Galt is located at south end of Cambridge and is the largest of the three communities both in terms of geographic size and population. Just a short walk from Victoria Park, one of Galt’s most popular neighbourhoods, is Galt’s downtown, which is home to Cambridge’s city hall, many unique and historically significant buildings, Cambridge’s Farmer’s Market and the new Drayton Theatre.
After being granted the land surrounding the Grand River in 1784 the Six Nations Indians, under the leadership of Joseph Brant, had the land surveyed in 1791. Portions were set aside as Reserve lands and large tracts laid out for sale to developers. The Honourable William Dickson set out to develop 90,000 acres of the land that now include North and South Dumfries Townships.
One of the first tasks before parcels of land could be sold to new settlers was to find the location for developing a town site. Mr. Dickson chose the land surrounding where Mill Creek empties into the Grand River. And so, in 1816, Shade’s Mills was created. Though its growth was slow initially it was one of the larger settlements in the area and so in 1825 the area became home to its own post office and with its arrival was renamed Galt in honour of John Galt, Commissioner of the Canada Company. By the late 1830′s, industry had started to arrive in the town and businesses whose products reached all around the world set up shop in Galt.
Downtown Galt hosts the annual Mill Race festival of folk music as well as the Cambridge Fall fair which is held in Dickson Park in early September and is a popular local tradition. A summer stroll through the streets of downtown should definitely end at L.A. Franks for one of their famous hotdogs and a milkshake.