Growing Grimsby sits pretty between lake and escarpment - small-town charm, countryside attract families, retirees

It’s not immediately evident on a casual visit to Grimsby that this Niagara Peninsula town sits on the Lake Ontario shore. It’s hard to concentrate on the water when another, far more dramatic natural feature looms so prominently before you.  

That feature is the Niagara Escarpment, its steep, forested cliffs rising as a stunning backdrop to this town of 24,000. But make no mistake, Grimsby enjoys a waterfront setting, too. And the water has always played an important role in the life of the town.  

The Forty Mile Creek, which flows through the centre of town, once provided water power to operate several mills, and Lake Ontario sustained a commercial fishing industry up until the 1960s. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lake also delivered boatloads of tourists from nearby cities to the cottages and public gathering venues that were located at Grimsby Beach.  

Boating and fishing paradise

Today, the mills and the commercial fishery are history, but Lake Ontario sustains three area marinas and an abundance of sport fishing. Grimsby’s lakefront never developed the industrial character of many other communities, instead becoming dominated by private residences, with a handful of public open spaces allowing others to enjoy its natural beauty, too.  

Situated in the Regional Municipality of Niagara on the south shore of Lake Ontario, Grimsby’s population increased by 18 per cent between 2001 and 2006 and it is expected to grow another 3,000 (12 per cent) by 2017. Much of that recent growth has taken place on land that once nurtured tender fruit orchards, along the narrow strip of land that lies between the lake and the escarpment.  

But while recent growth has been rapid, Grimsby retains a small-town atmosphere and is primarily a bedroom community for nearby cities such as Toronto, Hamilton and St. Catharines. The largest local employers include the health care industry, winemakers, greenhouse flower distributors and modular building and farm implement manufacturers.  

Treed streets with large heritage homes add to small-town charm

The small-town flavour is evident along the streets in the old part of Grimsby, where mature hardwood trees shade the many sturdy heritage homes that have been preserved and updated for modern living.  

Grimsby is a prosperous community, with average incomes well above the Niagara and Ontariowide averages. This prosperity and proximity to larger centres has boosted housing prices, too. A senior executive home costs an average $470,000, while the averages for a standard two-storey and a standard townhouse are $255,000 and $210,000 respectively.  

The town is served by daily rail and bus service to larger communities. In fact, you can hop a train in Grimsby and ride directly to downtown New York City. As well, Go Transit is currently studying extending its commuter train service to Grimsby as part of an expansion into the northern reaches of the Niagara Peninsula.  

On the health care front, Grimsby has enjoyed its own little hospital since the 1940s. The current facility is due to be replaced by a new building within a few years. Grimsby is also within 45 minutes of regional health care services in Hamilton.  

Niagara Escarpment a riot of colour in the fall

Culturally, Grimsby boasts a library — its façade dating from the Carnegie era — and art gallery complex and a museum that not only exhibits items from the area’s own past, but hosts travelling exhibits from larger facilities such as Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum.  

The town’s sense of its heritage, culture and community pride come together each September when a beautiful, tree-lined residential boulevard is shut down for a weekend to make way for an outdoor art show. The show has long since burst its seams and expanded to a nearby community centre.  

The escarpment’s forest-cloaked sides turn from a soft celery colour in spring, to deep shades of jade in summer and a riot of reds, yellows and oranges in fall. Then comes winter when the sun sparkling on a fresh-fallen snow can turn the scarp face into a scene that takes your breath away.  

If you love cherries and peaches, you've come to the right place!

In all seasons, the escarpment represents a huge expanse of nature preserve that provides many kilometres of hiking trails — part of the Bruce Trail system — meandering through the forest and along the rushing waters of the Forty Mile Creek as it tumbles down the steep embankment toward Lake Ontario. The partially completed Waterfront Trail also passes through the town as it hugs Lake Ontario.  

Grimsby’s early economy was agricultural. The rich, sandy and clay soils of the bench that sits protected between the escarpment and the lake has long been known for its fruit production, with peaches, pears and cherries planted in the early 1800s.  

The arrival of the railway in 1855 opened up new agricultural markets and Canada’s first canning factory was opened here in 1865. As well, many basket factories, producing containers for the shipping of fruit, sprang up in the town. In the latter days of the 19th century, the region was widely known as “the garden of Canada.”  

Start your Niagara wine tour here

While agriculture has been scaled back, many small, family-run farms remain to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for the local market. A favourite local pastime is to take a Sunday drive to savour the produce from the many roadside fruit and vegetable stands.  

In town, a farmers’ market, held weekly from early May until the end of October, is a place to display and sell the locally produced bounty of fruits and vegetables and offers residents and visitors the opportunity to discover how good “homegrown” tastes. One popular feature of the market is the regular cooking demonstrations by local chefs, featuring grown-locally food.  

One branch of agriculture that has expanded is grape-growing and wine-making as the demand for Niagara wines grows. There are several wineries in and around Grimsby and the town boasts the only combination distillery and winery in the country. Some have built gourmet restaurants on their premises, places where you can savour the coming together of good food and good wine.   Several bed and breakfast establishments — some in town and others in a country setting — offer winery tour packages and can act as a home base when you drop in to explore the area.  

Peek into the past with a walking tour

The town takes its heritage seriously. A heritage advisory committee works to expand the number of designated and protected properties as well as educating residents about their architectural history.  

Foremost among Grimsby’s many heritage buildings is Nelles Manor, one of the oldest homes in Ontario, dating back to the 1790s. The beautiful Georgian-style home is today privately owned and sits just west of the town museum in an area that features several other historic homes. As well, several Victorian cottages, decked out in their signature gingerbread trim, have been preserved in the Beach area and are also privately owned.

On the resale real estate front, recently listed waterfront property in Grimsby included an older three-bedroom townhouse condo with views of the lake for $289,900 and a four-bedroom cottage-style home with 40 feet of frontage on Lake Ontario was priced at $349,900. At the top end of the budget, $1,899,000 gets you a newer four-bedroom home on the lake, complete with beach and stunning views across to Toronto.