St. Catharines is the centre of Niagara’s fruit belt, and hence the name “the Garden City”. It was the home of the oldest winery in Canada: Barnes Wines, founded in 1873. St. Catharines has a fascinating history intermingled with the Welland Canal. A Lock Three Museum is located on Government Road. Not only does it provide an excellent platform from which to view ocean going ships but there is also an Information Centre, displays and an audiovisual presentation pertaining to the Welland Canal. The Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, Canada’s oldest sport is housed in this building as well as an exhibit about The Underground Railway and the history of Niagara’s African Canadians. Picnicking on the grounds next to the canal is permitted.

The area that we now know as St. Catharines was originally granted to Jacob Dittrick and John Hainer, former Butler’s Rangers. The location was ideal, the parcel was located at the intersection of two creeks, Twelve Mile and Captain Dick’s Creek at a point where the Iroquois Trail (Presently hwy #8) crossed. Other early settlers to the St. Catharines area were Richard (Captain Dick) Pierpoint, a former slave and Butler’s ranger and Thomas Adams. Adams built a tavern at the junction of the Iroquois Trail (now St. Paul Street) and another trail that ran alongside the creek (now Ontario Street). Eventually the tavern was sold to Paul Shipman and the community became known as Shipman’s Corners.

St. Catharines is nestled between the shores of Lake Ontario and the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, and these two significant geographic features create a unique microclimate. This results in an early spring, a hot, sunny summer, a warm lingering fall and a mild winter that allows the growing of tender fruit varieties that cannot be successfully grown in other parts of the country. This unique climate combined with a distinctive soil composition makes Niagara one of few places in Canada that premium viniferous grapes can be cultivated.

The surrounding area is particularly beautiful in the spring when the fruit tree blossoms are at their finest. Blossom Sunday is the Sunday before Mother’s Day and the area celebrates Blossom Week in the month of May. Other festivals are The Folk Arts Festival in late May and early June, The Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Regatta in early August and the famous Grape and Wine Festival in mid September culminating with the Grape and Wine Parade which winds its way through the streets of St. Catharines.