Town Focus - Cobourg, Ont (Images)

TownGuy · #1 Posted **May 19, 2013, 5:09 PM**

Canada's major cities are awesome but there are also some lesser known gems in Canada we don't often see. Lets change that!

I'm a homer so I'll focus on my hometown which is Cobourg.

Start with a bit of a history lesson.

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!

Cobourg Town Hall #2 by T a k, 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.

Victoria Hall, Cobourg by Ross Dunn, on Flickr

Victoria Hall by demon_moon, on Flickr

_DSC0602Anx2-Q50 by edk7, on Flickr

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

Downtown Cobourg by Kiril Strax, on Flickr

Downtown, Small-scale, Pedestrian-oriented Commercial Street, King Street Cobourg, ON by Ministry of Infrastructure, on Flickr

Downtown, Small-scale Commercial Street, King Street Cobourg, ON by Ministry of Infrastructure, on Flickr

P6250003 by gaffer1956, on Flickr

Downtown, Small-scale, Pedestrian-oriented Commercial Street, Division Street Cobourg, ON by Ministry of Infrastructure, on Flickr

Cobourg 5 by Sean_Marshall, on Flickr

If you can't read it Cobourg had a ferry to Rochester, NY.

Cobourg to Rochester: The Ontario Car Ferry Co. 1905-1950 by Will S., on Flickr

Downtown Cobourg by sayuri_30, on Flickr

DSCN0132 Street fair, Cobourg, Ontario by pvalentine1, 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/harbour3.htm

Early 1980s

http://www.cobourghistory.ca/harbour3.htm

Nowadays

Cobourg Harbour in Canada by BlueSkies705, on Flickr

The condos on the left in this picture lie directly where the large oil drums above once stood.

Cobourg Marina by Pouncer 2, on Flickr

Cobourg Marina by justin.fitchett, on Flickr

The Sylphide by Ramblings From The 4th Concession, on Flickr

P8244317 by nodomain.cc, on Flickr

Cobourg, ON by salgal2008, 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.

Cobourg Beach by mengesphotos, on Flickr

Victoria Park Pavilion Cobourg Beach by Bobcatnorth, on Flickr

05062403 by The Blogless One, on Flickr

20100829 119 Cobourg Triathlon by scottdm, on Flickr

Cobourg Beach by Saugh30, on Flickr

Victoria Park gazebo, Cobourg, Ont. by trulygreenfish, on Flickr

Cobourg Beach & Trailer Camp by demon_moon, on Flickr

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

IMG_4574 by Yan Simkin, on Flickr

IMG_4783 by Yan Simkin, on Flickr

IMG_4581 by Yan Simkin, 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

Cobourg Sunset by PJMixer, on Flickr

SignalHillHiker · #2 Posted **May 19, 2013, 5:15 PM**

Just gorgeous.

DrJoe · #3 Posted **May 19, 2013, 7:39 PM**

Nice town

Nicko999 · #4 Posted **May 19, 2013, 8:08 PM**

Man I love the charm of small towns.

SignalHillHiker · #5 Posted **May 19, 2013, 8:10 PM**

BTW, TownGuy... PLEASE repeat this thread in the My City Photos section. I've posted threads for small towns in Newfoundland (Bonavista, Trinity, etc.) that were VERY well received. But they were NOTHING like Coburg, this is a whole other thing. PLEASE do post your thread there.

It will impress people.

kwoldtimer · #6 Posted **May 19, 2013, 10:30 PM**

Cobourg is a lovely town and Port Hope just down the road is not bad either. Both have maintained really decent downtowns.

manny_santos · #7 Posted **May 20, 2013, 1:01 AM**

This is motivating me to do something similar for Kingston, which is full of great architecture and a great downtown.

TownGuy · #8 Posted **May 20, 2013, 11:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

BTW, TownGuy... PLEASE repeat this thread in the My City Photos section. I've posted threads for small towns in Newfoundland (Bonavista, Trinity, etc.) that were VERY well received. But they were NOTHING like Coburg, this is a whole other thing. PLEASE do post your thread there.

It will impress people.

I think I will. Only thing is I didn't take them myself so I have to put it in the Found Photos section which doesn't look like many people visit, lol.

Innsertnamehere · #9 Posted **May 20, 2013, 2:12 AM**

Maybe we should start a "small town" thread, for photos of small towns across Canada. I could easily collect some pictures for 2 or 3 different towns in my area this summer.

Dwils01 · #10 Posted **May 20, 2013, 3:06 AM**

Cobourg is a very nice town. I was only there once to do a sight lines study for a new residential development and I was impressed with all the nice old architecture there.

DrJoe · #11 Posted **May 20, 2013, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Maybe we should start a "small town" thread, for photos of small towns across Canada. I could easily collect some pictures for 2 or 3 different towns in my area this summer.

Good idea. Southern Ontario in particular is just completely covered in little towns no one has really heard of.

Dr Awesomesauce · #12 Posted **May 21, 2013, 12:58 AM**

Thanks so much for posting these pics. It's true, Cobourg doesn't get the credit it deserves. A very pretty town. Good beach. Neither too close nor too far from Toronto. The perfect little package.

TownGuy · #13 Posted **May 23, 2013, 12:32 AM**

Yeah you're right. Sort of in a sweet spot. Not close enough to turn into a sprawling hellhole but the close enough to enjoy Toronto for the day and be back.

WhipperSnapper · #14 Posted **Jan 10, 2017, 3:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

Thanks so much for posting these pics. It's true, Cobourg doesn't get the credit it deserves. A very pretty town. Good beach. Neither too close nor too far from Toronto. The perfect little package.

I don't know about that. It's mentioned every now and then among my circles in Toronto as it has many attractive qualities. In the end though, it's a very small, white town.

OutOfTowner · #15 Posted **Jan 12, 2017, 8:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I don't know about that. It's mentioned every now and then among my circles in Toronto as it has many attractive qualities. In the end though, it's a very small, white town.

Most small towns in Canada are predominantly white.

The horror! (apparently)