Port Hope

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.

• Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga (YYZ ^IATA) is the closest major airport.

• 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.

See also: Rail travel in Canada

• 🌍 Port Hope station (Hayward St at Choate St). The Port Hope station is one of two active stations original to the 1856 opening of Grand Trunk's Montréal-Toronto mainline (the other is in Napanee) and has been painstakingly historically restored. Weekday train service at Port Hope Station is essentially rush hour only - oriented to commuters - with one train to Toronto early in the morning and two trains returning in the early evening. However, on weekends and holidays, the train to Toronto leaves in the early afternoon instead of early morning and only one train returns to Port Hope in the evening. (updated Sep 2017)
  • VIA Rail Canada, toll-free: +1-888-842-7245. Operates many intercity trains across Canada. (updated Apr 2022) Operates between Ottawa and Toronto including stops in Smiths Falls, Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston, Napanee, Bellevile, Trenton, Cobourg, Port Hope, and Oshawa. Operates daily.

For more frequent train service offered by VIA Rail Canada, travel to Cobourg, about 12 km to the east.

• Cobourg Express Shuttle, ☏ +1 905-885-9891. M-F 7AM-8PM, Sa 9AM-4PM (no service on Su). A twice per hour shuttle bus between Cobourg and Port Hope that departs at 30th and 60th minute. (updated Jan 2024)
• Megabus (Coach Canada). Service from Toronto Pearson International Airport. (updated Feb 2021)

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.

• 🌍 Port Hope Town Hall, 56 Queen St. Built 1851-53, this classic-looking town hall has a clock in the cupola on the roof. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Former Midland Hotel, 33 John St. This brightly coloured, former hotel was built circa 1855 to serve the passengers of the now defunct Midland Railway. The centre door area used to be carriageway. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Former YMCA building, 50 John St. Built circa 1874, this former institutional building has a somewhat church-like appearance. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 The Bank of Upper Canada, 86 John St. Built circa 1857, this former bank building is almost square and is an example of Italianate architecture. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 The Little Station, 10 Hayward St (east of John St at the harbour). This small station building was built circa 1855 for a whistle stop along the former Port Hope, Lindsay and Beaverton Railway. It was moved from its original location. It is not the same as today's Via Rail station, located at the western end of Hayward Street, which is also a heritage building. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Three Victorian houses, 36, 39 & 41 South St (just west of Port Hope United Church). Private residences. Three attractive Victorian houses at 36, 39 & 41 South St were built in 1875, 1880 and 1880 respectively. (updated Sep 2017)

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

• 🌍 Robert Mitchell house, 8 King St. Private residence. Cute 1½-storey Gothic cottage. (updated Sep 2017)

• 🌍 Charles Clemes duplex house, 57-59 King St. Private residence. This duplex house built circa 1876 in the second empire style has two symetrical, 2-storey bay windows. (updated Sep 2017)
• 🌍 Elias Smith house (Canada House), 168 King St. Private residence. Built as an inn circa 1800, it features a second-floor veranda over a sunroom facing the lake. (updated Sep 2017)

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

• 🌍 Our Lady of Mercy Church, 155 Walton St, ☏ +1 905-885-6793. This narrow brick church was built in 1855. The sanctuary, the choir loft and two spires were added in 1869. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 First Baptist Church, 57 John St, ☏ +1 905-885-6021. This Gothic-style, buff-brick, gable-roofed church was built in 1867. The copper spire roof was last replaced in 1964. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 St. John's Anglican Church, 33 Pine St N, ☏ +1 905-885-2171. Completed in 1869, this church is in the gothic revival style with stained glass windows made in England. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 Port Hope United Church, 34 South St (at Brown St), ☏ +1 905-885-2421. The church was dedicated in 1875 by Methodists who joined in 1925 with Unionist Presbyterians to form the United Church. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 131 Walton St, ☏ +1 905-349-3198. Completed in 1906, the church is in Richardsonian Romanesque Revival Style with two square towers of different height and arced recess entrances. (updated Aug 2017)