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View Full Version : Small Town Canada - Cobourg, Ont


TownGuy
May 20, 2013, 11:16 AM
This is a rehash of a thread a posted in the Canada section of my hometown of Cobourg :)

Cobourg is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, 1 hour east of Toronto with a current pop. of 18,000. The area was settled around 1798 originally as a group of small villages. The small villages eventually joined together and formed a town called Hamilton, interestingly enough. The town officially changed its name to Cobourg in 1818 in recognition of the marriage of Princess Charlotte to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Little bit of a note...I've read Cobourg is spelt with an O rather than as Coburg because of a typo. Whether that's true or not I'm not sure. Meh. that's enough history on with the pics!

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/33/42969427_0a0a042677_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/takashi/42969427/)
Cobourg Town Hall #2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/takashi/42969427/) by T a k (http://www.flickr.com/people/takashi/), on Flickr

This is Cobourg's most important and prominent building, Victoria Hall. Built in the 1850s. The town had great aspirations when it was built and Victoria Hall was to symbolize that. After many years the building had began to deteriorate and was on the verge of being TORN DOWN in the 1970s and replaced with a PARKING LOT. Cooler heads prevailed and rather than tear it down they restored it, thank god. It currently serves as the town hall and also contains a concert hall and art gallery.


http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4141/4773057404_08a92734b1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdb466/4773057404/)
Victoria Hall, Cobourg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdb466/4773057404/) by Ross Dunn (http://www.flickr.com/people/rdb466/), on Flickr


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3385/3608778058_65c2f71369_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24179010@N08/3608778058/)
Victoria Hall (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24179010@N08/3608778058/) by demon_moon (http://www.flickr.com/people/24179010@N08/), on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2547/3694702462_a215e08bb0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/edk7/3694702462/)
_DSC0602Anx2-Q50 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/edk7/3694702462/) by edk7 (http://www.flickr.com/people/edk7/), on Flickr

Victoria Hall lies directly in the middle of downtown Cobourg on King St. This is King St...

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2565/3848599066_abcf0243d5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thru_the_night/3848599066/)
Downtown Cobourg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thru_the_night/3848599066/) by Kiril Strax (http://www.flickr.com/people/thru_the_night/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8094/8455449727_19e87f8168_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455449727/)
Downtown, Small-scale, Pedestrian-oriented Commercial Street, King Street Cobourg, ON (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455449727/) by Ministry of Infrastructure (http://www.flickr.com/people/93044236@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8103/8455424739_729d51ce02_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455424739/)
Downtown, Small-scale Commercial Street, King Street Cobourg, ON (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455424739/) by Ministry of Infrastructure (http://www.flickr.com/people/93044236@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1069/624499430_849274cbaa_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markboden/624499430/)
P6250003 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/markboden/624499430/) by gaffer1956 (http://www.flickr.com/people/markboden/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8455422153_9845808fd6_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455422153/)
Downtown, Small-scale, Pedestrian-oriented Commercial Street, Division Street Cobourg, ON (http://www.flickr.com/photos/93044236@N06/8455422153/) by Ministry of Infrastructure (http://www.flickr.com/people/93044236@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2603/4134523441_5d67d54a22_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7119320@N05/4134523441/)
Cobourg 5 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7119320@N05/4134523441/) by Sean_Marshall (http://www.flickr.com/people/7119320@N05/), on Flickr

If you can't read it Cobourg had a ferry to Rochester, NY.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3271/2791603614_0e154a7685_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/2791603614/)
Cobourg to Rochester: The Ontario Car Ferry Co. 1905-1950 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/2791603614/) by Will S. (http://www.flickr.com/people/wiless/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3131/2667112687_44013492cc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sayuri30/2667112687/)
Downtown Cobourg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sayuri30/2667112687/) by sayuri_30 (http://www.flickr.com/people/sayuri30/), on Flickr


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5072/7415421776_4f910b47f9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28133392@N02/7415421776/)
DSCN0132 Street fair, Cobourg, Ontario (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28133392@N02/7415421776/) by pvalentine1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/28133392@N02/), on Flickr


Cobourg's harbour/marina is to the immediate south of the downtown. Like most places on the Great Lakes it was once an industrial wasteland composed of railways, coal piles and large oil drums. The town, realizing the potential of the land, started slowly buying back the waterfront and turning it into what you see today which is open natural areas, condos and parks.

Not sure the date here.
http://www.cobourghistory.ca/assets/photos/harbour-1953_520.jpg
http://www.cobourghistory.ca/harbour3.htm

Early 1980s
http://www.cobourghistory.ca/assets/photos/cobourg1980_1200.jpg
http://www.cobourghistory.ca/harbour3.htm

Nowadays

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/8067716790_65e4f01d0f_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88276475@N04/8067716790/)
Cobourg Harbour in Canada (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88276475@N04/8067716790/) by BlueSkies705 (http://www.flickr.com/people/88276475@N04/), on Flickr

The condos on the left in this picture lie directly where the large oil drums above once stood.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7121/7552758748_e4d0b17df0_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35635444@N04/7552758748/)
Cobourg Marina (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35635444@N04/7552758748/) by Pouncer 2 (http://www.flickr.com/people/35635444@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3601/3685431719_f97a13c689_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30087967@N07/3685431719/)
Cobourg Marina (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30087967@N07/3685431719/) by justin.fitchett (http://www.flickr.com/people/30087967@N07/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7211/7377191904_356b6199c9_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/disprtim/7377191904/)
The Sylphide (http://www.flickr.com/photos/disprtim/7377191904/) by Ramblings From The 4th Concession (http://www.flickr.com/people/disprtim/), on Flickr

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/26/57956952_ee08b9d2bf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nodomain/57956952/)
P8244317 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nodomain/57956952/) by nodomain.cc (http://www.flickr.com/people/nodomain/), on Flickr


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/8026702764_35d499a363_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sallycharris/8026702764/)
Cobourg, ON (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sallycharris/8026702764/) by salgal2008 (http://www.flickr.com/people/sallycharris/), on Flickr

Just to the east of the harbour and downtown is Victoria Park which includes one the nicer beaches you'll find in Ontario.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8035/8019784495_3fce35766d_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10694443@N06/8019784495/)
Cobourg Beach (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10694443@N06/8019784495/) by mengesphotos (http://www.flickr.com/people/10694443@N06/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3120/3126690772_0dcb6630fb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcatnorth/3126690772/)
Victoria Park Pavilion Cobourg Beach (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcatnorth/3126690772/) by Bobcatnorth (http://www.flickr.com/people/bobcatnorth/), on Flickr


http://farm1.staticflickr.com/106/316366325_bdf2487ded_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebloglessone/316366325/)
05062403 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebloglessone/316366325/) by The Blogless One (http://www.flickr.com/people/thebloglessone/), on Flickr

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4091/5050422007_e3487f86eb_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartyn/5050422007/)
20100829 119 Cobourg Triathlon (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartyn/5050422007/) by scottdm (http://www.flickr.com/people/smartyn/), on Flickr


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3128/2845674209_6970615f78_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsorley/2845674209/)
Cobourg Beach (http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsorley/2845674209/) by Saugh30 (http://www.flickr.com/people/macsorley/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3574/3817200505_859e2c09eb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulygreenfish/3817200505/)
Victoria Park gazebo, Cobourg, Ont. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulygreenfish/3817200505/) by trulygreenfish (http://www.flickr.com/people/trulygreenfish/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3207/2800579709_199bd0fea5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24179010@N08/2800579709/)
Cobourg Beach & Trailer Camp (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24179010@N08/2800579709/) by demon_moon (http://www.flickr.com/people/24179010@N08/), on Flickr

One of Cobourg's more popular summer festivals is the Sandcastle Festival...

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6071/6095179830_bdcf31acaa_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095179830/)
IMG_4574 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095179830/) by Yan Simkin (http://www.flickr.com/people/leprechaun_il/), on Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6066/6095183848_de82d799b6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095183848/)
IMG_4783 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095183848/) by Yan Simkin (http://www.flickr.com/people/leprechaun_il/), on Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6207/6095180438_2e64331620_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095180438/)
IMG_4581 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprechaun_il/6095180438/) by Yan Simkin (http://www.flickr.com/people/leprechaun_il/), on Flickr

That concludes the tour for now. Oh and in case you're wondering, yes, Cobourg has the usual big box stores and sprawl. Yay! Although somewhat contained.

Farewell
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3222/3014458364_cec0ffd54b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjmixer/3014458364/)
Cobourg Sunset (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjmixer/3014458364/) by PJMixer (http://www.flickr.com/people/pjmixer/), on Flickr