St. Jacobs

The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region. It is a popular location for tourism, due to its Mennonite heritage and retail focus. The Conestogo River, which powered the village's original gristmill, runs through the village.

Three kilometres south of the town centre is the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market, another popular tourist draw. Fresh farm products are sold from across the area, plus many vendors have discount clothing, toys, candy and other wares. A factory outlet mall is located adjacent to the market site. The market, town and surrounding countryside are marketed as St Jacobs Country. St. Jacobs is also the headquarters of Home Hardware. This national chain of over 1000 independent hardware retail stores located across Canada was founded in the village in 1963.