St. Jacobs, Ontario
| St. Jacobs | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
Downtown St. Jacobs
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 St. Jacobs
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| Coordinates: 43°32′5″N 80°33′14″W / 43.53472°N 80.55389°WCoordinates: 43°32′5″N 80°33′14″W / 43.53472°N 80.55389°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Regional municipality | Waterloo |
| Township | Woolwich |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Forward sortation area | N0B 2N0 |
| Area code(s) | 519 and 226 |
| NTS Map | 040P10 |
| GNBC Code | FECGS |
The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region. It is a popular location for tourism, due to its quaint village appearance, retail focus and Mennonite heritage. Waterloo Region is still home to the largest population of Old Order Mennonites in Canada, particularly in the areas around St Jacobs and Elmira. They are often seen on the local roads using their traditional horse and buggy transportation; many also use horses to pull the implements in their farm fields.
The Conestogo River, which powered the village's original mills by the 1850s, runs through the village. At the time of the 2016 Census, St. Jacobs had a growing population of 1,988 people.
The two settlements near St. Jacobs were Conestoga and Winterbourne. The latter was settled primarily by English and Scots while St. Jacobs, like Conestoga, was primarily Germanic. This area on the Conestogo River was settled starting in 1830. Early arrivals included the Simon Cress family, Abraham Erb, and John B. Baumann (or Bauman). A significant influx did not happen until the early 1850s. Most of the settlers were Mennonites from Pennsylvania, so-called Pennsylvania Dutch. The word "Dutch" does not refer to the Netherlands but is a misnomer for Deitsch or Deutsch (German). They became known as "Old Order" Mennonites due to their conservative lifestyle. (Other Mennonites in the area have a less conservative lifestyle.) School lessons, even in 1860 was were taught entirely in the local dialect of German.
The first school, in a log house, was built in 1844. By 1851, the village had a flour mill owned by Benjamin D. Snyder, a hotel, a blacksmith, a general store and a cooperage. Farmer and pioneer industrialist Jacob C. Snider, of Swiss German descent, was the most important settler at the time and the community was named after him: Jakobstettel (Jacob's Village). He built a dam to power several mills and then built a sawmill, woolen mill and flour mill by 1852. This helped to attract others to the small community. The St. was added to the name simply to make it sound more pleasing and the pluralization was in honour of the combined efforts of Jacob C. Snider (1791–1865) and his son, Jacob C. Snider, Jr. (1822–1857), founders of the village. The younger Jacob lost his life in the Desjardins Canal train disaster at age 35.
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