It was a man who went by the pseudonym “Junius” who was first to take on the task of telling the stories of this city in his articles titled: “St. Catharines A to Z, A Walk Around Town” which made their debut in the St. Catharines Journal in 1856.  The introduction to his fascinating series read as follows:

“In our various peregrinations in and around Town, we design giving an Alphabetical number of, a hop, skip and jump sketch, a promiscuous and random version, and an off-hand Sam Slick, Punch and Junius-like relation, of Facts and Folks, Men and Things, Incidents and Affairs, Business and Professions, Sense and Nonsense of St. Catharines, as it was, is, and ought to be hereafter; and we will endeavor to pen what pops into our mind, what we can think of, what we can pick up, and what may be worthy of remembrance in this Polyglott Town, and among this fast people.”

When Junius began writing his A-Z column, St. Catharines had a population of a mere 7,000 people.  Now, almost 160 years later, we have a population of over 130,000 people and the city has grown from a small, canal-side town to a bustling city of happenings and goings on!

In the spirit of Junius, let’s take a walk around town together.  As you spend your days living, working and enjoying St. Catharines, think about things you would like to know about this city, the people who built it and the community that grew from a simple trail through the forest.

Send me your questions about the history of anything and everything St. Catharines related and I will do my best to find the answer and together we can continue to discover the A to Z of our city.  Your questions and the answers will be posted on this blog!  Send your questions to:  afloyd@stcatharines.ca