St. Jacobs is an unincorporated suburban community in the township of Woolwich in Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada.

Waterloo Region is still home to the largest population of Old Order Mennonites in Canada, particularly in the areas around St Jacobs and Elmira.

[10] Early arrivals included the Simon Cress family, Abraham Erb, and John B. Baumann (or Bauman).

[14] Valentine Ratz built the first sawmill to the west of the village in 1844 and the first school, in a log house, was founded in the same year.

[19] An 1851 report indicated that the village itself had a flour mill owned by Benjamin D. Snyder, a hotel, a blacksmith, a general store and a cooperage.

[20] The first post office opened in 1852, called St. Jacobs, with Joseph Eby as postmaster and the village was incorporated in that year.

[23] The Home Hardware company, founded in 1963 and still operating, can trace its roots all the way back to the 1880s in St. Jacobs, when a tinsmith shop was opened and was later sold to Henry Gilles, who added a blacksmith shop and hardware store that was managed by his son, Alfred Gilles.

In 1938, Walter J. Hachborn (who would establish Home Hardware) began working for Hollinger while he was still a teenager; he was able to speak both English and the Low German of his Mennonite customers.

During a 1962 meeting, the two agreed that independent hardware store owners would benefit from an organization that would allow for lower wholesale prices due to buying in bulk.

They met with 25 store owners and by March 1963, 122 dealers committed to the concept, paying to acquire the new corporation, Hollinger Hardware Limited.

Eventually, this would lead to the Canada-wide dealer-owned cooperative business with the Home Hardware head office and the massive distribution centre in St. Jacobs.

It operates on market days (May to October) and during certain special events including the Maple Syrup Festival in early April.

[33] Three kilometres south of the town centre is the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market, the most popular tourist draw.

The sale also included Market Road Antiques, the St. Jacobs Outlets and the property housing the TSC store.

[42] The village also has an arena and community centre, as well as a library originally built in 1934 and financed by a private donation.