Canada Travel: Oshawa, Peterborough

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Oshawa

Oshawa, in Ontario county, thirty-three miles east of Toronto is famed for the manufacture of automobiles, although there is no obvious geographical reason for the growth of either the city or the industry at this point. It has a small harbour near which a French trading post was set up in 1752. The English settlement, however, developed a couple of miles north on the Toronto-Kingston military road about 1795. Known at first as Skae's Corners, it became the village of Oshawa in 1842, a town in 1889, and was incorporated as a city in 1924.

At one time it was an important port for the shipment of timber and grain and it has always been a trading centre for a good farming district. On the foundations of a small local carriage shop it has developed into the second city in Canada in the automobile industry. Other factories produce brass and iron castings, sheet metal, leather, plate glass and textiles. The population of Oshawa in 2006 was 141,590, but there are about 190,000 more, living in outlying suburbs.

Peterborough

Although spatially situated in the heart of Southern Ontario, Peterborough occupies a marginal position with respect to the more densely occupied area. One of the ten largest cities in Southern Ontario, its economic importance is even greater than its size would indicate. Located in the drumlin belt it is the nucleus of a general farming area. Its early settlement and its later development as an industrial town are both due to its location on the Otonabee River.

Although a grist and sawmill had been in operation for three years, the real founding of Peterborough dates from 1825, when Hon. Peter Robinson brought out 2,000 Irish settlers to the county. As the head of navigation, Peterborough became the natural supply point and, later, the judicial seat of the new county. About 1840 the town became an important lumbering centre, was incorporated as a town in 1850, and its position was enhanced by the building of a railroad to Cobourg in 1854. Other railways followed, including the Ontario-Quebec (now C.P.R.), completed in 1884.

By 1900, the lumbering era was over and other industries began to develop, utilizing the waterpower of the Trent Canal System. In the ten miles above the city the Otonabee river falls 280 feet. The famous hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough take care of 65 feet, the rest is provided for in dams and locks on the river. Later much additional power has been obtained from the Ontario Hydro-electric System. There are two very large plants producing electrical apparatus and cereal products, other important products are meats, carpets, dairy equipment, brake linings, yarns, clocks, watches, canoes and outboard motors. In addition to its industrial status and its natural position as a local trade centre, the city is also the headquarters of the Kawartha Lakes resort area. The population in 2006 was 74,898.