Intention to Designate 2 Hatt Street, Dundas

Description of Property

The 0.056-hectare property at 2 Hatt Street is comprised of a one-storey single-detached stone commercial building, situated at the terminus of Hatt Street, near the northwest corner of Main Street and Governors Road, in the historic core of Dundas, in the former Town of Dundas within the City of Hamilton.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

The property located at 2 Hatt Street is comprised of a one-storey stone commercial building constructed circa 1804. As a rare, unique and early example of pre-Confederation architecture in Upper Canada, the property has physical value as one of the oldest buildings in Dundas, the only extant structure from the New Dundas Mills, and as an early example of the use of dolostone from the Niagara Escarpment in the construction of Dundas buildings.

The property has historical value for its associations with significant Dundas figures, events, and institutions, including the New Dundas Mills, the founding of the Town of Dundas and the Hatt family. The property’s early history is primarily associated with Richard Hatt (1769-1819) a local businessman, judge, politician, militia officer and recognized “founder” of the Town of Dundas. Richard, along with his brother Samuel Hatt (1776-1842) and their business partner Manuel Overfield (1773-1839), had 2 Hatt Street constructed circa 1804 after they had jointly purchased and expanded the New
Dundas Mills. By 1808, Richard had become the sole proprietor of the complex, but he continued to maintain strong business relations with Samuel who operated a store nearby in Ancaster. The New Dundas Mills were critical to the growth of the town, leading to its prominence as a manufacturing and shipping centre in the nineteenth century.

The historical value of the property also lies in its potential to yield information that contributes to an understanding of the history of slavery in Upper Canada, Black communities and their history in Dundas, early Dundas settlement and industry, and the nuanced intersections between them. Sophia Burthen Pooley (circa 1775/78- circa 1860) is an important and early figure in Ontario’s Black History, with her life account being one of very few for which first-hand records of slavery as an enslaved person in Upper Canada (Ontario) in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries that exists. Sophia was born into slavery in New York, and arrived in Upper Canada as a young child where she was sold and enslaved by the notable Mohawk leader Joseph Brant (1743-1807). During her time with Brant she lived in the Dundas area, and after approximately 12 years, likely circa 1798-99, she was sold to Samuel Hatt who would enslave her for 7 more years. While no direct documentation confirms her presence at 2 Hatt Street, Sophia was enslaved by Samuel while he was a co-owner of the New Dundas Mills, and her labour, local knowledge, and skills as a Kanienʼkéha (Mohawk) speaker would have been invaluable to the success of the New Dundas Mills, having a positive impact on the growth of the Hatts’ businesses and wealth, which she would not have benefitted from. 2 Hatt Street’s significance is tied to its perseverance as the last remains of a property and industry whose success was dependent on the contributions of enslaved people like Sophia - the ambiguity of Sophia’s relationship with the building also speaking to the deliberate erasure of Black histories from historic documentation.

The property has contextual value as a defining feature of Hatt Street, Governors Road and the Town of Dundas’ historic character. Its location on its original plot along Hatt Street also speak to its relationship with historic urban development and economic networks across the Head-of-the-Lake region, which wealthy land prospectors and early industrialists like the Hatts depended on to assert and expand their influence. The property’s location near the northwest corner of Main Street and Governors Road and the Town of Dundas, and proximity to Dundas Town Hall, visually connect it to its surroundings and contribute to its status as a local landmark.