Editing Waterloo, Ontario (section)

=== Development (19th century) ===
The Mennonites divided the land into smaller lots; two lots owned by [[Abraham Erb]]—who is often called the founder of the Village of Waterloo{{Sfn|McLaughlin|Jaeger|2007|pp=16}}—became the central core of Waterloo. Erb had come to the area in 1806 from Pennsylvania.{{Sfn|McLaughlin|Jaeger|2007|pp=15}} He had bought {{Convert|4000|acre}} from the German Company Tract and settled where there was enough water power to operate mills.{{Sfn|McLaughlin|Jaeger|2007|pp=15}} He founded a [[sawmill]] in 1808 and [[Gristmill|grist mill]] in 1816; they saw business flourish.{{Sfn|McLaughlin|Jaeger|2007|pp=16}} Other early settlers of what would become Waterloo included Samuel and Elia Schneider, who arrived in 1816. Until about 1820, settlements such as this were quite small.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="erb">{{cite web
| url = http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabID=898
| title = Erb-Kumpf House, 172 King Street South, Designated: February 19, 1979
| access-date = August 30, 2007
| publisher = City of Waterloo
| archive-date = September 30, 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153950/http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabID=898
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Erb also built what is now known as the [[Erb-Kumpf House]] in c. 1812, making it likely one of the oldest homes in Waterloo.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=February 13, 2009|title=Erb-Kumpf House|url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11185|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305115127/https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=11185|archive-date=March 5, 2016|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=Canada's Historic Places}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Erb-Kumpf House|url=https://www.wrxpropertygroup.com/the-erb-kumpf-house/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201229053510/https://www.wrxpropertygroup.com/the-erb-kumpf-house/|archive-date=December 29, 2020|access-date=December 29, 2020|website=WRX Property Group}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Erb-Kumpf House, 172 King Street South|url=https://www.historicwaterloo.ca/buildings/172kingstreetsouth|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201229054409/https://www.historicwaterloo.ca/buildings/172kingstreetsouth|archive-date=December 29, 2020|access-date=December 29, 2020|website=Historic Waterloo}}</ref>

[[File:First School in Waterloo, Ontario (1820).jpg|thumb|The first schoolhouse in Waterloo, built in 1820]]

The first school in what is now the City of Waterloo was built on land donated by Erb; the log building was constructed in 1820. A larger school house of stone was built in 1842 and was replaced with a brick school building in 1852. Over the decades, the log building was moved, eventually to [[Waterloo Park]], where it still stands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://waterlooheritage.com/2014/06/01/the-legacy-of-the-1820-log-schoolhouse-part-ii/ |title=The Legacy of the 1820 Log Schoolhouse: Part II |date=1 June 2014 |work=Waterloo Heritage News |access-date=19 May 2021 |quote= |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519144811/https://waterlooheritage.com/2014/06/01/the-legacy-of-the-1820-log-schoolhouse-part-ii/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The German spoken in Waterloo County is based upon the 18th century Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.{{sfn|Kraemer|2003|p=36}} In turn, the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect is based upon the dialect of German spoken in southwestern Germany.{{sfn|Kraemer|2003|p=36}}

In 1816, the new Waterloo Township was officially incorporated while being named after [[Waterloo, Belgium]], the site of the [[Battle of Waterloo]] (1815), which had ended the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in Europe.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/en/collections-and-research/waterloo-township.aspx | title=History of Waterloo Township | access-date=August 27, 2019 | archive-date=July 27, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727143149/https://www.waterlooregionmuseum.ca/en/collections-and-research/waterloo-township.aspx | url-status=live }}</ref> After that war, the new township became a popular destination for German immigrants. By the 1840s, German settlers had overtaken the Mennonites as the dominant segment of the population. Many Germans settled in the small hamlet to the southeast of Waterloo. In their honour, the village was named Berlin in 1833 ([[Berlin to Kitchener name change|renamed]] to [[Kitchener, Ontario|Kitchener]] in 1916). The first Catholic family to arrive were the Spetz family from Alsace who came in 1828.{{sfn|Kraemer|2003|p=76}}

By 1831, Waterloo had a small post office in the King and Erb Street area, operated by Daniel Snyder, some 11 years before one would open in neighbouring Berlin.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.therecord.com/living-story/7165738-flash-from-the-past-tracking-waterloo-s-mail/|title=Flash from the Past: Tracking Waterloo's mail|first=Rych|last=Mills|date=March 6, 2017|newspaper=Waterloo Region Record|access-date=June 12, 2017|archive-date=March 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308160603/http://www.therecord.com/living-story/7165738-flash-from-the-past-tracking-waterloo-s-mail/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Bloomfield|1995|p=76}} The ''Smith's Canadian Gazetteer'' of 1846 states that the Township of Waterloo (smaller than Waterloo County) consisted primarily of Pennsylvanian Mennonites and immigrants directly from Germany who had brought money with them. At the time, many did not speak English. There were eight grist and twenty sawmills in the township. In 1841, the population count was 4424. In 1846 the village of Waterloo had a population of 200, "mostly Germans". There was a grist mill and a sawmill and some tradesmen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Wm. H. |date=1846 |title=Smith's Canadian Gazetteer - Statistical and General Information Respecting all parts of The Upper Province, or Canada West|url=https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit |location=Toronto |publisher=H. & W. Rowsell |pages=[https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit/page/205 205]–206}}</ref> By comparison, Berlin (Kitchener) had a population of about 400, also "mostly German", and more tradesmen than the village of Waterloo.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Wm. H. |date=1846 |title=Smith's Canadian Gazetteer - Statistical and General Information Respecting all parts of The Upper Province, or Canada West |url=https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit |location=Toronto |publisher=H. & W. Rowsell |page=[https://archive.org/details/smithscanadianga00smit/page/15 15]}}</ref>

Berlin was chosen as the site of the seat for the County of Waterloo in 1853. By 1869, the population was 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/provinceontario00mcevgoog|title=The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory: Containing Concise ...|last=Henry McEvoy|date=March 5, 1869|publisher=Robertson & Cook|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Waterloo was incorporated as a village in 1857 and became the Town of Waterloo in 1876.<ref name="WaterlooHistory" /> The [[Kitchener Public Utilities Commission]] began providing streetcar service in the region in 1888. In the 19th century, Waterloo was dominated by people of German origin with 76% of Waterloo residents in the 1911 census listing their family origins as being in Germany.{{Sfn|McLaughlin|Jaeger|1990|p=57}}