Delta, Ontario, is a community in the Township of Rideau Lakes, Leeds and Grenville County in Eastern Ontario. The village is located between two lakes, Upper Beverley and Lower Beverley, along highway 42, approximately 15 kilometres west of Athens, Ontario and 28 kilometres east of Westport, Ontario. History The founder of Delta was Abel Stevens, a loyalist from Vermont who arrived in this area in February 1794 with several families and squatted on upper reaches of Plum Hollow Creek. The area was unsurveyed and Stevens petitioned to be granted land around both the rapids at Delta and the "Great Falls" at Lyndhurst, applying to set up an iron foundry in that location (Lyndhurst). The first survey lines were run into the area by William Fortune in July 1794 and then in 1795, surveyor Lewis Grant ran the initial survey of what was to become Bastard Township. In 1796 sufficient surveying had been done to grant Stevens 5 lots in Bastard Township (on June 2, 1796 - 700 acres total) including 3 over what is today's Delta (Lots 23, 24 & 25 in the 9th Concession of Bastard Township). In about 1796, Abel Stevens had a wooden sawmill built, the mill is recorded in Lewis Grant's 1797 field notes as "Wm. Stevens Mill" - William was Abel's cousin. It is assumed this first sawmill was built sometime after Stevens received his land grant (June 2, 1796). A wooden grist mill was added later (likely powered by the same waterwheel as the sawmill). The exact location of the first mill uncertain, it is shown as being on the south side of the creek on Grant's 1797 survey map of Bastard Township. That location is believed to be somewhere near the intersection of today's Matthew Street and King Street since Recreation Street and the Drive Shed for the Old Stone Mill are located over the original creek bed. Anecdotal history (memoirs of Niel Sliter) indicate that the mill burned down twice. Early references (Stevens' petitions) to the area are as Stevenstown, as the regional area (township) not a village, but later this name became synonymous with the fledgling village that developed after the first mill was built. Stevens was responsible for local roads that helped to develop Delta, firstly, in 1794, a rough road from Brockville to the Delta area (built for the settlers wagons), then a road to the Lyndhurst area, and