Natural Resources topographic maps.
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trade. Until the 1860s it was the largest industrial town in Haldimand County, but by 1905 it was largely abandoned. Part of the 1,200-acre (490-hectare) townsite is now included in the Ruthven Park National Historic Site of Canada.
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to connect Indiana with the Canada Southern line. At Deans, Thompson constructed a small railway station and grain storehouse, which he used to export processed grain from Indiana to various parts of Canada and the United States.
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In 1833, construction began on the first lock at a location known as Grand River Rapids, which was the place that would soon become Indiana. This made Indiana the first natural stopping point along the river en route to
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Haldimand County historian Robert Bertram Nelles noted in 1905 that "nly the site of Indiana or Dean's now remains.... Only the older residents of Haldimand remember anything about Indiana."
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mansion in the late 1840s, which is now the centrepiece of the Ruthven Park National Historic Site. The 10,000 square foot mansion is open to public tours year round.
177:. While Thompson invested in Indiana, he also diversified his real estate interests, and following his election to the legislative assembly, spent time away in
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84:, which was founded in part to provide Indiana with a railway connection. The site was referred to as "Deans" as late as 1940–1951.
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113:. Before the railway boom in Upper Canada, Ontario's economy was heavily driven by its lake trade, with port cities such as
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to buttress its finances; Thompson personally purchased almost two dozen lots. Perhaps originally intended as a planned
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With the lack of a railway connection, the Ruthven Mill had difficult prospects for exporting its products. When the
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beginning to industrialize. Canalization, in theory, would connect new and existing settlements along the river to
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was formed in the early 1830s (after a set of meetings by backers which began as early as 1827) around the idea of
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Presbyterian church, despite being personally non-religious and much of the population in the area being
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The Thompsons' Town: Family, Industry, Material Culture in Indiana, Ontario, 1830–1900
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Unfortunately for promoters, the land around the Grand River had been granted to the
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investigations were carried out under the leadership of John Triggs of
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Ruthven Park National Historic Site: A Unique Tourist Attraction.
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It is also connected to a smaller satellite ghost town known as
60:, Ontario, Canada. It was located on the north-east bank of the
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The history of Indiana, Ontario is heavily connected to the
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735:. Port Hope, Ontario: The Hamly Press Book Printers.
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built on, despite a population of 714 in the 1830s.
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732:County of Haldimand in the Days of Auld Lang Syne
321:Ruthven Park National Historic Site of Canada
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713:Ruthven Park National Historic Site: Tours.
702:Ontario Heritage Trust: Ruthven Estate.
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16:Abandoned village in Ontario, Canada
255:David Thompson built an impressive
252:. Three house lots were excavated.
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193:. The younger David was a strict
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775:Communities in Haldimand County
729:Nelles, Robert Bertram (1905).
740:Quirk, Laura Kathleen (2010).
285:List of ghost towns in Ontario
103:Grand River Navigation Company
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109:the river with a set of five
135:in 1784 by the Governor Sir
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752:Wilfrid Laurier University
329:. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
246:Wilfrid Laurier University
208:Canada Southern Railway
37:42.978426°N 79.873182°W
770:Ghost towns in Ontario
141:Haldimand Proclamation
780:Grand River (Ontario)
42:42.978426; -79.873182
137:Frederick Haldimand
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240:In 2004 and 2006,
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479:Nelles 1905
222:guard locks
195:teetotaller
133:Six Nations
99:Grand River
64:, north of
62:Grand River
40: /
764:Categories
690:Quirk 2010
678:Quirk 2010
666:Quirk 2010
654:Quirk 2010
642:Quirk 2010
630:Quirk 2010
618:Quirk 2010
606:Quirk 2010
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386:Quirk 2010
374:Quirk 2010
362:Quirk 2010
309:Quirk 2010
291:References
191:alcoholism
139:under the
107:canalizing
54:ghost town
28:79°52′23″W
25:42°58′42″N
351:I0034483.
296:Citations
149:Brantford
123:Lake Erie
70:mill town
263:See also
179:Kingston
175:Catholic
115:Hamilton
202:Decline
119:Toronto
88:History
50:Indiana
236:Legacy
159:Heyday
66:Cayuga
111:locks
82:Deans
52:is a
117:and
248:in
56:in
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