The Story Of Cainsville
by Sarah Clarke & Angel Panag
The Village of Cainsville in the Township of Brantford has a long and multi-community history. Before settlers arrived in the area, archaeological evidence suggests that the vicinity of Cainsville was an Indigenous village. The settlement's location on the north side of the Grand River's oxbow and along the trail that would become Colborne Street would have been optimal for establishing a village.
After the American Revolution, the Cainsville area became part of the Haldimand Tract, land obtained by the Crown from the Mississaugas for the Six Nations in recognition of their allyship during the war and the loss of their homelands in New York State. In the 1780s, several Indigenous villages were established along the Grand River, including a Cayuga settlement known as Cayuga Heights in the Cainsville area. This settlement existed for a shorter period than the nearby Mohawk and Tuscarora villages. An Oneida Mission School was established on the west side of the oxbow, south of Colborne Street, by the New England Company, which also later operated the Mohawk Institute. 
In the late 1780s, Joseph Brant began offering 999-year leases of land within the area to United Empire Loyalists such as Joseph Thomas, who settled on the north side of Colborne Street. Historical records show that Brant enslaved people of African descent and brought them to the Haldimand Tract. Brant later granted land to at least one formerly enslaved man, Prince Van Patter (also recorded as Van Patten). One of Van Patter’s lots was located near present-day Colborne Street East and Johnson Road, beside Thomas’s property. It remains unclear whether Van Patter lived on this land, which later became part of the Margaret Farley Tract.
Brant was not alone in bringing enslaved individuals to the area. Joseph Thomas also brought an enslaved couple to his property following a trip to Tennessee in the 1780s or 1790s. Following their deaths, the couple were buried on the Thomas property; their names remain unknown. Around 1837, the Grand River Navigation Company established the Village of Cainsville, named for early settler Peter Cain, at the terminus of the Brantford Cut of the canal. As the canal was built, more families moved into Cainsville, and the village quickly grew.
Just south of Cainsville, a small Black settlement known as Bunnell’s Landing developed, named for settler Enos Bunnell. By 1851, Black families lived in small cabins and dwellings in the area. Among them was William Atkins, a Black labourer who lived with the Bunnell family. Another notable resident was Samuel Nelson, a Jamaican-born cooper and one of the earliest Caribbean-born residents in the Brantford area, who lived in a multiracial household with widow Catharine Thompson.
Settlement at Cainsville continued to grow, and by 1869, it had a population of approximately 150, with a Methodist and an Anglican Church, a school, two hotels, two stores, and a post office. The Buffalo, Brantford and Goderich Railway (later the Grand Trunk Railway) passed through the village by 1854, further enhancing Cainsville's importance as a shipping hub. By 1883, the population had grown to around 300.
Cainsville’s multicultural story continued into the 20th century with the establishment of Jauhal Farms in 1965 near the heart of the community. The farm provided employment opportunities for newcomers and marked the beginning of South Asian settlement in the area. In 1955 and again in the 1980s, western portions of Cainsville were annexed into the City of Brantford, while eastern lands are a part of Brant County.
Today, Cainsville remains a community shaped by many cultures, just as it has been throughout its history.
We’ll be sharing a more in-depth history of Cainsville in a future piece…