Hespeler Heritage Centre News

Most residents are unaware of the shooting history of our community, but for many decades Hespeler was renown locally, nationally and internationally for the skill and accuracy of many its early...

It was the usual summer weekday afternoon at the Hespeler Legion, slow and quiet, before the rush of members who drop in after work. Being on holidays, I had dropped by for a golden mug of my...

An application for rezoning has been filed by JENC Investments Ltd. with the City of Cambridge regarding the property at 408 Guelph Avenue. The large building on the property has an interesting…

I am regularly amazed by the bureaucratic maze that must be negotiated to get a project underway and completed. We have made our lives so complicated, that sometimes it is easier to just walk away,…

In the former Town of Hespeler the name Krueger was synonymous with butchers! Two generations of this family operated shops in the core area.

Beginning in 1905, Arthur James Krueger opened his shop on the south side of Queen East, between Cooper Street and Tannery Street East, under the name “Krueger Meats”. Simply by calling telephone number 11, your meat order would be filled and…

When the first settlers ventured into this area in the early 1800s, the area was known as the “Queen’s Bush”.

The earliest were Mennonite farmers from Pennsylvania who came by way of a small number of native trails and a few “slashed” trails into the area along the Grand and Speed Rivers. One “slashed” trail was created in April 1827 by John Galt on his way to found the settlement of Guelph. His…

The Hespeler Post Office was a busy place on Monday mornings; and this day in late February of 1973 was no different. The first mail truck had arrived around 5am and the work floor was humming, a “beehive” of activity. In the letter carrier section, the six carriers were sorting up their routes for delivery.
It had been a hard winter of cold, snow and ice; but this day was promising to be sunny and pleasant…