Merritton grew up along the steep Niagara Escarpment climb of the Welland Canal, where abundant water power made it one of the region's busiest 19th-century mill and factory villages. Formed from the earlier settlements of Centreville and Welland City, it was incorporated as a village in 1874 and named after canal promoter William Hamilton Merritt, before amalgamating into St. Catharines in 1961. The old Merritt Street commercial strip still anchors a community with a strong local identity, surrounded by canal-era locks, tunnels and industrial ruins such as the Merritton Tunnel and the former cotton and rubber mills.
Known for
- Welland Canal industrial heritage and mill ruins
- Named for canal founder William Hamilton Merritt
- Former Welland Canal locks and the Merritton Tunnel
- Historic Merritt Street main street
- Former incorporated village (1874)
- Blue Ghost Tunnel / Merritton railway tunnel folklore