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118 plaques found that match your criteria
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Serpent Mounds, The
The principal mound of this group is the only known example in Canada of a mound of serpentine shape. The earliest archaeological excavation on the site was carried out by David Boyle in 1896. Artifacts and skeletal remains were discovered, but the first comprehensive investigation was not started until 1955. The mounds, somewhat similar to those of the Ohio Valley, appear to have been built while the region was occupied by Indians of the Point... -
Simcoe County Court House and Gaol
In 1837, the Simcoe District was established and authority was given for erecting a district court-house and gaol at Barrie. The gaol was begun in 1840, the courthouse a year later, and both were completed in 1842. An important county judicial and administrative centre, the courthouse was enlarged in 1877 and demolished in 1976. The gaol, designed by Thomas Young of Toronto and constructed of Lake Couchiching limestone by Charles Thompson, a builder and steamboat... -
Sir Byron Edmund Walker, C.V.O., LL.D., D.C.L. 1848-1924
Born in Haldimand County, Walker joined the new Canadian Bank of Commerce at an early age, transforming it into one of Canada's leading financial institutions. He helped to author the Bank Act, cornerstone of Canada's national banking system. By 1907, he was president of the Bank of Commerce, a position he held until 1924. Walker was also a generous patron of the arts, helping to found and nurture many of Canada's cultural and educational institutions... -
Sir William Mulock 1843-1944
William Mulock was born in Bond Head where his father practised medicine. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1863 and was called to the Bar in 1867. A strong proponent of university federation, Mulock served his Alma Mater successively as Senator and Vice-Chancellor 1873-1900 and became Chancellor in 1924. First elected to the House of Commons in 1882, he was Postmaster General in the Laurier cabinet 1896-1905. There, he introduced Imperial penny postage, the trans-Pacific cable and far-reaching labour legislation. Knighted in 1902, Sir William was Chief Justice of Ontario 1923-36. -
Sir William Osler 1849-1919
This famous physician and author, son of the Reverend Featherstone Osler, was born July 12, 1849 in the Anglican rectory near Bond Head. Here he lived until 1857. He taught medicine at some of the greatest schools of his day, including McGill, Johns Hopkins and Oxford. His lectures and writing revolutionized methods of medical instruction and measures to protect public health. Gaining world renown, he became known as the father of clinical medicine. -
St. James-on-the-Lines 1836
This garrison church was erected 1836-38 on the Penetanguishene military reserve. It was also attended by military pensioners and civilians since, until the 1870s, it housed the only Protestant congregation in the vicinity. Building funds were obtained largely through the exertions of the local naval commandant, Captain John Moberly, R.N. The first rector, Reverend Geo. Hallen, held the post for thirty-six years. Many of the community's pioneers and military leaders are buried in its cemetery. -
Scotch Settlement 1819, The
In 1815, some 140 Highland Scots from Lord Selkirk's Red River Settlement, disheartened by crop failures and the opposition of the North West Company, moved to Upper Canada. Transported in the Nor'Westers' canoes, they disembarked at Holland Landing in September. They found temporary employment in the Yonge Street settlements but, in 1819, many took up land in West Gwillimbury. In 1823, a Presbyterian congregation held services in a building on this site, which was replaced by a frame church in 1827. The present structure was completed in 1869. -
Harwood
This area, purchased in 1828 by Robert Harwood, a Montreal merchant, did not begin to develop rapidly until the arrival of the Cobourg and Peterborough Railway in 1854. Harwood was surveyed in 1855, and the line, which transported passengers, lumber and goods to Peterborough, and later ore for the Marmora iron foundry, encouraged commercial development here. The near-by crib bridge, which carried the track across Rice Lake and on to Peterborough was, however, poorly engineered... -
Honourable James Cockburn 1819-1883, The
A Father of Confederation, James Cockburn was born in Berwick, England and came to Canada with his parents in 1832. Admitted to the bar in 1846, he formed a partnership with D.E. Boulton in Cobourg, and in 1849 established a law practice independently. Entering politics, he represented Northumberland West in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, 1861-67, and served as solicitor general, 1864-67. At the Quebec Conference of 1864, he shared in drafting the plan for... -
Hutchison House 1837, The
This stone house, completed by February 1837, was first occupied by Dr. John Hutchison, Peterborough's first permanently established physician. A native of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Hutchison had come to Upper Canada by 1818 and practiced in the Rice Lake area and at Port Hope before moving to Peterborough in 1830. Already a magistrate, he became one of the settlement's leading citizens. The house is believed to have been built by voluntary labour and public subscription to... -
Icelandic Settlement Disaster, The
In the 1870s, economic distress prompted mass emigration from Iceland. On September 25th, 1874, 352 Icelanders, exhausted and weakened by illness arrived at the emigration sheds in Toronto. When the Victoria Railway Company offered work constructing its line from near Kinmount, the provincial government housed the Icelanders in log shanties down river from here. Poor ventilation, sanitation and diet allowed sickness to rage through their cold, over-crowded quarters. Within six weeks, twelve children and a... -
J.D. Kelly 1862-1958
John David Kelly, a gifted painter and illustrator, is best known for his meticulously researched paintings depicting important events in Canada's history. Many of Kelly's paintings and sketches were commissioned for reproduction and were widely distributed. The artist was born at Gore's Landing in 1862 and grew up in Percy Township. He graduated from the Ontario School of Art in 1882, contributed to the noted calendars of the Toronto Art League, and was active in... -
James Wallis 1806-1893
This house, "Maryboro Lodge," was completed in 1837 by James Wallis, a gentleman from "Maryborough." Cork, Ireland, who had emigrated to Montreal in 1832. The following year he and Robert Jameson purchased extensive lands in this vicinity. In 1834, in partnership, they built a sawmill and later a grist-mill which formed the nucleus of the present village of Fenelon Falls. Wallis donated land for the community's first church in 1835 and personally conducted services until... -
John Langton 1808-1894
Born in Lancashire, England, Langton graduated from Cambridge University in 1829 and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1833. He purchased some 500 acres of land in Fenelon and Verulam townships, where he was one of the first settlers and built "Blythe House" near Fenelon Falls in 1837-38. From 1851-55 Langton represented the Peterborough area in the legislative assembly of Canada. He was appointed auditor of public accounts in 1855 and from 1867 to 1878 served... -
Joseph Medlicott Scriven 1819-1886
Born and educated in Ireland, Scriven was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He emigrated to Canada in 1847 and during the 1850's became tutor to the family of Captain Robert L. Pengelley, R.N., a retired British naval officer who had settled in this vicinity. A deeply religious man, he published a book entitled "Hymns and Other Verses" in 1869. However, the poem entitled "Pray Without Ceasing", for which he was to become famous, was... -
Lang Mill, The
In 1846, Thomas Short, later member of the Parliament of Canada for Peterborough County, erected this stone flour mill here on the Indian River. Within five years he had built a sawmill across the river and had laid out a village plot named Allandale. By 1858, the Allandale Flour Mill, which now also housed an oatmeal mill, had become one of the largest in the region and was exporting large quantities of its products. Short... -
Madill Church 1873, The
This pioneer squared-timber church, one of the few remaining examples of its type in Ontario, was begun in 1872 and completed the next year. Following the surveys of Stephenson Township in 1862 and 1871, and the extension of the Muskoka Road to the site of Huntsville in 1870, many settlers took up land in this area. One of these, John Madill, donated an acre of land for the church and burying ground and the members... -
Marie Dressler 1868-1934
Leila Maria Koerber, a talented actress and singer known internationally as Marie Dressler, was born in Cobourg. About 1883, she joined a touring stock company, later gaining recognition on Broadway in a series of successful comedy productions, including "Tillie's Nightmare". Although she made her first film in 1914, entitled "Tillie's Punctured Romance" with Charlie Chaplin, her real success in motion pictures began in 1930 when she played in "Anna Christie" with Greta Garbo. During the... -
Muskoka Road 1858, The
During the 1850s and 1860s the government attempted to open up the districts lying north of the settled townships by means of "Colonization Roads". Free land was offered to persons who would settle along the route, clear a stated acreage and help maintain the road. In 1858, construction began on a road from Washago to the interior of Muskoka. R.J. Oliver was appointed the government land agent at Severn Bridge and directed the progress of... -
Old St. Andrew's Church
This church, built from local stone, was begun in 1830 on land acquired by the Presbyterian congregation from Joseph A. Keeler, a prominent local merchant. It was designed by Archibald Fraser, a Scottish architect-builder, in a plain and classically proportioned Georgian style and, upon completion in 1833, services were held under the direction of the Reverend Matthew Miller. Later in the century the interior was recast and a new roof featuring projecting eaves supported by... -
Peterson Road, The
The Peterson Road was named after Joseph S. Peterson, the surveyor who determined its route in this region. Constructed 1858-63 at a cost of some $39,000, it stretched about 114 miles between the Muskoka and Opeongo roads and formed part of a system of government colonization routes built to open up the southern region of the Precambrian Shield. Poor soil disappointed hopes of a large-scale agricultural settlement along this road both on government "free-grant" lots... -
Purdy's Mills
The saw and grist-mills built in 1828-30 by William Purdy and his two sons on the nearby Scugog River, formed the nucleus of the Town of Lindsay which was incorporated in 1857. Purdy was imprisoned in 1837 on a charge of sympathizing with Mackenzie's Rebellion, and in 1841 armed mobs attacked the mills, believing that flooding caused by the excessive height of his dam was responsible for fever epidemics. After his release Purdy left the district and his mills were sold to Hiram Bigelow in 1844. -
Robinson Settlement 1825, The
In an effort to alleviate poverty and unemployment in Ireland, the British government in 1825 sponsored a settlement of Irish emigrants in the Newcastle District of Upper Canada. Peter Robinson, later that province's Commissioner of Crown Lands, was appointed superintendent and in May, 2,024 persons sailed from Cork. A few settled elsewhere and disease thinned their numbers, but by September the remainder were gathered in temporary shelters on the site of Peterborough. Under Robinson's supervision... -
Scott's Mills 1820
Near this site in 1820, the community's first resident, Adam Scott (1796-1838), built a sawmill and a gristmill. The small settlement that grew around them was known as Scott's Plains until 1826 when it was renamed in honour of Peter Robinson. Although of primitive construction, the mills were of great benefit to the early settlers, including the Irish emigrants brought out by Robinson in 1825. Scott relinquished possession of the mills in 1827 and in 1835, they were destroyed by fire. -
Sir Sandford Fleming 1827-1915
Inventor of Standard Time and pioneer in world communications, Fleming was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and training in engineering and surveying before emigrating to Canada and settling at Peterborough in 1845. He soon moved to Toronto where in 1849 he assisted in the founding of the Canadian Institute and two years later designed the first Canadian postage stamp. He was the builder of the Intercolonial Railway and as chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway...