St. Jacobs (Ontario)

St Jacobs, or 'Jakobstettl' in the local Pennsylvania Dutch, is a village of about 2000 people (2016) that s the heart of St Jacobs Country, a primary tourist destination north of Waterloo, Ontario.

Understand
St Jacobs is in the heart of North Waterloo's well-known Mennonite and Amish country. Driving in the area likely as not you will share the road with their horse-drawn buggies, particularly Sundays which is a day of church-going and visiting, and on Market Days when they are on the way to and from Market. Many offer home-grown produce, and home-made baking and preserves from home or road-side stands, but the 'No Sunday Sales' signs mean just that!

There are two main tourist destinations in the area. The market is immediately north of the Waterloo city limits. The historic village is 3 km to the north.

St. Jacobs features dozens of artisans in historic buildings, such as the Country Mill, Village Silos, Mill Shed, and the Old Factory. Visitors may watch artisans make pottery, quilts, designer clothes, jewellery, glass vases, woven wall hangings tiffany lamps, stained glass doors, miniature doll houses and more. There are also two blacksmith shops.

St Jacobs is home base to the network of Home Hardware, Home Furniture, and Home Building Supplies stores across Canada.

History
The first two settlements near St. Jacobs in the 1830s were Conestoga and Winterbourne. The latter was settled primarily by English and Scots, while St. Jacobs, like Conestoga, was primarily Germanic. In the early 1850s, there was an influx of Mennonites from Pennsylvania, so-called Pennsylvania Dutch. The word "Dutch" does not refer to the Netherlands but is a misnomer for Deitsch or Deutsch (German). They became known as "Old Order" Mennonites due to their conservative lifestyle.

Jacob C. Snider, of Swiss German descent, built a sawmill, a flour-mill and a woollen-mill by 1852, after having built a dam. These features helped to attract others to the small community, which became a village named Jakobstettel (Jacob's Village) in honour of Snider.

By car
St. Jacobs is about 1 hour west of Toronto and 1 hour northeast of London. From Highway 401, exit 278/278A north, take Highway 8 to Highway 85 North, exit "King Street" (Regional Road 15). There are two King Street interchanges; you want the second one. Travel north, following the signs to St. Jacobs Country.

By bus
Grand River Transit is the transit authority for Waterloo Region. GRT bus route 21 runs from ION Conestoga station in Waterloo through St. Jacobs to Elmira six days a week.

GO Transit (website) offers some seasonal bus service (route 25) from City Centre Transit Terminal, Mississauga to St. Jacobs Farmers Market on Saturdays in July and August.

Eat
Area restaurants offer international cuisine, and authentic Waterloo County 'food that schmecks' home-cooked fare.

Sleep
Many travellers visiting St. Jacobs stay in Waterloo or in other nearby cities. There are also accommodations in St. Jacobs: