The Batavia Peace Garden stands along historic Tonawanda Creek at a site whose history includes Native American roots as a meeting place, the drama of the War of 1812, and a connection to International Peace Gardens around the world. The story begins with the Seneca Nation, who once occupied lands along the Genesee River Valley from Lake Ontario through western New York into Pennsylvania, while the Neutral Nation controlled the Niagara Peninsula and territory as far east as East Rochester and the township of Leroy. In the late 16th and 17th centuries, the Seneca gained control of Neutral Territory after the beaver trade wars. A Seneca community located 15 miles east of Batavia still exists today as the Tonawanda Band of Senecas. The river name Tonawanda comes from a Seneca word meaning “His Rapids runs there” and was once, and remains, important to the Seneca or Onondowaga people. Since 2010 the garden has welcomed thousands of visitors, and in 2012 it was dedicated to commemorate 200 years of friendship between the USA and Canada, which have shared the world’s longest undefended border since the War of 1812. In 2012 the Haudenosaunee flag was raised in the Grove of Nations to honor the Seneca people of this region.