Cobourg is a town in Southern Ontario ninety-five kilometers (59 miles) east
of Toronto and 62 kilometers (39 miles) east of Oshawa. It is located along
Highway 401. To the south, Cobourg borders Lake Ontario.
166 James Street East – 1880s – two-story rectangular house with a side wing – chipped gable120 University Avenue East – Victoria College – 1832 – Edward Crane, architect and builder. This is in the Greek Revival style and was built as the Academy of the Methodist Church and became one of Canada’s earliest degree-granting universities in 1841. Egerton Ryerson, a prominent educator and founder of the Ontario public school system, was its first President. After forming a vital part of the Town’s academic and cultural life for over fifty years, Victoria College was persuaded to relocate to Toronto in 1892 and today remains affiliated with the University of Toronto.10 Chapel Street – c. 1841 – This house has Georgian features – balanced facade, medium-pitched roof, and robust end chimneys. Its rather heavy and severe doorway, with its single panel, is characteristic of the Greek Revival style.428 John Street – Built by William Hargraft, a prosperous hardware merchant in Cobourg who became Mayor and member of the Provincial Government. Second Empire Style with front tower.18 Spencer Street East – Known as ‘The Poplars’. The Spencers, Beattys and Daintrys who lived here were closely associated with the history and development of Cobourg and were connected to well-known Canadian families including the Ryersons. Early Ontario Regency Architecture50 Havelock Street — c. 1851. Residence of R.D. Chatterton who was the first editor of the Cobourg Star, Canada’s oldest continually published newspaper.77 Havelock Street – 1876 – This square house was built as a wedding present from the bride’s parents for Alfred Reynar, professor of English literature at Victoria College, and his bride Ida Hayden. The double main door is enhanced by a curved transom and narrow sidelights. The bay windows have stained glass transoms above each of the three narrow, mullioned window panes; there is bracketing under the eaves.80 Havelock Street – c. 1875 – William Bond, a contractor and builder, built this Victorian house with elaborate stone quoins, and stone lintels with worked keystone over each window. The second story center window is a mock French door, a counterpoint to the main door. Professor Bain of Victoria College was its first owner.
Cobourg is a town in Southern Ontario ninety-five kilometers (59 miles) east
of Toronto and 62 kilometers (39 miles) east of Oshawa. It is located along
Highway 401. To the south, Cobourg borders Lake Ontario.
80 University Avenue West – Ontario Vernacular house – The gable apex is ornately decorated by gingerbread, under the eaves are paired brackets and a decorated frieze. There is a large wooden medallion in the center gable.250 Mathew Street – c. 1850 – This Ontario Cottage was built by Mathew Williams. Substantial over-hanging eaves of the hipped roof give it a hat-like quality. This form of roof was unique to the Cobourg area. It has a lovely doorway.258 Mathew Street – c. 1840. -This clapboard saltbox house is stylishly finished with returning eaves and elaborate end boards. It has a splendid doorway.100 James Street West – sidelights and transom around front door, dormer in attic96 James Street West – dormer, circular window78 James Street West – two-story bay window with pedimentJames Street West – pediment above Doric pillars453 Division Street – c. 1880s – Samuel Clark, a merchant in Cobourg, bought this house from shoemaker John Sherman in 1884. Clapboard siding and barge board are the distinguishing features. There is a Gothic window in the small gable.410 Division Street – 1890-1900 – George Stanton House – Queen Anne element420 Division Street – 1835 – Georgian – Residence of George Perry, son of Ebenezer Perry, Chairman of the Board of Police, the first governing body of the Town. It is in Regency style with its contrasting window sizes on the first and second floors, sweeping galleries, low hip roof, and tall chimneys. It is now Woodlawn Inn.
Cobourg is a town in Southern Ontario ninety-five kilometers (59 miles) east
of Toronto and 62 kilometers (39 miles) east of Oshawa. It is located along
Highway 401. To the south, Cobourg borders Lake Ontario.
155 Durham Street – verge board trim on gable181 Bagot Street – built by Hugh Harper in the 1870s – barge board and finial in the gable, sidelights and transom, pediment supported by porch pillars163 Bagot Street – Gothic – iron cresting above bay window121 Bagot Street – Gothic Revival106 Bagot Street – c. 1850 – This Greek Revival cottage was built by William H. Floyd. Constructed of brick, it has simple clean lines, with good returning eaves and a plain cornice. The off-center doorway is a unique example of the extent to which the Greek Revival could go in elaborate detail.93 Bagot Street – Neo-Colonial – gambrel roof990 Ontario Street – The Mill Restaurant – In 1836, Asa Burnham, a Cobourg pioneer, sold his property at Elgin and Ontario Streets to Ebenezer Perry, a United Empire Loyalist, a veteran of the War of 1812. Perry’s Mill was constructed of stone; it was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt of brick in the 1850s with some stone work around the entrance. In 1870, Mr. Poe added a plaster mill which required schooner loads of stone to be brought in for grinding. He also continued to run the flouring mill. By 1889 the Pratt family owned the mill and continued there until 1986. Alexander Pratt owned a flour and seed store in Cobourg and leased the flour mills in Baltimore. His interests in the mill began in May 1883 when the Cobourg Flour Milling Company was converting the old grindstone mill into the more efficient device known as the roller mill.181 Ontario Street – 1844 – second story added later – truncated hip roof, front French door with sidelights163 Ontario Street – 1843 – built by one of the four Burnet brothers – front porch added in 1862 – the ornamented entablature of the porch is supported by two large square pillars and an elaborate frieze with a central crest at the top.120 Ontario Street – stone110 Ontario Street – 1878 – “Illahee Lodge†– Italianate – built by John Jeffrey, hardware merchant – bay windows, front porch crowned with intricate wrought iron railing173 Tremaine Street – “Mount Fortune” 1844 – This Greek Revival home at one time served as an officers’ mess for the Cobourg Cavalry Regiment. The porch treillage and molded brick cornice are note-worthy. It was owned in the 1860s by James Fortune, one-time sheriff of the District.202 Green Street – Hatfield Hall – 1879 – High Victorian Gothic – It was built by retired Civil War Colonel Chambliss, Managing Director of the Cobourg and Marmora Railway and Mining Company. His heiress wife, Sallie, was the daughter of George K. Schoenberger who largely financed the railroad company. In 1890, Colonel Douglass Cornell of Buffalo bought the house for a summer residence and called it Hadfield Hurst (Hadfield was his wife’s maiden name). From 1929 to 1951, it was a girls’ private school, Hatfield Hall, named after the house where the future Queen Elizabeth I was confined by her sister Queen Mary I. The windows all have transom lights at the top. On the west facade is a third-floor balcony covered with a hip roof and gable with decorative fretwork.
Cobourg is a town in Southern Ontario ninety-five kilometers (59 miles) east
of Toronto and 62 kilometers (39 miles) east of Oshawa. It is located along
Highway 401. To the south, Cobourg borders Lake Ontario.
James Cockburn, born in England, moved to
Montreal with his family in 1832. In 1845 he came to Cobourg to practice
law and, until 1849, shared a practice with D’Arcy Boulton, another prominent
politician. Married in 1854 to Isabella Susan Patterson, Cockburn began raising
a family and found interest in public affairs. He was elected to the Cobourg
town council in 1856, 1858 and 1859. During this time, when plans for Victoria
Hall floundered due to lack of finances, Cockburn offered the leadership which
saw the project completed in 1860. While serving in local politics Cockburn
acquired a reputation for honesty, fair dealing, integrity and sound logic. He was one of the
Fathers of Confederation.
Cobourg retains its small-town atmosphere,
in part due to the downtown and surrounding residential area’s status as a
Heritage Conservation District.
202 Church Street – 1878 – The Mulholland and McArthur House – Italianate Villa style – built by Robert Mulholland – asymmetrical ‘L’ plan with a short square tower crowned by an iron urn; at the base of the tower is a paneled doorway. The beaded string course, ornate roof cornice, pediments and iron cresting above the bay window, and barge board on the eave emphasize the sense of gaiety. The pale red bricks of the house are complimented by white arched window and door moldings.184 Church Street – 1888 – The Albert House – Victoria Cottage built by William Beer and rented to summer visitors. Two storeys, gable roof, the windows are two-over-two and double hung, aluminum siding. The veranda is the full front of the facade, has a shed roof, with balcony above.356 Walton Street – c. 1876 – ‘Sunny Brae’ was built by Nathaniel Burwash, a teacher at Victoria College who later became its president, in a Vernacular style. The front gable and porch, added circa 1905, gave it more charm. Another teacher, Albert Odell, bought the house in 1900. Albert and his brother John were both teachers who became school inspectors, and both had married sisters, the daughters of a local merchant. When Albert’s wife died in 1904 John and his family moved in with his brother. When war broke out ten years later, John enlisted at the age of 48. He had been the commanding officer of the Cobourg Heavy Battery, a militia regiment, which became part of the 2nd Heavy Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Odell’s command. This battery arrived in France in September of 1915 and returned home in May of 1919.332 Henry Street – c. 1856 – This well -proportioned Victorian house shows Regency influence in its three-bay facade and hipped roof but also has a Gothic-style gable with an attic window. It was built for Andrew Hewson, an Irish immigrant who operated a successful dry goods and millinery store in town. He and his wife had six children, and their daughter, Charlotte, and her husband, Deputy-Sheriff David McNaughton, lived with them for many years. Their only son, Edmund Hewson McNaughton, was killed at Bully-Grenay, France, while serving with the Cobourg Heavy Battery. On August 9, 1918, an enemy shell hit a storage shed containing 9 artillery shells and 5 tons of cordite. A 9.2 Howitzer gun was destroyed and 26-year old McNaughton and two other Cobourg young men were killed.303 Henry Street – c. 1882 – Vernacular with Gothic elements – verge board trim, bay windows273 College Street – Matthew Hobart, a Cobourg cabinet maker, had this stucco house built about 1858 in the Classic Revival style. Sidelights, double-hung windows two up two down on the gabled facade, cornice return on gable306 College Street – 1857 – The decorative pattern of two-colored brick work is the outstanding feature of this house, built in Georgian Loyalist style for a local merchant, Lazarus Payne. Members of the Payne family lived here for over seventy years.320 College Street – bay window with iron cresting above, sidelights and transom windows394 College Street – oriel window with dormer above314 George Street – The MacNachtan Home – 1876 – red-brick Italianate house with contrasting window and door heads in buff brick, a circular window in the gable, paired cornice brackets, verge board trim on gable474 George Street – built by Thomas Dumble in 1871 – Gothic – elaborate front porch added about 189077 Albert Street – King George Inn34 Buck Street – gambrel-roofed dormer with balcony
