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• Cathedral of St. Peter-in-Chains, The
  The parish of St. Peter-in-Chains was established in 1826 to serve the large Irish Catholic population of the surrounding Robinson Settlement. This building, erected in 1837-38 of stone from nearby Jackson's Creek, is one of the oldest remaining Catholic churches in Ontario. Reportedly designed by the Toronto architect James Chevette, it follows the modified gothic Revival style popular in Upper Canada during the period. In 1882, when the Diocese of Peterborough was erected St. Peter's...

• Catharine Parr Traill 1802-1899
  A member of the literary Strickland family, this talented author married Lieut. Thomas Traill and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1832. For seven years, they struggled unsuccessfully to establish a profitable farm on bushland in Douro Township. Subsequently, they lived at Ashburnham and Rice Lake. In 1862, following her husband's death, Mrs. Traill's daughters purchased "Westove," and she lived here the rest of her life. Her best known book, "The Backwoods of Canada," is based...

• Colonel Samuel Strickland 1804-1867
  This church was built in 1853 principally through the efforts of Samuel Strickland. A member of an English family, which included several successful authors, he emigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1825. After farming in Otonabee Township, he served with the Canada Company 1828-1831 as a superintendent of settlement. In 1831, he became one of Douro's earliest settlers, and later established a school there for the training of persons interested in pioneer farming. His...

• District Court House and Jail
  In 1838, the District of Colborne was established and Peterborough selected as the "district town." In June of that year, the district magistrates, with the Hon. Thomas Stewart presiding, authorized the construction of a court house and jail. Joseph Scobell's plans for the building were accepted and the foundation stone was laid by Sir George Arthur, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, on August 25, 1838. At a cost of over £7,000, the court house was completed in 1840 and the jail in 1842 with stone quarried from Jackson's Park, adding to the community structures of notable size and design.

• Grover-Nicholls House, The
  An outstanding example of Greek revival architecture, modified in the Palladian manner, it was begun about 1847 by P.M. Grover, a well-to-do local merchant. A type of building rare in Ontario, it was probably inspired by a "design for a villa" appearing in Minard Lafever's "Modern Builder's Guide," 1833. The square pillars of this house are a classical Greek feature popular in North America principally because they were less costly to build than round columns...

• Serpent Mounds, The
  The principal mound of this group is the only known example in Canada of a mound of serpentine shape. The earliest archaeological excavation on the site was carried out by David Boyle in 1896. Artifacts and skeletal remains were discovered, but the first comprehensive investigation was not started until 1955. The mounds, somewhat similar to those of the Ohio Valley, appear to have been built while the region was occupied by Indians of the Point...

• Hutchison House 1837, The
  This stone house, completed by February 1837, was first occupied by Dr. John Hutchison, Peterborough's first permanently established physician. A native of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Hutchison had come to Upper Canada by 1818 and practiced in the Rice Lake area and at Port Hope before moving to Peterborough in 1830. Already a magistrate, he became one of the settlement's leading citizens. The house is believed to have been built by voluntary labour and public subscription to...

• Joseph Medlicott Scriven 1819-1886
  Born and educated in Ireland, Scriven was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He emigrated to Canada in 1847 and during the 1850's became tutor to the family of Captain Robert L. Pengelley, R.N., a retired British naval officer who had settled in this vicinity. A deeply religious man, he published a book entitled "Hymns and Other Verses" in 1869. However, the poem entitled "Pray Without Ceasing", for which he was to become famous, was...

• Lang Mill, The
  In 1846, Thomas Short, later member of the Parliament of Canada for Peterborough County, erected this stone flour mill here on the Indian River. Within five years he had built a sawmill across the river and had laid out a village plot named Allandale. By 1858, the Allandale Flour Mill, which now also housed an oatmeal mill, had become one of the largest in the region and was exporting large quantities of its products. Short...

• Robinson Settlement 1825, The
  In an effort to alleviate poverty and unemployment in Ireland, the British government in 1825 sponsored a settlement of Irish emigrants in the Newcastle District of Upper Canada. Peter Robinson, later that province's Commissioner of Crown Lands, was appointed superintendent and in May, 2,024 persons sailed from Cork. A few settled elsewhere and disease thinned their numbers, but by September the remainder were gathered in temporary shelters on the site of Peterborough. Under Robinson's supervision...

• Scott's Mills 1820
  Near this site in 1820, the community's first resident, Adam Scott (1796-1838), built a sawmill and a gristmill. The small settlement that grew around them was known as Scott's Plains until 1826 when it was renamed in honour of Peter Robinson. Although of primitive construction, the mills were of great benefit to the early settlers, including the Irish emigrants brought out by Robinson in 1825. Scott relinquished possession of the mills in 1827 and in 1835, they were destroyed by fire.

• Sir Sandford Fleming 1827-1915
  Inventor of Standard Time and pioneer in world communications, Fleming was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and training in engineering and surveying before emigrating to Canada and settling at Peterborough in 1845. He soon moved to Toronto where in 1849 he assisted in the founding of the Canadian Institute and two years later designed the first Canadian postage stamp. He was the builder of the Intercolonial Railway and as chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway...

• St. John's Church 1834
  An Anglican congregation was formed in Peterborough by the Rev. Samuel Armour in 1826. Services were held in a schoolhouse until the building of St. John's was begun in 1834 and opened in the summer of 1836. Designed by Joseph Scobell and assisted by financial contributions from England and Ireland, it is a fine example of Early English Gothic Revival architecture. In 1882 it was extensively renovated. The first rector was the Rev. R.H. D'Olier...

• Susanna Moodie 1803-1885
  This talented writer, the wife of a retired British army officer, emigrated with her husband and daughter to Upper Canada in 1832. In 1834, they moved to a nearby farm lot to be near her brother, Samuel Strickland, and her sister, Catharine Parr Traill. The following six years of unsuccessful effort to develop a wilderness property provided the theme for her best known work, "Roughing it in the Bush". In 1840, they moved to Belleville...

• Thomas and Frances Stewart
  In 1822, the Stewart family emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland, to Upper Canada and the following year they began to farm this land on the Otonabee River. Thomas A. Stewart (1786-1847) served as justice of the peace and member of the Legislative Council and through his public service he played a significant role in Peterborough's early development. His wife Frances (1794-1872) wrote a series of detailed and highly descriptive letters concerning the life and early...

• Trent University
  In 1957, public-spirited residents of Peterborough formed a Citizens' Committee to examine the possibility of creating a university to serve the Trent Valley. By letters patent of August 9, 1960, this committee became Trent College Limited and in the following year a group of academic advisers, under the chairmanship of President-designate T.H.B. Symons, organized the University's Academic Planning Committee. A provincial charter of 1963 established Trent as a degree-granting university which admitted its first students...