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The Founding of Omemee

Photo by Alan L Brown - May, 2004

Plaque Location

The City of Kawartha Lakes
In Omemee, on the north-west corner of
King Street West (Highway 7) and Sturgeon Road North (Road 7)
N 44 17.935 W 78 33.611

Plaque Text

About 1820 Maurice Cottingham settled here on the Pigeon River in Emily Township. By 1835 his family had acquired much of the site of the present village. William Cottingham had built mills and with Christopher Knowlson, had laid out a village plot named Williamstown on the west side of the river. Within a few years a post office was opened and by 1843 the village had been enlarged and was called Metcalfe. The construction of the Port Hope, Lindsay and Beaverton Railway in 1857 fostered the growth of the community and it was renamed Omemee, a Missisauga word meaning "Pigeon". The centre became a thriving shipping point for timber and grain. Omemee was incorporated as a Village in 1874 with a population of about 900.

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