History of Mississauga and the Dixie Curling Club

Introduction

In the early 1600s, French traders encountered Native peoples, the Mississaugas, around the North Shore of Lake Huron. The Mississaugas were an Ojibwa band, and by the early 1700s had migrated south and settled in the area around the Etobicoke Creek, Credit River and Burlington Bay. “Mississauga” translates as meaning “River of the North of Many Mouths”.

On August 2nd, 1805, near the mouth of the Credit River, representatives for the British Crown and the Native Mississaugas signed a treaty. The Crown acquired over 74,000 acres of land excluding a one-mile strip on each side of the Credit River and this became known as the Credit Indian Reserve.

Additional treaties were signed between the Mississaugas and the British Crown allowing the Crown to acquire title to more land:

  • On October 28th, 1818, over 600,000 acres of land, which included most of today’s Region of Peel.
  • On February 28th, 1820, surrendering much of the Credit Indian Reserve lands set aside in 1805.
  • The Mississaugas relocated in 1847 and settled on the New Credit Reserve at Hagersville near Brantford.

The vast area was surveyed and opened for settlement in 1819. Gradually settlers began to take up lots and over time small settlements became established. These settlements developed into the villages of Clarkson, Cooksville, Dixie, Erindale, Malton, Meadowvale Village, Port Credit and Streetsville.

The village of Dixie revelled in its importance as a place of worship and an agricultural centre. It was later named “Sydenham”, before adopting the name of “Dixie” in honour of a prominent Welsh pioneer doctor, Beaumont Wilson Bowen Dixie.

The Town of Mississauga was created in 1968, and the City of Mississauga was incorporated in 1974, through the amalgamation of the Town of Mississauga and the villages of Port Credit and Streetsville, together with portions of the townships of Toronto Gore and Trafalgar. Mississauga has grown to be Canada’s sixth largest city.

Dixie Curling Club

A meeting in Vic Stanfield’s basement on November 12, 1955 lead to the idea of starting the Dixie Curling Club. The foundation work began on June 28, 1956 at a cost of just under $200,000 for land, building, ice plant, furniture and equipment.

Dixie Curling Club is located in the heart of what was once Mississauga’s rich farm belt. With thanks to the hard work of Vic and Gordon Stanfield, the club was incorporated on March 1, 1956. The first draw took place on November 14, 1956.

The club was born with linkages to its neighbour, the old Dixie Arena, a spawning ground for many pro hockey players that made it to the NHL during the days of the “Big 6” teams.

Although the hockey arena is gone, the Dixie Curling Club is now surrounded by a city that grew up around it. The six-sheet club, with more than 600 members, is going strong, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2006.

The club is proud of its history. With a solid core of energetic and enthusiastic volunteers Dixie has established a reputation for hospitality and sportsmanship.

Dixie is not only noted for its warm hospitable environment, the club is also proud of its curling reputation. Over the years Dixie has been and still is the home of many curling champions.

Some major successes include:

  • 1966 Canadian Senior Men’s Champions: Jim Johnston Sr., Joe Todd Sr., Tom Rosborough and Ed Waller.
  • 1989 Canadian Senior Men’s Champions: Jim Sharples, Joe Gurowka, Art Lobel and Peter Warren. Joe Gurowka was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1989 as a builder and in 1993 as a player.
  • 2001, 2002 and 2004 Canadian and World Senior Women’s Champion: Fran Todd. Fran competed with a team from Cambridge. Fran was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2009

As the club continues into its 6th decade, Dixie will continue to work towards maintaining its tradition of good curling and good fellowship.