brush as she went along.
Eluid Nickerson came next. The following year, 1798, he built a log home near the present-day King and Division business section of town. Elijah Buck arrived in 1808 and he, too, accumulated a large tract of land and promptly opened a tavern. The settlement became known as Buckville until the name was changed to Amherst, and then to Hamilton, after the township in which it was situated. In 1819 the village was renamed Cobourg in honour of the marriage of Princess Charlotte to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Germany. The extra o crept in, presumably through ignorance of the correct spelling.
In 1827 Cobourg had about 40 houses, two inns, four stores, several distilleries, a gristmill, and a population of 350. There was still no harbour, but plans for one were underway and there was talk of a railway from Cobourg to Rice Lake and Peterborough.
The 1830s saw the beginning of a massive wave of immigrants. Cobourg had its new harbour by then, and it offered both rich and poor the opportunity to settle. By 1847, 5,393 immigrants had landed here. The citizens of Cobourg felt that their community was destined to be a city of greatness one day. The harbour and proposed railway to Peterborough were expected to bring great prosperity. Cobourgâs residents even hired a noted Toronto architect, Kivas Tully, to design a town hall.
Excavation and construction of the town hall was underway by 1856. Three years later Victoria Hall was almost completed. The local newspaper, the Star , described the interior of the building by stating, âAs you enter, a spacious outer court presents itself to the chastely decorated Hall of Justice, the south wall of which has been tastefully painted with the Royal Arms in the centre, without color, and as though the whole were a piece of sculpture. The whole of the woodwork has been painted and grained in a superior manner under the superintendence of Mr. Hayden, who took the contract for painting the hall. Carpets have been laid down and stoves erected in the rooms required for use at the assizes ... Too much praise cannot be given to all parties.â On September 7, 1860, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) arrived by boat at 9:30 p.m. and officially opened Victoria Hall.
The townspeople, fired with zeal to expand, obtained a charter to build a railway from Cobourg to Peterborough. On February 9, 1853, the first sod was turned near the corner of University Avenue and Railroad Street.
In the past, officials had considered a number of schemes to connect their town and Rice Lake, and, more particularly, Peterborough. In 1846 they had attempted to build a plank road to Goreâs Landing, Rice Lake, but in only a few years the planks had split and rotted. The only solution, it seemed, was a railway.
The three-mile gap across Rice Lake would be spanned by a trestle. With dynamic enterprise the people of Cobourg voted to tax themselves to bring this railway into being. Peterborough offered no capital but plenty of encouragement.
The 15-mile line to Harwood on Rice Lake was completed by May, 1854. Meanwhile, a piling-machine had been pounding massive beams, for the trestle, into the muddy bottom of Rice Lake. On December 8th the first work-train arrived in Ashburnham, on the east side of the Otonabee River, opposite Peterborough.
The railway was a tremendous boon to the millers, merchants, and manufacturers of Peterborough. Cobourgâs exports rose dramatically, and Harwood came to life as the main sawmill and shipping centre on Rice Lake.
There was, however, one significant problem: the impressive trestle bridge rested on shaky foundations and was soon no match for the winter ice on the lake. The ice pressure was quite capable of snapping a two-foot square beam in half. During the winter of 1854â55, the ice shoved some of the tresses, twisted the rails out of shape, and opened a two-metre (seven foot) gap at the Harwood end. Again and again, the bridge was
Eluid Nickerson came next. The following year, 1798, he built a log home near the present-day King and Division business section of town. Elijah Buck arrived in 1808 and he, too, accumulated a large tract of land and promptly opened a tavern. The settlement became known as Buckville until the name was changed to Amherst, and then to Hamilton, after the township in which it was situated. In 1819 the village was renamed Cobourg in honour of the marriage of Princess Charlotte to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Germany. The extra o crept in, presumably through ignorance of the correct spelling.
In 1827 Cobourg had about 40 houses, two inns, four stores, several distilleries, a gristmill, and a population of 350. There was still no harbour, but plans for one were underway and there was talk of a railway from Cobourg to Rice Lake and Peterborough.
The 1830s saw the beginning of a massive wave of immigrants. Cobourg had its new harbour by then, and it offered both rich and poor the opportunity to settle. By 1847, 5,393 immigrants had landed here. The citizens of Cobourg felt that their community was destined to be a city of greatness one day. The harbour and proposed railway to Peterborough were expected to bring great prosperity. Cobourgâs residents even hired a noted Toronto architect, Kivas Tully, to design a town hall.
Excavation and construction of the town hall was underway by 1856. Three years later Victoria Hall was almost completed. The local newspaper, the Star , described the interior of the building by stating, âAs you enter, a spacious outer court presents itself to the chastely decorated Hall of Justice, the south wall of which has been tastefully painted with the Royal Arms in the centre, without color, and as though the whole were a piece of sculpture. The whole of the woodwork has been painted and grained in a superior manner under the superintendence of Mr. Hayden, who took the contract for painting the hall. Carpets have been laid down and stoves erected in the rooms required for use at the assizes ... Too much praise cannot be given to all parties.â On September 7, 1860, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) arrived by boat at 9:30 p.m. and officially opened Victoria Hall.
The townspeople, fired with zeal to expand, obtained a charter to build a railway from Cobourg to Peterborough. On February 9, 1853, the first sod was turned near the corner of University Avenue and Railroad Street.
In the past, officials had considered a number of schemes to connect their town and Rice Lake, and, more particularly, Peterborough. In 1846 they had attempted to build a plank road to Goreâs Landing, Rice Lake, but in only a few years the planks had split and rotted. The only solution, it seemed, was a railway.
The three-mile gap across Rice Lake would be spanned by a trestle. With dynamic enterprise the people of Cobourg voted to tax themselves to bring this railway into being. Peterborough offered no capital but plenty of encouragement.
The 15-mile line to Harwood on Rice Lake was completed by May, 1854. Meanwhile, a piling-machine had been pounding massive beams, for the trestle, into the muddy bottom of Rice Lake. On December 8th the first work-train arrived in Ashburnham, on the east side of the Otonabee River, opposite Peterborough.
The railway was a tremendous boon to the millers, merchants, and manufacturers of Peterborough. Cobourgâs exports rose dramatically, and Harwood came to life as the main sawmill and shipping centre on Rice Lake.
There was, however, one significant problem: the impressive trestle bridge rested on shaky foundations and was soon no match for the winter ice on the lake. The ice pressure was quite capable of snapping a two-foot square beam in half. During the winter of 1854â55, the ice shoved some of the tresses, twisted the rails out of shape, and opened a two-metre (seven foot) gap at the Harwood end. Again and again, the bridge was
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