Старейшая яблоня Канады и исторические сокровища региона Ниагара: от 500-летнего дерева до музеев

When we first began living here in the early 1970s, neither of us knew anything about Niagara except the famous Niagara Falls sites. Nada. Our exploration of the territory was quite an experience. We looked at guidebooks, tourist pamphlets and set our sights on touring as much as we could. These led us to discover, of all things, an old tree in Pelham, the Comfort Maple, esteemed as the oldest maple in Canada. Since then, we have learned much more over the years and have spent many a Sunday drive to every part of Niagara. We still have much more to discover. The first thing we noted were the undulating hills, the many forested areas, the deep valleys and streams, the Short Hills for example, the Niagara Parkway, the small, beautiful village of Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL to locals), the grape and fruit fields, of course. The simple beauty of this region is striking. Our family and friends who have stayed with us always comment on the amazingly varied topography of Niagara. We have taken visitors to our favourite spots: Queenston, the Laura Secord House, RiverBrink, the Brock Monument, the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum, and Fort George. NOTL was home to the first parliament in Upper Canada, now Ontario. Much of our heritage takes place along a strip of land where the War of 1812 was fought. And of course, there’s the Comfort Maple. It sports a heritage plaque. Aside from marvelling at the wonderful topography of the region, our guests are always stymied about why we would show them an old tree. In fact most of them are bewildered by the rather old, decidedly unattractive tree, held up by wires. Many tourists flock to Niagara to see much more than the falls. The Comfort Maple is an unexpected heritage aspect of Niagara’s remarkable tourist attractions. When one of my oldest friends Roz, from Toronto, visited us, we first took her to Morningstar Mill. She was impressed. We went to the miller’s house even though it was off season and not open. Luckily a city historian who knew me was there and let us explore some of the rooms and Victorian artifacts. Then we took Roz to see the Comfort Maple. She was bewildered and dismissively funny, as to why an old tree was of such importance. We shrugged and took her to a favoured winery restaurant. The maple is estimated to be more than 500 years old and sits on Metler Road. It’s named after the Comfort family who owned the property for generations and cared for the tree. My interest in local history began with these places and events in Niagara. I joined the Historical Society of St. Catharines early on and knew the late Lorna Robson of Morningstar Mill house well. I often drove her to and from the historical society meetings in town. I am still a member and have been on the board more than four times. The historical society celebrates its centennial next year. It introduces locals to the most intriguing, otherwise unknown parts of Niagara. Often confused with the city’s heritage advisory committee, the historical society has monthly meetings at the St. Catharines museum, which are well attended. Presenters tell well researched, fascinating stories about little known historic peoples, places and events. It produces a quarterly newsletter with additional Niagara stories told. It is well worth a look at stcatharineshistory.ca. Do join us. Gail Benjafield is a member of the Niagara Voices community editorial board and is a longtime activist and volunteer for many community conservation, cultural and heritage-history organizations.