Dundurn has published Canadian history for forty years on
everything from the history of Canada’s food to its towns and
cities. Brockville: The River City by Russ Disotell is a small
book but gives a comprehensive and concise history of this
important city. For thousands of years indigenous people lived
along the shores of the St. Lawrence River at the site that is
now called Brockville. The fertile lands and abundant hunting
grounds along the main highway, the St. Lawrence River, made it
an ideal place to live. English speakers first came to this area
in 1785, when thousands of American refugees fled from the
American Revolutionary War. The colonists were later called
United Empire Loyalists for their political position supporting
continued relationship with King George III. The site grew
quickly as the refuges poured in and went though several names
but was officially designated “Brockville” in the summer of 1812
in honour of General Isaac Brock, who was tragically killed in
the War of 1812-14 at the battle