The First Smoke: Lucas Dedrick’s 1793 Pioneer Cabin

Written By Port Rowan & South Walsingham Historical Association

The Story of Lucas Dedrick (The Pioneer Cabin)

In 1793, long before Port Rowan was a village, the landscape was a "sunny flat" where the smoke from only two cabins could be seen. One of these belonged to Lucas Dedrick, a United Empire Loyalist who arrived with his wife, children, and father-in-law.

  • The Journey: Dedrick was noted in surveyors' diaries in June 1793, traveling by batteaux (flat-bottomed boats) from Fort Erie during a heavy gale to settle at Long Point.

  • The Settlement: He built his log cabin about a mile and a half west of what is now Port Rowan. At the time, the region was an "unbroken wilderness" with no other neighbors for miles.

  • Legacy: In a twist of historical irony, the very spot where Dedrick planted his first crops among tree stumps eventually became Bayview Cemetery. Today, his descendants and many other local families are buried on the exact land he fi

Port Rowan & South Walsingham Historical Association