Our Neighbourhood - An Intro to Eastwood
Eastwood has always been the gateway to downtown Kitchener even before it was formally established in the late 1940’s. Our neighbourhood is brimming with history and home to tall mature trees, sports fields, green spaces, friendly businesses, places of worship and one of KW’s top high school’s.
History of Eastwood
For this section, we call out to our neighbours to share, if you have stories on the history of our neighbourhood send us an email.
Over 100 years ago the city limit was Eastwood, specifically Natchez road which was renamed to Sheldon Avenue. You can see where Natchez meets King Street. Almost all of Eastwood is farm land and swamp. Montgomery Creek is there to the south. There is no expressway as that didn't arrive for another 50 years.
Ottawa Street wasn't built and East Ave is there and it would later be extended south but diverted and named weber street.
The neighborhood would stay this way until after WW2 where most of the expansion/roads would be built.
View of Eastwood in 1955. Only 5 years after the neighbourhood experienced a major housing development expansion
Most of the trees in our yards and streets are no older than this date. Also you can see the majority of the trees near Montgomery Park/Creek were removed over the next few years.
Here are a few stories from your neighbours:
The neighbourhood was formally established between 1948 and 1954
Many of our homes were built by the Edward Witmer construction company over 65 years ago. Clifford road was named after one of Edward’s sons.
As can be seen in the maps below, many of the streets, can be seen as “proposed” as of the late 40’s
Sheldon Ave use to be called Natchez Road, likely the change came as a number of streets in KW were duplicated. Over the years, the 2 cities went through a process of making them unique.
The Coca Cola company previously owned the land where Eastwood Collegiate was built.
The area of Montgomery Park as well as the area of the expressway use to be the “east woods” of the city, hence our name
Before the express way, Sheldon ave (previously Natchez Road) extended all the way east across the city, paralleling Ottawa st, all the way to Natchen hill.
Much of Eastwood use to be a swamp before development brought in truck loads of sand as infill. That’s why when you dig in many of our lots you will find 3 to 6 ft of sand below the top soil
1945. Only road built is Sheldon Ave N which use to be called Natchez road. Majority of Eastwood is farm land with the “woods” to the south east near Montgomery Park and the express way.
Territorial Acknowledgement
As we write down the history of our neighbourhood it’s very important that we acknowledge the land we live in, has a much deeper history then only the past 80+ years. A territorial acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. Acknowledgement of the traditional territory upon which we all live is an important first step toward reconciliation.
Our neighbourhood is situated on land that is the traditional home of the Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-show-nee), Anishinaabe (Ah-nish-nah-bay) and Neutral People. We recognize and deeply appreciate their historic connection to this place. We also recognize the contributions Indigenous peoples have made in shaping and strengthening this community. We are grateful for the opportunity to meet and live here and re-affirm our collective commitment to make the promise and the challenge of Truth and Reconciliation real in our community.
We encourage others to continue their reconciliation journey by visiting the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). The NCTR is the permanent home for all statements, documents, and other materials gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Parks and Green Space
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Montgomery Park
Located on Montgomery road and home to tennis/pickle ball/basketball courts, updated playground area, sports field and of course Montgomery creek.
2022 brought major upgrades to the park including a 9 hole Disc Golf course, new swings and playground updates. -
9 Hole Disc Golf Course
Established in 2022, located in Montgomery Park, is a lovely 9 hole Disc Golf Course (Par 27). Thank you to Grand River Disc Association, ECI and the City of Kitchener.
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Eastwood Collegiate Sports and Track field
Located beside Montgomery park, there are two large sports fields with a track oval. Football, Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee games can be seen regularly.
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Edmund Green Parkette
A well treed pocket park located off of Edmund road and on the walking path towards the famous Rockway Gardens. It is nestled between two homes, has a children’s slide as well as play structures.
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Rockway Gardens
Technically not within our borders but we benefit from being beside this award winning green space with fountains, flowers and a summer concerts. https://www.kitchenerhs.ca/
Our Little Free Libraries
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Our Community Corner @ Brentwood/Montgomery
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Books on Edmund @ 31 Edmund Rd.
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Red and White @ 111 Sheldon Ave north
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The Little Lamp Post @ 70 Jackson Ave
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The Green House @ 55 Sydney Street north
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Free Books on 11 Clive road
A Little Free Library is a “take a book, return a book” free book exchange. They come in many shapes and sizes and there is an understanding that real people are sharing their favourite books with their community. For more info check out Little Libraries of KW. If you’re interested in having a Little Free Library on your lawn, let us know to see how we can help.