About Us
Our Mission
The mission of WhatsOnThorold.com is to facilitate communication and involvement in the City of Thorold and it's residents and merchants. We establish credibility and strong relationships with all our users through creative means and competitive prices while maintaining equal opportunity for visibility for all members .
George Cottage
George Cottage, a respected, well-known entrepreneur and successful former owner of www.gottarent.com, created his company, www.whatsonthorold.com, based on his desire to unite Thorold residents and modernize the way news is delivered locally. A 51-year Thorold resident, George has carefully hand-picked his team and is extremely excited to re-launch the new online Thorold News.
georgecottage@cogeco.ca | 905-941-5370
Stephen Dyell
Stephen Dyell has a degree in Journalism from Niagara College. He covers the Thorold Blackhawks and events in the community. He hopes to interact with the people of Thorold while helping promote events and occasions in the city. Contact Stephen if you have any interesting stories or questions concerning What's On Thorold.
stephen@whatsonthorold.com | 905-246-5132
Allison Smith
Allison Smith is a freelance writer/reporter who has written for a number of local newspapers. She graduated from Niagara College’s Journalism – Print program in 2005. She looks forward to covering all things Thorold, including the people and events that make this city great. Contact Allison if you have any interesting stories or questions about what’s going on in Thorold.
allison@whatsonthorold.com | 905-708-9981
Jeff Bridgman
Jeff Bridgman is a local who has spent most of his life in the Niagara area. He attended Brock University and played lacrosse in St Catharines for many years. Jeff has worked with George Cottage before on www.gottarent.com and has a variety of skills when it comes to the internet, marketing, and sales. Jeff lives in St Catharines with his wife and his daughter and enjoys golf, tennis, chess, suduko, and reading.
jeff@whatsonthorold.com | 905-227-4440
Jon LeFave
Jon Lefave is a Brock University student and knowledgeable marketing visionary. While studying business, marketing and psychology, Jon wants to connect the people in Thorold. His goal is to provide the ultimate source of events, information and news at your fingertips. Contact Jon if you’d care to promote your business, club, group, or event.
jon@whatsonthorold.com | 905-325-7699
Jen Cottage
Jen is our liaison with the community and helps feature events, specials, coupons and anything else that the community wishes for. Contact Jen if you’d care to promote your business, club, group, or event.
Erica Villeneuve
Erica Villeneuve has a Bachelor of Arts degree and has completed graduate studies in Game Arts and Design, specializing in art and animation. Erica has brought her artsy flair to What’s on Thorold since its inception, and has been instrumental in facilitating the company’s recent merger with The Thorold News. Contact Erica if you’d like to advertise with us, or if you have any general enquiries.
erica@whatsonthorold.com | 905-227-4440
Thorold History
Thorold Population 17,846. Thorold is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, 8 kilometers south of St. Catharines. It is at Lock 7 of the Welland Canal and has both Highway 58 and the 406 passing through it. Thorold's first settlers arrived between 1784 and 1787. Most were officers and soldiers of Butler's Rangers, a United Empire Loyalist company that had fought under Colonel John Butler, and wintered in the Niagara Region during the American Revolutionary War.
During the war of 1812, militia were raised from the township to defend the Niagara Peninsula, which was briefly in American hands in the summer of 1813. It was during this period that Laura Secord made her famous walk from Queenston to the headquarters of Lt. James Fitzgibbon at the DeCew House in the Thorold Township. Her warning made possible the capture of the entire invading American contingent by a force of loyal First Nations people at Beaver Dams, just outside present day Thorold. The foundation of the DeCew House, destroyed by fire in 1943, has been preserved as a historic site.
Beaver Dams is the oldest settlement entirely within Thorold township and was an important place in the industrial and political life of the city's early years. It was the name of the post office when it opened in 1826 with miller George Keefer as the first postmaster. Beaver Dams was never incorporated, and much of it was flooded during construction of the fourth Welland Canal, when the post office was moved to Stump Town at the centre of the present town. Egerton Ryerson, superintendent of education for Upper Canada, 1845-75, was the first Methodist minister in the new church at Beaver Dams in 1832.
The township and the city were both named after Sir John Thorold, MP for Lincolnshire, England who was greatly interested in colonial affairs. The first cotton factory in the province was a joint-stock company founded by Thorold citizens in 1847. Twenty water-powered looms produced sheeting, scrim and batting in an operation that heralded the establishment of what was to become a major provincial industry.
Thorold South
Thorold South Population 1,734. Thorold South is a part of the City of Thorold, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara on Concesion Road 57, 3 kilometers south of Thorold. A post office was established as Thorold South in 1926.
Allanburg
Allanburg Population 486. Allanburg is a part of the City of Thorold, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara on the Welland Canal and Concession Road 20, 10 kilometers west of Niagara Falls. The community was founded in 1824 when the sod was turned for the first Welland Canal, a historic site now marked by a cairn. The settlement was originally named New Holland because of the many Dutch and German United Empire Loyalist settlers. The village was laid out in 1832 by Samuel Keefer and was named Allanburgh to honour two men: William Allan, a Toronto banker who was vice-president of the Canal Company, and John Vanderburgh, the first settler. In 1887 the post office changed the name to Allanburg.
Port Robinson
Port Robinson Population 867. Port Robinson is a part of the City of Thorold, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara on the Welland Canal, 6 kilometers North of Welland. The settlement began at the southern terminus of the Welland Canal in 1824, when construction of the canal started. When the canal opened in 1829, the settlement became a port of entry. It was first called Port Beverly to honour Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson, a director of the canal company. When the post office was established in 1835, the name was changed to Port Robinson, also to honour Chief Justice Robinson. In it's heyday, when teams of horses on shore towed ships through the canal, Port Robinson had 4 large hotels, several smaller ones, 6 saloons, many stores and businesses, a shipyard and two drydocks. Steamers operated between Port Robinson and Buffalo, until steam tugs replaced the teamsters and the government expropriated the shipyard, which has employed 300 men, in order to enlarge the canal.
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