Burlington Heritage Fair puts old maps, 1921 photos and lighthouse history on display

A 136-year-old map of Burlington sat on a table at the library's Central branch over the weekend, showing a city that was almost entirely what is now Ward 2 and the downtown core. The Burlington Historical Society brought it to the 2026 Heritage Fair, part of Heritage Week, along with photos taken in LaSalle Park in 1921.

Heritage Burlington, the Burlington Historical Society, the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group, Conservation Halton and the library all set up booths for the four-hour fair. Heritage Burlington's table had old tools and a painting of the city, found in an online auction, that dates back more than 200 years.

Two talks ran during the afternoon. Former Hamilton Spectator reporter Mark McNeil covered the history of Hamilton and the surrounding area, at points singing and playing a ukulele, and noted that Burlington Bay has also been called Macassa Bay and Lake Geneva at different points. Conservation Halton followed with a presentation on conservation work in the waters around Halton and Hamilton.

The lighthouse under the lift bridge

The Beach Canal Lighthouse Group filled a poster board with the story of the Burlington Canal Light, built in 1858 and still standing at the end of the canal beneath the lift bridge. The group maintains it along with the lightkeeper's cottage nearby, which is a year older. The lighthouse guided ships until a storm damaged it in 1958, a modern beacon on the lift bridge took over three years later, and it officially stopped in 1968.