Neyagawa

Neyagawa & the Sixteen
The Neyagawa Park area is where we celebrate connections across times and places. It's where an isolated township reached out through growing transportation links... where a downtown church reached out to its isolated cousin, so it could serve its flock... and where two different cultures reached out to learn from one another. "Twinning" of cities grew in popularity after World War II, as people sought ways of pro-moting mutual understanding. It was especially encouraged by the Japanese government, which recognized it had become too isolated in the pre-war period.

Officials in Neyagawa, Japan, were looking for cities to twin with when a former Oakville resident living in Japan suggested Oakville. At the time, both cities had a mix of industry and agriculture and both were dealing with the challenge of achieving balanced growth in different ways. Both felt they had lessons to share.  In honour of the special relationship Oakville has with Neyagawa and its other twin, Dorval, Quebec, streets running through the heart of town are named after them.

The Treaty Period 1801-1847
Under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, European settlement could not proceed without a formal treaty with the aboriginal proprietors of the land. In 1805 the Mississauga agreed to surrender all the lands from Etobicoke River to Burlington Bay. Since the fishery was important to them, the Mississauga insisted on reserving for themselves the lower portions of the rivers, including Sixteen Mile Creek, together with the flood plains where they had their camps and small cornfields. These reserved parcels were also ceded to the Crown in 1820. The Mississauga moved out of the area in 1847. Their descendants now live at the New Credit Reserve near Hagersville, Ontario.

An Isolated Township
Trafalgar Township settlers lived in isolation during the early years. Travel was difficult, and there was no newspaper or postal service. But transportation and communication links were not long in coming. The first stage-coach service began along Dundas Street in the 1820s. By 1833 stage-coaches were also travelling along Lakeshore Road, and Oakville had regular steamship service to Hamilton and York. Farmers north of Oakville needed a road to deliver their crops to Oakville's mills and harbour. In 1831 the House of Assembly provided funds for construction of the 7th was upgraded to a planked road, complete with toll gates. With postal service beginning in 1822, and a newspaper (The Oakville Observer) starting up in 1836, Oakville and Trafalgar Township's early years of isolation came to an end.

Knox on the Sixteen
Knox Sixteen Presbyterian Church, on the east side of Sixteen Mile Creek just south of Dundas Street, originally served the community of Sixteen Hollow. After that village declined, it continued to serve the surrounding farmers. The congregation was organized in 1844. A wood frame structure was built the following year. The church was called Knox Sixteen because it was part of the same charge as the Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Oakville. After conducting a morning service in Oakville, the minister rode north to conduct an afternoon service at the Sixteen Church. The building was enlarged and bricked over in 1899. As development pushed northwards, the congregation feared for the church. So at its request, the church was designated an historical building in 1978. By 2001, the church was experiencing renewed activity, thanks to the development it once feared.