Cobourg light-tower, Gull Island - 1839 Details The Cobourg Harbour Co. was incorporated and began operating in about 1830, starting with this pier. This first pier began near the entrance to the present trailer park, extended 500 feet into the lake and ended with a lighthouse. This sketch was made by W.H.Bartlett, a noted English artist. Bathing at Victoria Beach - c.1900 Details Cobourg Waterfront - c.1910 Details Yachting had been popular in Cobourg as early as the 1850s. Regattas were held in the harbour and Cobourg was a noted shipbuilding centre in the early eighteen-thirties. Later, Cobourg was on of the points on Royal Canadian Yacht Club Three Point race, the others being Toronto and Rochester. This yacht, Aida, was about 56' long plus bowsprit and won many races, cruised lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte under the Carter family ownership. In 1880 Bell, Lewis and Yates Co. built coal docks on the river next to the iron furnace. This area became the Genesee Docks and in 1905 the Grand Trunk Railway and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway got a charter for the Ontario Car Ferry Company to handle the coal traffic. The Ontario Car Ferry company was formed in 1905 in a joint venture between the Grand Trunk Railway and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pennsylvania Railroad. S.S. Ontario No. 1 and No. 2, Cobourg, Ontario - c.1910 Details S.S.Ontario No.1 and No.2, Cobourg Harbour, Ontario - c.1910 Details Waterfront in Cobourg as seen from an aeroplane - 1919 Details S.S. Ontario No. 2, Cobourg Ontario -c.1920 Details Double-deck diving tower - 1923 Details S.S. Ontario No.1, Cobourg Ontario - 1927 Details The harbour has been rebuilt, dredged and expanded many times in the past century and a half. It is actually entirely artificial as the bay formed by Midtown Creek was just a swampy inlet, which the Cobourg business people quickly recognized as a great opportunity if it became a major stopping place for trade on route to the Trent and St.Lawrence waterways. The Cobourg Harbour Co. owned the harbour for many years but in 1850 the town bought the harbour back at a huge expense. It accomodated railways, steamships and ferries, was disfigured for years by huge piles of coal and gigantic oil tanks. Victoria Park Beach - c.1960 Details At the beginning Victoria Park was just one long lawn which belonged to the Arlington Hotel. The grass eventually connected right into the beach. What is now "the crown jewel" of Cobourg was actually privately owned in 1874 but still accessible to the public. This photograph was taken by Canadian aerial photographer Harry Oakman. Cobourg promenade, along the beach in Victoria Park, on the shore of Lake Ontario. 
