Brant's Tree
Posted by: 
lylefair
N 43° 18.841 W 079° 48.791
17T E 596241 N 4796370
Brant's Tree is a magnificent white oak that first sprouted from the ground in 1725 (Burlington's Honour List of Trees). Joseph Brant set out from this tree to pace off his land grant, the area which was to become the core of the city of Burlington.
Waymark Code: WMJ8B3
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 10/10/2013
Views: 7
Brant's Tree or a point on the nearby shore is the base for Jones Line, described below. A nineteenth century map shows the foot of the line at the outlet in the beach. If one looks across the bay, one can see that the outlet, now the canal through which freighters pass, lines up exactly with the Jones Line.
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The Jones Line or Baseline is a survey line running fifty miles north-west from Burlington to Arthur. It was laid out by Augustus Jones, a deputy-surveyor of Upper Canada, in 1792. He and his party of indigens started at Brant's Tree in Burlington in September. Brant's Tree, reputed to have first sprouted in 1720, still stands on Allview Avenue. His goal was to find the point where that north-west line intersected the Thames River, thus circumscribing the source of the Grand River and establishing the limit of the Haldimand Grant, the assigning of the lands six miles on either side of the Grand River from its mouth on Lake Erie to its source, to the Mohawk Nation and other Six Nations Indians. But he crossed the Grand River near Fergus, and after seven weeks and fifty-miles, arriving at the Conostogo River in Arthur, or Brandy Creek, slightly to the south, realized that such a line would never intersect with the Thames River and turned south-west in an effort to find it.
Even though it crossed the Grand, rather than establishing its source, the Jones Line was used to delineate the upper boundary of the Haldimand Grant. This boundary, and many other aspects of the Grant, including the subsequent sale or appropriation of parts of it, are in dispute today.
The orientation of the roads and land titles of that part of Southern Ontario east to Highway 27, and north to Highway 9 is determined by the Jones Line. Its north-west course explains the inconvenience one experiences in driving due north, east, south or west in this area; concessions and roads have been laid out parallel or perpendicular to it requiring the path of such trips to be two sides of a right-angled triangle and a trip as much as forty per cent further than a crow might take. It serves as the boundary between Halton and Hamilton (Wentworth County) and various townships in Wellington County.
Several roads lie along Jones Line, but Jones Line is not a thoroughfare; there are many gaps, some with visible road allowances, some hidden, or annexed by neighbours. Swamps and hills and urban development interrupt its march through farmlands.
Historic Event:
Joseph Brant set out from this tree to pace off his land grant, the area which was to become the core of the city of Burlington.
Year: 1725
Species: Oak
Approximate Age: 288
Location: Burlington, ON, Canada
Website: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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