The village centre of what would become Berlin (Kitchener) was established in 1830 by Phineas Varnum who leased land from Joseph Schneider and opened a blacksmith shop on the site where a hotel would be built many years later, the Walper House.
Many of the Mennonite places of worship (meeting houses) were basic frame buildings and this type is still common among Old Order Mennonite groups in the rural areas of Waterloo Region [REF].