Christine Whelan, September 18th, 2025 • Volume 7 • Issue 1

Attendees of the celebration and recognition of the new Snake Hill Parkette, located on Lakeshore Road at the foot of Albert Street, on September 12, 2025, received an on-site history lesson.

“This is an important day because it recognizes our history and heritage. It also provides a welcoming space for the people who live in our community,” Mayor Wayne Redekop spoke to the crowd.

Wayne Hill, Founder and former Executive Director of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, began, “I’d like to take you back four centuries before 1649. Three Mohawk drums are beating on the Niagara River,” and told the story of the Neutrals, otherwise known as the tobacco tribe. “They were coming to trade, not to raid or cause harm.”

Jane Davies, from the Museum and Cultural Services of the Town of Fort Erie, brought the audience back to 1767, when Captain Jonathon Carver was sailing in Lake Erie. He kept a journal of what he saw. “He wrote five pages about snakes.” It was from his journal that the name originated. She read an entry from his journal, referencing the multitude of snakes at the time.

“And there was the hill, which was, at that time, a sand dune that started around Albert Street and spread over several blocks. Somewhere along the line, people started putting the words snake and hill together.” Because the name “Snake Hill” started showing up in historical documents.

“A black community settled on this land in the mid-1800s, and it was known as the Snake Hill Settlers.”

Davies continued, “And then in the late 1800s, there was an amusement park with a picnic area, sometimes called Fort Erie Grove, sometimes called Snake Hill Grove. The railway that brought people to this amusement park from the ferry docks in Fort Erie had two names, the Sandfly Express and the Snake Hill and Pacific Railway.”

Jim Hill, Senior Manager of Heritage with the Niagara Parks Commission, came to the ceremony representing the Old Fort, dressed as a Red Coat. Grayson DeRoche, also representing the Old Fort, was dressed as an American soldier.

Jim explained that during the event that happened in that spot in August 1814, this is how they were dressed.

“The War of 1812 lasted for three years.”

Jim gave a detailed depiction of the “nasty bit of history that happened on that piece of real estate”, when the US army captured Fort Erie on July 3, 1814. He recited details of six weeks of fighting and almost 3,000 men killed or wounded, “making this the worst battle site in all of Canada. “

June Chipp, with the Bertie Historical Society, told the crowd, “In 2015, through a land swap with a neighbouring property, this area became public property. In 2023, due to the important history of the area, the Bertie Historical Society brought a proposal to the Town of Fort Erie to name the piece of land Snake Hill Parkette.”

June painted a picture, telling of a sand dune that was twenty feet high. A gun battery was built on top, ten feet high above the dune.

“On the night of August 14, 1814, the unit comprised of about 1,400 British forces and a Swiss regiment, comprised of Europeans, made their surprise attack against the Snake Hill battery.”

Although the attack came in the wee hours of the morning, the Americans were ready for them, and the British were met with a barrage of gunfire and cannon fire from the battery.

June continued with a detailed recounting of the battle. The men fought all night until dawn.

“The British soldiers who died at Snake Hill were buried in a mass grave, somewhere at the base of the sand dune. The location of these graves is unknown. These brave men who fought for our country must be remembered.”

Dr. Ron Williamson, Senior Archeologist and Founder of ASI Heritage, shared the story of the excavation soldiers in 1987. “Excavating that site has led to amazing insight into the daily lives of the soldiers,” including their diets and incidents of lead poisoning.

“We removed 31 individuals, 28 being American.”

He described the repatriation of the 28 soldiers, on June 30th, 1988, consisting of 28 flag-draped coffins in 28 hearses, the closing of the Peace Bridge for the procession, with a flyby.

Also present at the ceremony were former mayor Doug Martin, Regional Councillor Tom Insinna, Councillor George McDermott and several members of the Bertie Historical Society.

A new page on the Town of Fort Erie website has been created to share some of the history about Snake Hill. To learn more about the layers of history at Snake Hill Parkette, go to forterie.ca/snakehil