Audio Guide | Peterborough Museum & Archives

Take a peek inside this 1920's kitchen to discover what life was like for a working class family in Peterborough. The kitchen was the hub of family life and the ideal 1920's kitchen was a cheerful, vibrant room filled with bright colours, floral prints and linoleum floors in geometric patterns. Although electricity was now common in many homes, the working class kitchen was a place of transition. Electric lighting and electric stoves mixed with a traditional ice box for keeping for cold. Blocks of ice were delivered daily and housed in these coolers which were likely insulated with sawdust. Can you spot any familiar items that you remember? How about any items that are making a come back?

The Peterborough Lift Lock, constructed in 1904, is the highest hydraulic lock in the world with a rise of 19.8 meters. Between modern day Trent University and Little Lake.   the water level drops approximately 20 meters. A conventional lock can only raise or lower a boat 6 to 8 meters at a time, while a lift lock can raise or lower a boat over 20 meters in the same time; The decision was made to build a single and extraordinarily tall lift lock to reduce the number of locks required for a boat to climb or drop from one end of Peterborough to the other.

The Lift Lock was built under difficult conditions: bad weather, general inexperience and poor working relations between the contractors and canal staff made this impressive endeavour even more challenging. The workers used the latest technologies of the time; for example, steam shovels and rivet guns, but the working conditions were dangerous and the scaffolding and supports were crude and rickety. Overall it took 8 years to construct the lift lock. Amazingly, only one person died during the construction. Both the business community and the city continue to use the Lift Lock to promote Peterborough. It is a symbol of the town and is one of the area’s largest tourist attractions.

The Indigenous peoples have travelled the lakes and rivers of what is now known as the Trent-Severn Waterway since 13,000 B.C.E. In the 1600s, European fur traders used the system, and the settlement of the Kawarthas was closely linked to the developing waterway. Traditionally, Peterborough is known as Nogojiwanong, which translates to Place at the End of the Rapids. While the rapids and waterfalls between the lakes provided waterpower for the early mills, they made travel difficult. The Trent-Severn Waterway was originally constructed so it could effectively transport military from the St. Lawrence River, inland, towards Lake Simcoe. In the late 1820s, demand for a waterway linking the upper lakes with Lake Ontario began as new settlers and farmers were looking for a way to move grain to southern markets. The first wooden lock was built in Bobcaygeon in 1833. By 1887 there were locks, canals, dams and slides at Chisholm Rapids (Hastings), Healy Falls (Campbellford), Crow Rapids (Marmora), Whitla Rapids (Peterborough), Burleigh Falls, Buckhorn, Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls and Lindsay.

Peterborough, surrounded by lakes and rivers, was a natural centre for canoe-making. First Nations people developed many efficient methods of transportation suited to Canada’s geography and climate such as the canoe and snowshoes. In years to come, Peterborough would become a world centre for industrial production of these First Nations inventions. Canoe manufacturers and the Peterborough Ski and Toboggan Company (a division of the Peterborough Canoe Company) produced and shipped canoes, toboggans and snowshoes around the world. The Peterborough Canoe Company was started by John Stephenson of Ashburnham and Tom Gordon of Lakefield in the late 1850s. Their canoe design was lightweight and strong, combining the best features of the bark and dugout canoes. This new design put Peterborough on the map as the "Canoe Capital of Canada," and soon, many canoe-making companies emerged.

Prior to 1884, Peterborough’s downtown streets were lit by gas streetlights. Lamplighters were employed to manually spark the lamps in the evening and douse them in the morning. On May 24th, 1884, Peterborough became the first city in Canada with electric street lighting, earning itself the nickname, The Electric City.

The Edison Electric Company came to Peterborough from Sherbrooke Quebec in 1890, for the ample water power, rail lines, cheap taxes and the towns offer of free land. Later called the General Electric Company, it set up its plant on the southern edge of town between Park and Monaghan Streets, where it is still located. Its arrival changed the face of the town and ensured its future as a major industrial centre.

Peterborough's militia was formed in the early 1830s to protect Upper Canada against threats of rebellion. Following its reorganization in the late 1860s and early 1870s, the militia served not only as a military defense, but also as a key factor in the town's social life.  

Between 1869 and 1992, three generations of the Roy family photographed virtually every aspect of life and work in Peterborough and surrounding areas. As a result, the Peterborough Museum & Archives has over 400,000 glass plate and film negatives donated to us by Jim Balsillie in 2000. It is thanks to the Roy Studio that we have such a comprehensive visual history of Peterborough.

By 1860, Peterborough had changed from an isolated logging town to a service centre for the local agricultural and lumber industries. At one point, there were even 4 railways going through Peterborough to assist in the transport of these goods.

Buildings in Peterborough changed as life became more settled. Houses changed from simple log or frame houses to larger, more complex designs.

The various state-of-the-art bridges built at Hunter Street provided an important link between the two growing communities of Peterborough and Ashburnham which would later become amalgamated as East City. The Hunter Street Bridge across the Otonabee River was, at the time of its completion, the longest span of un-reinforced concrete in Canada.

By 1884, four railways served the town of Peterborough, allowing the town to grow significantly. A house was constructed for the town’s first physician Dr. John Hutchison, close to the new station built at Bethune and Aylmer Streets, for convenience in receiving supplies and patients alike. In fact, much of the life of the town surrounded the main railway lines which crisscross the downtown area to this day.

With the end of the lumber era in Peterborough, and the increased development of highways, the use of transport and passenger trains significantly declined.

As a result of social, economic, and political developments in the Victorian Era, local First Nations communities began to adapt to widespread changes that affected their traditional ways of life. A new form of income came in the way of being guides for hunting camps.

In the Victorian Era, theatres and music halls were central to town life, providing much needed space for meetings and debate as well as concerts and plays. Peterborough's strong tradition of live entertainment continues today.

The scale model of the Bradburn Opera House was created by Dr. Barkley McKone in the mid 1990’s. He had a passion for recreating historic buildings in Peterborough. Designed by John Belcher, the Opera House was originally located next to Market Hall, but was torn down in 1973 to make way for Peterborough Square.

If not for the founder of the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee Martha Kidd, wrapping herself around Market Hall, it would have faced the same level of destruction.