The Town of Ontario is located in the northwest corner of Wayne County along the shores of Lake Ontario. The first settler was Freeman Hopkins, a Quaker, who arrived from New England in 1806 and built a log cabin on the lakeshore when this area was still a part of the town of Williamson. In 1807 the town separated from Williamson under the name of Freetown and the following year changed its name t
o Ontario. Other early settlers were Peter Thatcher (the first blacksmith), Noah Fuller, Daniel Inman and Zebedee Hodges. Although the land and climate were ideal for agriculture, especially fruit farming, the land was heavily forested. However, industries such as saw mills, potash, charcoal and brick making and blacksmithing at first took precedence over farming. By the1850's however, fruit, dairy and grain farming were flourishing. This led to the canning and freezing industries which came to Ontario in the 20th century. Iron ore was discovered in 1811 by Mr. Knickerbocker while he was digging a well to water his cattle. A few years later, the manufacture of Iron was begun and continued until about 1918 progressing from the crude shovel and wheelbarrow days to the steam shovel era in the 1880's. In the early days, the ore was hauled by horse and wagon to Bear Creek harbor on Lake Ontario and loaded on ships bound for Charlotte. The roads along this route gradually turned red from the iron ore, and neighboring villagers could always identify a person from Ontario because of the red on his boots, wagon wheels, and even his mustache. At its peak, the mines and blast furnaces employed over 200 people at a time including many Irish and Italian immigrants.
