Webster’s Falls is a curtain waterfall 22 metres in height. Located at the Spencer Gorge / Webster’s Falls Conservation area in Greensville, its source is Spencer Creek. It is one of two falls within the Spencer Gorge, and with a crest of 24 metres, it is the largest in the region. It is also probably the most popular and widely known fall in Hamilton, and has the biggest park associated with a waterfall. According to Joe Hollick, Webster’s Falls has the highest number of vintage postcards bearing its image, suggesting that it was also the most frequently visited waterfall a century ago as well.
History
This waterfall was originally known as Dr. Hamilton’s falls, after Dr. James Hamilton purchased the land in 1818. (He was also the first president of the Canada Life Insurance Company as well as medical officer for the Great Western Railway.) The waterfalls and 78 acres of the surrounding land were purchased by Joseph Webster after his family arrived from England in 1820. According to the Hamilton Conservation Authority (the current owner), the Webster family manor still stands on Webster’s Falls Road, and their gravestones have been preserved in a small section just off the Bruce Trail, on the way to Tews Falls.
In 1856, Webster’s son built a large stone flour mill, the Ashbourne Mills, along the creek above the falls. Until an 1898 fire destroyed them, the mills buildings ranked among the largest of their type in the district. In the wake of the blaze, the owner, George Harper, joined a partnership to organize the Dundas Electric Company. One of the first hydro-electric generators of Ontario was installed at the base of the falls. In 1917, the Public Utilities Commission of Dundas bought Webster’s Falls and the surrounding lands for the town’s waterworks department.
When the will of former Dundas Mayor Colonel W.E.S. Knowles was read, it was learned that he had made a bequest to the town so that the area around Webster’s Falls be made into a public park. A foundation was established to channel revenue into park improvements. In 1933, the grounds were landscaped, a stone bridge constructed across the creek above the falls, and an iron fence installed to make the viewing at the ledge much safer.
Congratulations to Kreamer&BearsKrew & ApolloandMe on the FTF!