The area was settled in 1788 by United Empire Loyalists who had been granted land by the Crown to compensate for losses due to property they left in the British Thirteen Colonies during and after the American Revolutionary War.

On 19 October 1814, Canadian forces led by George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale,[3] met an American raiding party, numbering approximately nine hundred, near the eastern edge of the present community during the Battle of Cook's Mills.

A small shantytown soon developed around the facility, providing essential services in what was a convenient stop-over location for travellers and workers on the canal.

The growing town was later named Merrittsville, after William Hamilton Merritt, the initiator of the Welland Canal project.

A report published by the City of Welland in 2013 said, "for over 10 years now, these programs have produced only very moderate uptake and development since being introduced.

The city is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation and secondary streets, but many municipal services come from the broader level of government, the Niagara Region.

The chief local political issue is the redevelopment of the downtown core, which has deteriorated in the years after the Welland By-Pass project.

The new building, facing both East Main Street and the old canal, houses the city hall and the Welland Public Library.

Welland is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the Liberal Party Member of Parliament Vance Badawey, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by the NDP Member of Provincial Parliament Jeff Burch, representing the Niagara Centre and the provincial ridings of Niagara Centre, respectively.

To minimize the potential effects of cultural and language barriers, Plymouth Cordage sent four foremen to Welland: one was Italian, one French, one German and one English.

[11] Welland, because of its proximity to the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric station at Niagara Falls, was historically known for its steel, automotive, and textile industries.

While recent years saw the end of Welland operations for several companies, such as John Deere which announced in September 2008 that it would be closing its plant and relocating manufacturing to Wisconsin and Mexico, businesses such as Lakeside Steel (a pipe plant formerly owned by Stelco, since 2012 owned by JMC Steel) continues to employ residents.

The onset of the CanAm FTA, NAFTA, GATT and globalization brought decline, and subsequently the ownership changed hands numerous times: the Sammi group acquired it in 1989, followed by Slater Steels of Mississauga in 2000, who went bankrupt in 2003.

The Canadian branch plant of the Plymouth Cordage Company was started in 1904 due to Parliament's initiation of a 25% import duty on rope and related products.

Plymouth, with roots in Massachusetts, moved to secure its business in binding twine, necessary to package farm crops such as grass, wheat or straw.

The cordage industry was a victim of the harvester-thresher, which obviated the need for binding (or baling) twine, as the threshing operation is now performed in a contiguous step immediately when the stalk is cut.

The waterway still serves as a very prominent visual feature dividing the city, and it is perhaps for this reason that the east side/west side division is still very much alive in the minds of Wellanders.

Cooks Mills, located on the other side of the By-Pass channel than the rest of Welland, has arguably been protected against the impact of urban sprawl, but the necessity of using one of the two highway tunnels to cross the canal causes some residents to head to nearby Niagara Falls instead.

A man-made geographic feature is the Merritt Island, a strip of land approximately five kilometres long and, in some places, less than 100 metres wide.

It features a large war memorial carved from Lacasse granite and designed by a famous Canadian sculptor, Elizabeth Wyn Wood.

Between the old canal and the river lies a long narrow strip of land referred to as Merritt Island that is now a park.

Highway 406 is the main route in and out of Welland, leading north to Thorold, St. Catharines and onwards via Queen Elizabeth Way.

The Canada Southern Railway (CASO) passed through the south end of Welland, with a passenger station on King Street.

The T, H & B ran joint passenger trains with the New York Central to provide through service between Toronto and Buffalo (via Hamilton, Ontario and Welland).

Since the abandonment of the majority of that subdivision, operations on this track were limited to occasional trains interchanging with Trillium Rail's Port Colborne Harbour Railway.

Do note that CP Brookfield Siding becomes Trillium's Cayuga Spur where the Feeder Canal once cross through, prior to the building of this Townline Tunnel infrastructure, in the 1800s.

The proponents argue that an adequate rail line is already in place and using the Trillium's track through the Townline Tunnel would allow for uninterrupted train traffic to Niagara Falls.

Celebrating 50 years in 2011, the Rose Festival continues to offer a host of spectacular events and entertainers in the month of June.

[23] Welland's Seaway Mall gained national attention when a flash mob was filmed singing the Hallelujah Chorus in the food court in November 2010.

Teams had to row a double scull along a 200-metre (660 ft) course on the Welland Canal within two minutes in order to receive their next clue from local rower, Rhonda Chopin.