Peterborough County


Peterborough County is located in Southern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Peterborough, which is independent of the county.
The southern section of the county is mix of agriculture, urban and lakefront properties. The northern section of the county is mostly sparsely populated wilderness with numerous rivers and lakes, mostly within the recently expanded Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.
The County contains the Lang Pioneer Village, and the Kawarthas are a major tourist region.

History

Origins and evolution

In 1615, Samuel de Champlain was one of the first western explorers who traveled through the area, coming down from Lake Chemong and portaging down a trail, which is approximated by present-day Chemong Road, to the Otonabee River and stayed for a brief time near the present-day site of Bridgenorth, just north of Peterborough.
The area was initially part of the Newcastle District, formed in 1802. In 1841, the northern part of the District was detached to form the Colborne District, consisting of the County of Peterborough and other lands. It consisted of the following territory:
County of Peterborough

The townships of
  • Belmont
  • Methurn
  • Burleigh
  • Dummer
  • Asphodel
  • Otonabee
  • Douro
  • Smith
  • Ennismore
  • Harvey
  • Verulam
  • Emily
  • Ops
  • Fenelon
  • Mariposa
  • Eldon
  • Bexley
  • Somerville
and
  • the seven rear concessions of Monaghan
  • the unsurveyed lands in rear thereof, and the Islands lying wholly or in greater part opposite thereto...
The county was named in honor of Col. Peter Robinson, who in 1825 brought 2,000 settlers from Ireland. The route taken was by way of Port Hope, Rice Lake and the Otonabee River, the same route used by the first settlers that entered this region in 1818.
The centre of the County was originally the courthouse, which is still considered an important historical site.
In 1851, Peterborough County was divided into the counties of Peterborough and Victoria, which were united for municipal purposes as the United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria.
County of PeterboroughCounty of Victoria

  • Belmont
  • Methuen
  • Burleigh
  • Dummer
  • Harvey
  • Douro
  • Smith
  • Monaghan North
  • Asphodel
  • Ennismore
  • Otonabee

  • Mariposa
  • Ops
  • Emily
  • Eldon
  • Fenelon
  • Bexley
  • Verulam
  • Somerville

A plebiscite was authorized in 1856 to facilitate the creation of a provisional county council for Victoria, but, as the united counties council delayed conducting it, a further Act was passed in 1861 to compel its being held, following which the provisional council was formed. and its formal separation took place in 1863.
Further townships were surveyed, thus extending the reach of the County northwards. In 1874, the townships of Bruton, Cardiff, Dysart, Dudley, Glamorgan, Guilford, Harburn, Harcourt, Minden, Monmouth, Snowden and Stanhope were withdrawn from the County and transferred to the new Provisional County of Haliburton.
After the transfer of the northern townships to Haliburton, the remainder of the County consisted of the following:
TownshipsAreaOpenedDescription
Asphodel1821Named after the Greek word for lily.
Belmont and MethuenArea 1823By 1842 it had only 33 householders; in 1866 only 185. Townships were mainly rock, lake and stream.
Burleigh and Anstruther1861First Post Office was called Burleigh. Separated from Dummer Township in 1865.
Chandos1862Named after the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
Douro1821Named after the Battle of Douro in the Peninsular War.
Dummer1821Named in honor of William Dummer Powell, Chief Justice of Upper Canada. A Colony of immigrants came in 1831, of whom 150 were sent out by the Marquess of Bath.
Ennismore1829Named in honor of William Hare, Viscount Ennismore, formerly M.P. for Cork City in the Parliament of Ireland, who died in 1827. Originally it was called Emily Gore.
Galway and Cavendish1857/1862
Harvey1821Named after Sir John Harvey, Deputy Adjutant General in Canada during the War of 1812. Was part of Smith township until 1866. First settler were retired officers who come in 1832, but did not succeed.
North Monaghan1820
Otonabee1820Named after the Otonabee River. The word in Indian signifies a delta.
Smith1819Settled by Allen Otty.

The Town of Peterborough became a City in 1905, and was subsequently withdrawn from the County for municipal purposes.
In 1974, as a result of the creation of the Regional Municipality of Durham, the township of Cavan and the village of Millbrook were withdrawn from Durham County, and the township of South Monaghan was withdrawn from Northumberland County, to be transferred to Peterborough County.

Current municipalities

As a consequence of the Common Sense Revolution in Ontario, the County was restructured into the following municipalities during the period 1997-2004:
Two First Nations reserves are independent of county administration:
The figures below are for the Peterborough census division, which combines Peterborough County, the City of Peterborough and the two First Nations reserves.
The county is projected to reach a population of 159,840 by 2031, according to the Ontario Ministry of Finance's Ontario Population Projections Update
Historic populations:
The City of Peterborough makes up the majority of the population of the census division. Statistics for Peterborough County—without Peterborough and the First Nations reserves—are:

Cities

In 1994, the Connection newspaper established in Selwyn in central Peterborough County. The free monthly cottage country newspaper is distributed by mail, providing non-partisan news and information. The Connection is expanding both its distribution areas and internet presence.