[5][6][7] Brantford is situated on the Haldimand Tract,[8][9] and is named after Joseph Brant, a Mohawk leader, soldier, farmer and slave owner.

[10] Brant was an important Loyalist leader during the American Revolutionary War and later, after the Haudenosaunee moved to the Brantford area in Upper Canada.

This community, like the rest of their settlements, was destroyed when the Iroquois declared war in 1650 over the fur trade and exterminated the Neutral nation.

[11] In 1784, Captain Joseph Brant and the Mohawk people of the Iroquois Confederacy left New York State for Canada.

[12][13] As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown, they were given a large land grant, referred to as the Haldimand Tract, on the Grand River.

The original Mohawk settlement was on the south edge of the present-day city at a location favourable for landing canoes.

[16] There were eight churches in Brantford at this time – Episcopal, Presbyterian, Catholic, two Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, and one for the African-Canadian residents.

[19] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Canadian government encouraged the education of First Nations children at residential schools, which were intended to teach them English and European-Canadian ways and assimilate them into the majority cultures.

Decades later and particularly since the late 20th century, numerous scholarly and artistic works have explored the detrimental effects of the schools in destroying Native cultures.

Examples include Ronald James Douglas' graduate thesis titled Documenting Ethnic Cleansing in North America: Creating Unseen Tears,[20] and the Legacy of Hope Foundation's online media collection: "Where are the Children?

The decision was widely criticized by Ontario's heritage preservation community, however, the city argued it was needed for downtown renewal.

[24][25] Plaques and monuments erected by the provincial and federal governments provide additional glimpses into the early history of the area around Brantford.

Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks is an important reminder of the original agreements made with Queen Anne in 1710.

[26] Chief Brant was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Haldimand in 1830 and was the first aboriginal Canadian in Parliament.

They lived with Bell's father and mother, who had settled in a farmhouse on Tutela Heights (named after the First Nations tribe of the area[31] and later absorbed into Brantford.)

Some articles suggest that the telephone was invented in Boston, where Alexander Graham Bell did a great deal of work on the development of the device.

[34][35] As well, the second successful voice transmission (over a distance of 6 km; 4 miles) was also made in the area, on 4 August 1876, between the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario and Bell's father's homestead over makeshift wires.

[44] As with other small Ontario cities hit by the decline of manufacturing, the community struggled with an increase in social problems.

[47] The same year, Maclean's magazine ranked Brantford as having a higher rate of crime severity than most of the province.

This industry, more than any other, provided the well-paying and steady employment that allowed Brantford to sustain economic growth through most of the 20th century.

Though Wescast Industries, Inc. recently closed its local foundry, its corporate headquarters will remain in Brantford.

SC Johnson Canada has their headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Brantford, connected to the Canadian National network.

On February 16, 2005, Brant, including Brantford, was added to the Greater Golden Horseshoe along with Haldimand and Northumberland counties.

[49] Brantford has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm to hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters, though not severe by Canadian standards.

Statistics from the Federal 2016 Census indicated that 54.1% of Brantford's adult residents (ages 25 to 64) had earned either a post-secondary certificate, diploma, or university degree.

[citation needed] BTOWN is a free alternative online magazine which highlights people, projects and events in the Brantford area.

Toronto Pearson International Airport is located in Mississauga, about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Brantford.

Around 1936, it began to replace the electric street car system with gas-run buses, and by the end of 1939, the changeover was complete.

[79] There are some planned street redesigns which include protected bike lanes and multi-use trails, which as of 2022[update] are in the public consultation phase.