When Ranald McKinnon arrived in Bryant's corners in 1835 as a contractor on the Grand River Navigation Company, there wasn't much here except a tavern and a couple of log houses. The place did not have much going for it other than it was located on a trail running down the Grand River. McKinnon was here to work on a dam and a lock that were to be built here for the Grand River Canal, which would allow shipping to move down the river to the Welland Canal feeder at Dunnville. In addition, he took the opportunity to build a couple of mills, which would use the waterpower created by the dam.

Born on the Island of Mull in Scotland in 1801, McKinnon emigrated with his family to Delaware County New York in 1805 and then to Canada in 1820. Later, Ranald found work on the construction of the Rideau Canal and he used the experience he gained there to built the dam and lock here. This was to be the last lock and dam on the main stretch of the river. Additional locks and a cut were later made at Brantford but the first phase of the plan was to have five dams and five locks, and four of each had been finished by the time McKinnon got here. The company had laid out a village, called Seneca after the township, at lock 4 just downstream and Jacob Turner, who had been the contractor there, had already set about building a sawmill. Squire McKinnon, as he was called later, intended to do the same here, even though he had no experience in operating a mill. His mill was built on the east bank just south of the present railway bridge. The mill was next to the lock. The dam across the river was just north of the present dam (actually a weir). A flume that fed water from the upriver side of the dam to the mill can still be seen. The village laid out around the mill, lock, and dam was called Oneida.

Meanwhile, James Little, a friend of Hamilton Merritt and an employee of the Grand River Navigation Co., had built a home and a store in Seneca. Little was an Ulsterman and was born in Londonderry in 1803. In 1836, he heard that a road was to be built from Hamilton to Port Dover and that it would cross the river over a bridge to be built near Oneida. In anticipation, he bought land on the west bank of the river and built a hotel there. The hotel, called the Haldimand House, is still there, although a little worse for wear. After the Hamilton and Port Dover Plank Road went through, Little expanded his interests, building mills on the south side of the river, property on the north side, and lumber mills everywhere. By the 1860s, the lumber industry in southern Ontario was in decline so he moved his interests to Quebec. Later in life he became a tree conservationist and was responsible for many of the regulations for preventing forest fires.

The Hamilton and Port Dover Plank Road, now Highway 6, was completed in 1844 and by then Caledonia had been established, incorporating the villages of Oneida and Seneca and the small community on the west bank. The name Caledonia was given to the town by Squire Ranald McKinnon in recognition of his country of birth. Caledonia is the poetic name for Scotland.

Places to see in Caledonia:

• Ranald McKinnon House, 232 Caithness Street West

  Ranald McKinnon House

  Squire McKinnon's first house here was made of logs and part was used as a store. Later it was replaced by a frame house with two wings. The wings were removed by a later owner and the wood used to make the house between the McKinnon House and the railway. Even without the wings, the house had fourteen rooms. Directly across the road from the house is the flume for McKinnon's mill, which was located on the south side of the railway bridge. From his house McKinnon could see the dam and lock that he constructed in 1835. Both dam and lock have been replaced; the dam by a new dam or weir a little south of the old dam, the lock by a newer lock built when the new dam was built.

• John McKinnon House, 192 Caithness Street West

  John McKinnon House

  Just south is another house built by Squire McKinnon. He built this house for his son John, who bought it from his father in 1860 for $1700. John later sold it to his brother Archibald for $2000. Both John and Archibald were later reeves of Caledonia. From this house, John or Archibald could look at the McKinnon Mill, which was right across the road.

• George Phillips House, 194-6 Caithness Street West

  George Phillips House.

  Squire McKinnon sold this lot and one month later it was flipped to George Phillips, who built this house in 1853 and used it as a tavern. It must have been a good spot because it was on the main road from Brantford and right across the road from the McKinnon Mill. At some time it was converted into semidetached houses but you can still see where the front door once was. Most likely, the present front doors were once windows.

• The Country Gentleman Tavern, 48 Caithness Street West

  The Country Gentleman Tavern

  Further down the road, at the top of the hill before the bridge is the house that was once the Country Gentleman Tavern. Built about 1862 by James Waters, it was built right next to the road and is now perched at the side of the road, which is now about a metre lower than it used to be. Business must not have been too good because Waters went bankrupt and sold the tavern. Ironically, it was later the home of the Anglican minister until the rectory was built.

• Toll House near the bridge

  Toll House

  The Toll House is much older than the bridge. Built for the toll keeper about 1875, this house was built at the same time as the previous bridge, a steel bridge, was erected. The steel bridge, erected in 1875, lasted until 1925, when it collapsed with a loud bang under the weight of a large truck loaded with stone. The present bridge is concrete and was erected in 1927. Ranald McKinnon built the first bridge, which carried the Hamilton and Port Dover Plank Road across the river. The first bridge, built in 1844, was a wooden swing bridge, which opened when a tall ship went through the canal lock. Tolls were discontinued about 1890.

• Haldimand House, 22 Argyle Street South

  Haldimand House

  Built by James Little in 1836 in speculation that a road was to be built between Hamilton and Port Dover, passing across the river near this point, this frame building was used as an inn. The beams and timbers were cut in Little's saw mill in Seneca and ferried across. The building was a licensed hotel until some time after 1900, when the number of licensed properties in Caledonia was reduced. Since then it has been a residence.

• Caledonia Mill, Forfar Street

  Caledonia Mill

  This is the only mill remaining from the many that used to be in Caledonia. This mill was built by James Little between 1853 and 1857. It originally had four storeys and was known as the Balmoral Mill. It was the last water-powered mill on the Grand River.

• Caledonia Town Hall, Edinburgh Square

  Caledonia Town Hall

  Designed by John Turner of Brantford, the Town Hall opened in 1858. It also housed a jail and meat market in the basement. Since 1988, it has been called the Edinburgh Square Heritage and Cultural Centre, a mouthful anywhere.

• Dr. William McPherson House, 46 Caithness Street East

  Dr. William McPherson House

  Dr. McPherson bought the land in 1847 from Jacob Turner, the builder of the lock and dam at Seneca. The doctor built this house sometime later and used it as his home and office. The house at that time did not have the ornate verandah. Later, in the 1880s, it was the home of another doctor, Dr.Ranald McKinnon, grand-nephew of the founder of Caledonia. Dr. McKinnon later became Medical Superintendent for the Six Nations, but died soon after at the age of 34.

• The Neil McKinnon House, 156 Caithness Street East

  Neil McKinnon House

  Neil McKinnon was the nephew and ward of Squire Ranald McKinnon. He bought this property from Jacob Turner and built this fine house some time after 1846. Neil married Elizabeth Jackson, daughter of John Jackson, the engineer for the Grand River Navigation Company. His son, Dr. Ranald McKinnon, was born in this house.