BRANTFORD

city, seat (1852) of Brant county, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Grand River. It originated as Brant's Ford, named for Joseph Brant, the famous Mohawk chief who was granted the site in 1784 for the settlement of the Six Nations Indians after the American Revolution. White settlement dates from 1805. Brantford is now an agricultural and industrial centre. Manufactures include agricultural, auto, and refrigeration equipment and textiles. The city, situated 20 miles (35 km) southwest of Hamilton, is the site of the province's oldest Protestant church, an Indian chapel (Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks) built in 1785. Other Indian associations are reflected in the Brant County Museum, Chiefswood (the birthplace of the Indian poet Pauline Johnson), the Woodland Indian Cultural Centre, the annual Six Nations Indian Pageant (August), and the Indian John Memorial Shoot (an archery contest held each June). The Alexander Graham Bell Homestead, now a museum commemorating his invention and development of the telephone, is in nearby Tutela Heights. Inc. town, 1847; city, 1877. Pop. (1991) 81,997.