After 25 years of living in Oakville I thought it time to acquaint myself with the history of the town.

As a Toronto kid I remember passing through Oakville on family trips to Hamilton to visit relatives sometimes we would take Hwy 2 and more often the QEW on these trips.

Sometimes we would simply drive out to see the estates that lined the lakeshore.

But after moving here in 1985 I learned that William Chisolm was the founder of the town but little else.

Hazel Mathews, who obviously loved the town, has done a superb job researching this book. She had the advantage of being able to talk to people who were not far removed from the events she describes and had access to a great amount of material to produce ths portrait of our town.

Unfortunately the story ends just as the Ford Motor Company is about to build the plant just south of the QEW. An event that would fulfill Mr Chisolm;s dream of making Oakville an industrial centre. At the time Ms Mathews wrote the book the town is just starting to grow.

The book itself needs some updating as many of the street names have changed here and there and I think it needs to reflect the events of the last 50 or so years as well.

The book is more of a chronicle rather than a critical history. One understands why Oakville declined for a time and it is perhaps slef-evident why this happened - squeezed as Oakville is by Toronto and to a lesser degree Hamilton.

It is a good read and a book that every citizen should read to get a feel for the history of teh town. I know when I walk around downtown Oakville I will have a renewed appreciation for its past.

History Of Oakville and the sixteen mile creek