Heritage + History

From its well-preserved heritage downtown, more than 540 homes designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and a colourful Town Crier, Cobourg is rich in history. Stroll along at your own pace with a self-guided walking tour - free booklets are provided by the tourism office - and you’ll find the town is full of landmarks with a story to tell. Popular ghost walks will also guide you by lamplight through the streets to hear stories of local hauntings.

United Empire Loyalists first settled the area in 1798. By the early 1800s, more arrived, included disbanded British troops and frontier settlers from America looking for good land to make a new start. They named the settlement Cobourg in 1819 in honour of the marriage of Princess Charlotte to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, Germany, which is Cobourg’s twin city today.

Cobourg enjoyed an economic boom throughout the early 1800s as American industrialists and British immigrants came, making it a centre of commerce and education. It was also reputed to have a high ozone level for the purest of air and good health, becoming a summer destination for Americans. A ferry from Rochester ran two trips a day, year-round, bringing social cachet to town. Some visitors built summer estate homes with Victoria Gothic and Classical revival features. By the 1850s, Cobourg boasted one of the largest settlements in Ontario. Many of those original homes and other architectural notables have been restored and line the streets today.

A few highlights include:

 The Palladian-style town hall, Victoria Hall, was built in 1860 and named in honour of Queen Victoria. Her son, the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, made an official visit for the opening ceremonies and a grand ball was held in celebration. Victoria Hall Week, which was held May 25 to 29, 2010 was a landmark week as Cobourg celebrated the hall’s 150th anniversary. Built by famous Toronto architect

Kivas Tully, Victoria Hall is designated as a National Historic Site overlooking the shore of Lake Ontario. The hall is a town centrepiece with Corinthian columns, stone-cut symbols of the British Isles with references to local origins and loyalties, and a clock tower on the roof’s peak. Now beautifully restored, the building is home to a concert hall, art gallery, town offices and deep-well courtroom fashioned after the Old Bailey in London. 

The Poplars, built in 1827 by John Spencer, the first sheriff of Northumberland County, is Cobourg’s oldest surviving house, retaining its original exterior character and offering a prime example of the Regency style with its original door and well-proportioned hip-roof porch. The bow windows on either side of the front door are rare in Canada.

Many residents may have participated in the War of 1812 and one building in particular, the Barracks, is thought to date as a military depot from that time period. The long low building with “owl windows”, located downtown at the corner of Durham and Orr streets, is being restored with the intention of making it into a museum.

Victoria College on University Street was built in the Greek Revival style in the 1830s. The college was known as the Upper Canada Academy, established in Cobourg by Egerton Ryerson and the Wesleyan Conference of Bishops. The college served as the Academy of the Methodist Church and later became one of Canada’s earliest degree-granting universities. It was moved to Toronto in 1892, joining the University of Toronto.