The Alexander Trail

Enjoy a leisurely stroll along the Alexander Trail as it winds throughout the Halton Region Museum's 5 acre site. The trail commemorates the Alexander family who owned, farmed, and lived on this site for approximately 125 years. The Trail offers many stops of interest, including an 1880s blacksmith shop, an 1830s log house, and the bell which stood at the site of the nearby Christie-Henderson lime kilns.

 

A History of the Alexander Family

The Halton Region Museum and Kelso Conservation area are located on the site of the former Alexander family farm. From 1836 - 1961, 4 generations of Alexanders owned and worked their 200 acre farm at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment. Although they produced many children, the running of the farm was always given over to a son with the name of Adam.

The Alexander story starts with the emigration of Adam I, his wife Margaret, and their children including Adam II, from Scotland in 1826. After a long, perilous ocean voyage, they settled at Dundas where Adam I worked as a stone mason building Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. In 1836 they purchased this 200 acre lot and took up wheat farming.

The history of the Alexander family is unusual because of the legacy of Adam Alexander III (1853-1941), grandson of Adam I. He was an ingenious man who harnessed power from a swiftly-running stream in the Niagara Escarpment cliffs above his farm. In 1900, when most farms were still using kerosene lighting and machinery powered by hand or by horse, he piped a water supply from the stream to 2 water motors which he installed in the barn and in the house. With these he was able to operate farm and domestic machinery, including a lathe, a fanning mill, a grain chopper, a meat chopper, a circular saw, and a washing machine. With the addition of a dynamo, the system was also used to generate electricity in the house for light.

In 1961, the latest Alexander inhabitant of the farm, Adam (Duff) Alexander IV sold it to the Sixteen Mile Creek Conservation Authority (now called the Halton Region Conservation Authority) for use as a recreational park and flood control area. The Alexander Barn became the first museum building. Since that time, the Halton Region Museum has expanded to occupy 6 buildings on the former Alexander farm site.

Download a copy of the Alexander Family Story. 1.36MB