A Brief History of St. Catharines, ON

Loyalists first settled the city in the 1780s. The first settlers, Sergeant Jacob Dittrick and Private John Hainer of Butler's Rangers, came to the area where Dick's Creek met Twelve Mile Creek. Dick's Creek was named after another early settler, Richard Pierpoint, a native of Bundu (now part of Senegal). Pierpoint was commonly known as Captain Dick. This part of the settlement eventually became the centre of town. Native trails were used as travel routes, resulting in present day radial road pattern from the city centre.