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Saturday, December 10, 2016

George Chaffey Plaque

In Brockville, Ontario, the plaque commemorating George Chaffey stands in Centeen Park near the bank of the Saint Lawrence River and east of Park Street.



GEORGE CHAFFEY
1848 - 1932

Born in Brockville, Canada West, Chaffey became a
shipbuilder on the Great Lakes and the inventor of a
new type of propeller. Subsequently he went to California
where, in partnership with his brother, he built a model
irrigation project and founded the city of Ontario. At
the request of Alfred Deakin, later Prime Minister of
Australia, Chaffey went to that continent in 1886 where
he began irrigated fruit production in the Murray
Valley. By proving that irrigation was practical, Chaffey
was largely responsible for the successful development
of the fruit industry in Australia.

Erected by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board.