Before European settlement, Burlington was home to thriving Indigenous communities, including the Mississaugas, Neutrals, Haudenosaunee, and Wyandot peoples. The British later purchased the land from these groups, covered by Treaties 3, 8, 14, and 19. Today, Indigenous people make up approximately 2% of Burlington’s population.
After the American Revolutionary War in 1783, the British government granted land to Joseph Brant. United Empire Loyalists (UEL) moved up from America during and after the war. Following them, other British and European immigrants came seeking new opportunities in farming in southern Ontario. These homesteaders had to clear timber from their lots to receive deeds for their grants of land from the Crown. From 1820 to 1850, pine and oak were the area’s main exports, later replaced by wheat during the Crimean War of 1853 when European sources were disrupted. By 1900, Burlington had become a prosperous farming community known for its mixed farms of fruit and vegetables.