Port Hope

Port Hope is a municipality of 17,000 people (2021) in Ontario northeast of Toronto.

Downtown Port Hope is well known as a shopping destination for antiques and other specialty items and is widely regarded as one of the best-preserved main streets in Ontario.

Understand
Besides Port Hope, other communities within the municipality include: Campbellcroft, Canton, Dale, Davidson's Corners, Decker Hollow (ghost town), Elizabethville, Garden Hill, Knoxville, Morrish, Osaca, Perrytown, Port Britain, Rossmount, Thomstown, Welcome, Wesleyville (ghost town) and Zion.

History
The First Nations (Indigenous) people of the region called the area "Ganaraska", and it is what they called the river that flows through the town. The name originates from Ganaraske, the first Cayuga village at the current townsite. The Cayuga, part of the Iroquois Confederacy, had migrated there from New York in 1779, after suffering extensive damage as British allies at their homeland in New York state during the American Revolution. In 1793, United Empire Loyalists became the first permanent settlers of European heritage in Port Hope, which they called Smith's Creek after a former fur trader. Mills and a town plot were developing by the turn of the century. After the War of 1812, more British settlers were wanted, and a better name was required. After a brief fling with the name Toronto, the village was renamed in 1817 as Port Hope, after the Township of Hope of which it was a part, which in turn had been named for Colonel Henry Hope, lieutenant governor of the Province of Quebec.

Relatively slow growth from 1881 to 1951 resulted in much of the town's original architecture not being demolished in the name of progress. Port Hope's downtown is celebrated now as the best-preserved 19th-century streetscape in Ontario. With over 270 heritage-designated buildings throughout the municipality, Port Hope has a higher per capita rate of preservation than any other town or city in Canada.

Port Hope is known for having the most low-level radioactive wastes in Canada. These wastes were created by Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited and its private sector predecessors, as a result of the refining process used to extract radium from uranium ore.

In 2002, a large amount of contaminated soil was removed from beachfront areas. Well over a billion dollars is expected to be spent on the soil remediation project, the largest such cleanup in Canadian history. The effort is projected to be complete in 2022.

By plane

 * Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga is the closest major airport.

By car

 * Highway 401, exit 464 is the main highway access point to Port Hope. It is about 100 km east of downtown Toronto and 85 km west of Belleville.

By train
For more frequent train service offered by VIA Rail Canada, travel to Cobourg, about 12 km to the east.
 * Operates between Ottawa and Toronto including stops in Smiths Falls, Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston, Napanee, Bellevile, Trenton, Cobourg, Port Hope, and Oshawa. Operates daily.
 * Operates between Ottawa and Toronto including stops in Smiths Falls, Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston, Napanee, Bellevile, Trenton, Cobourg, Port Hope, and Oshawa. Operates daily.

Get around
Most of the places of interest are with downtown Port Hope or within walking distance of it. A few sites may need a car.

Port Hope Transit provides two local circular bus routes. Single ride ticket is $2.50 for adults (18-54), $2 for seniors (55+) and children (4-17), and free for under 4.

Heritage buildings
Port Hope has over 200 buildings with a heritage designation. Fifty of them are concentrated between 1 to 201 Walton Street in the downtown area with a few more on several intersecting streets. The following is a sampling of addition heritage buildings located away from Walton Street. Few would be open to the public but all are visible from a public sidewalk.



King Street
King Street (east of the Ganaraska River) is a quiet residential street with about a dozen heritage houses including the following:

Churches
Near the downtown area are a few old churches built between 1855 and 1906.

Do

 * Take a walk around downtown Port Hope. It isn't big and it is considered to be one of the best preserved 19th century streetscapes in Ontario.
 * Three 18-hole golf courses are in this area.

Go next

 * Cobourg is a ten minute drive east of Port Hope along Lake Ontario.
 * Peterborough is a 30-40 minute drive north on County Road 28 (Ontario St).