Welland, Ontario
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Welland (2001 population 48,402) is a city on the Welland Canal in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada.
The city was first settled in 1788 by United Empire Loyalists. In 1814, Canadian forces led by the Marquess of Tweeddale met American invaders near the present-day townsite. After two days of combat, the Americans retreated to Buffalo, New York, ending the War of 1812.
First called Cooks Mills, then Aqueduct after an old wooden aqueduct on the Welland Canal, then later Merritsville, Welland gained its present name when it was incorporated in 1858. It became a city in 1917.
Manufacturing firms and call centres are the largest employers in Welland. The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology is based in Welland.
Welland also has a significant concentration of Franco-Ontarians, and is one of only three communities in Southern Ontario (excluding Eastern Ontario) where francophones, as a percentage of the community's population, exceed the provincial average of five per cent. (The other two are Penetanguishene and Lakeshore.)
Communities
- Cooks Mills
- Dain City
- Welland
| North: Pelham, Thorold | ||
| West: Pelham, Wainfleet |
Welland | East: Niagara Falls |
| South: Wainfleet, Port Colborne |