Port Hope

By Guy Scott

Port Hope, at the spot where the Ganaraska River flows into Lake Ontario, was well used by natives before European settlement. A native village called Cochingomink existed along the Ganaraska. It was often called “toronto,” a Mississauga term, meaning “carrying place.” The natives portaged their canoes overland to Rice Lake from this site. (Anyone who was seen the Ganaraska River realizes it is not canoe friendly!) The term “toronto” also applied to the spot where the Don River met Lake Ontario, and Port Hope eventually passed this term to its western neighbour.

The spot was renamed Smith’s Creek after the first fur trader, Peter Smith, who set up shop here in the 1790s to deal with the Natives who frequented the spot. Lawrence Herkimer, a Loyalist, replaced Smith until the trading post was moved inland to Rice Lake. Three loyalist families followed: Elias Smith, Jonathan Walton and Abraham Walton. They were given the entire township of Hope as a Loyalist land grant if they brought in 40 settler families. Thus, the area became a hot bed of “late Loyalist” settlers from the United States.

By 1819, Smith’s Creek featured a small harbour and four stores, two taverns, two breweries, two distilleries, a sawmill, a gristmill and a carding mill. The same year, a public meeting was held and the small village was renamed Port Hope after a Lieutenant Governor of the colony. The port began to flourish and a harbour commission was formed to promote the shipping industry. Port Hope became a major harbour, shipping such products as lumber, grain and flour from the surrounding hinterland.

This hinterland included Peterborough and Victoria Counties. Port Hope became the port for the backwoods townships thanks to its road connection north to Peterborough. This road was extended further north and eventually became the Bobcaygeon Colonization Road north of the Kawartha Lakes. Rice Lake shielded the rival town of Cobourg from Peterborough County, but the roads north of Port Hope (now Highway #28) missed this watery obstacle and serviced the area north along the Kawartha Lakes. During the pioneer era, Port Hope became the entry point for settlers to Kinmount and Haliburton County. Almost all the early settlers, including the Peter Robinson migration travelled through Port Hope. The town became a key cog in the transportation system of Peterborough, Victoria and Haliburton Counties.

In the 1850s railways became all the rage. Cobourg’s railway attempted to reach Peterborough by crossing Rice Lake on a massive trestle. It didn’t work. Port Hope, on the other hand, built their railway line north-west, directly to Lindsay, missing Rice Lake and cementing Lindsay’s prosperity as a railway centre. The population of Port Hope doubled every decade in the mid 1800s as it boomed as a transportation hub. But as railways eventually replaced ships as the main mode of moving goods and people, Port Hope was no longer needed as a water port and the town stagnated.

The town acquired an industrial base beyond natural resources. Some industries that located in Port Hope included Molson’s Brewery, Nicholson File Company and Cooey Firearms. Molson’s Brewery operated in Port Hope for decades, cashing in on the local specialty, Northumberland barley. All through the 1800s, the area was famous for producing the best brewing barley in North America.

The town of Port Hope was clustered in the valley of the Ganaraska River. During most of the year, this river is a shallow brook. But in the spring run off it can flood quite severely. On numerous occasions, the main street has been under swift flowing water! The floods in Port Hope are legendary; on one occasion, cars were carried way out into Lake Ontario by the rampaging waters! Each spring the town flouts its famous floodway by staging a ‘race’ down the Ganaraska. The “Paddle Your Fanny Down the Ganny” has become famous for its garish floats and humorous antics.