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Few people who live west of Centennial Parkway as far as Cochrane Road would identify themselves as residents of Stoney Creek, but historically the Township of Saltfleet's western boundary extended from the Beach Strip to the escarpment, roughly along the Cochrane Road hydro cut.Within this diverse area, referred to here as West Saltfleet, was the Red Hill Creek valley, almost a subregion unto itself.
Much of the traffic and development flowed west from Olde Towne Stoney Creek along King Street and many famous names, such as Nash, Gage, and Spera are associated with this region.
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Augustus Jones land survey1791
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Centennial Parkway only became a dominent road in the last half century. Prior to that Lake Avenue and Nash Road carried the bulk of the traffic north and south.Two of the earliest homes on Centennial Parkway were the James Moore house (still standing on Faircourt Drive, directly behind the Scout Cafe and convenience store, which face King Street) and the John Williamson house (once across the street on land now occupied by the Sunocco gas station and Country Style Donuts).
Originally only running south to the escarpment from the King Street intersection, Webster's Side Road was extended north in the late 1900s all the way to the Beach Road (later Van Wagner's Beach Road).
This became the basis for the modern Highway 20/Centennial Parkway.
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Webster's Side Road1918
Centennial Parkway
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James Moore House2003
Stoney Creek, King Street
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Squire Williamson home1900
Centennial Parkway
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Home of Squire John Williamson1930
Centennial Parkway
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Alexander Gray house at end of Highway 201950
Van Wagner's Beach
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The predominent family of West Saltfleet along the King Street axis was the Nash family.Samuel Nash had constructed a white wooden frame house on the corner of Nash Road and King St. around 1800, but it was the contruction by William G. Nash, who built a palatial brick house in the 1870s on a rise west of the Stoney Creek cemetary, that would define the Nash family presence in Saltfleet for the next 100 years.
For nearly two centuries the Nash farm dominated the road access, and seven family homes were built in the stretch between the Stoney Creek waterway and modern-day Nash Road.
If one include family connections to the Gages and John Williamson into the mix, the number of related-family dwellings in that stretch rises to eleven, only five of which survive today.
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House of William Nash1986
West Saltfleet, King Street E (Hamilton)
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William Nash home ad1996
West Saltfleet, King Street E (Hamilton)
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William Nash home.1989
West Saltfleet, King Street E (Hamilton)
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Nathan Nash's house was built just east of his father's house. It survives today, tucked in beside the Stoney Creek cemetary.14
Nash Houses (2842 and 2846 King Street E. )1986
West Saltfleet, King Street E (Hamilton)
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