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In January 1998, The City of Quinte West was formed by the amalgamation of four former municipalities; City of Trenton, Village of Frankford, Sidney Township and Murray Township. The amalgamation created a unique community offering a blend between urban and rural lifestyles. The City thrived in the years following, establishing itself as a sought after destination offering a vibrant outdoor natural environment for agricultural and recreational pursuits combined with endless retail and entertainment opportunities.
At the heart of Quinte West is the southern entrance to the Trent-Severn Waterway, a unique 386 kilometre system of lakes and rivers stretching from the Bay of Quinte in the south, to Georgian Bay in the north. Quinte West is home to Canada’s largest military air base, Canadian Forces Base 8 Wing Trenton, as well as some of the world’s major corporations including Pepsico Foods Inc., Nestle Canada Inc. Food Service and Invar Manufacturing Ltd.
History
Many of the families living in Quinte West are
descendants of the United Empire Loyalists. The Quinte Bay area was considered
desirable for settlement as early as 1773 when the Governor General of the
Canadian Colonies, Sir Guy Carleton, requested Governor Haldimand of Quebec to
enquire if the Mississauga Indians would make a treaty to sell the
land.
In October 1783 an 'Agreement to Purchase' was finally made
with the signinig of the Gunshot Treaty and surveying begain. At the time there
were a great many people living in the states who had remained loyal to England
and trekked north to what is now Canada. The British ordered a list under the
designation of United Empire Loyalists to be made. Among these were ex-military
personnel, ex-slaves, and aboriginals loyal to the Crown.
Settlements were established surrounding the
Quinte Bay on lands promised to them by the Crown. Nearly four million pounds
was divided among the Loyalists in addition to large grants of land in the new
country varying from 200 to 5,000 acres. The money was used for tools, farm
equipment, seed to sow and food and clothing.
The townships were named after family members of King George
III and were called 'Royal Townships'. By 1787, the 8th (Sidney), 9th (Thurlow),
and 10th (Richmond) townships completed the circle around the Bay.
The area was part of Quebec until the Constitutional Act of
1791 which divided the country into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, gave it the
British Law System, a Legislative Assembly, and its first Lieutenant-Governor,
Lord John Graves Simcoe. There were 19 townships in Upper Canada (now
Ontario).
Trenton Ward
Located at the mouth of the River Trent and the head of the Bay of
Quinte, this area was first visited by Samuel De Champlain in 1615.
In 1784 surveyors were sent to lay out the lots in the
country along the Bay of Quinte. One of the surveyors was John Richard Bleeker
from Albany, New York, who settled in Carrying Place in 1787 and later moved to
Trent Port. He built a log home known as Bleeker's Grove.
The first permanent settlers of the Trenton area were the United Empire Loyalists. The first settlers at the mouth of the Trent River (present day downtown) arrived in 1790 establishing an economy based primarily on the lumber industry.
Before the war of 1812, the only means of access to Trent
Port was by boat or by paths through the dense forest. During the war roads were
built as a defense measure and in 1817 the first stage coaches began arriving in
Trenton from York and Kingston. In 1833 the federal government granted the area
$20,000 to build a covered bridge across the Trent to replace ferry
service.
The town was greatly aided with the opening
of the RCAF training centre in 1931, which has evolved into Canada’s largest air
force base.
The new roads led to a boom season for the settlement,
largely due to the lumber industry. Large quantities of logs rafted down the
Trent River to the village, where they then floated down the St. Lawrence in
massive drams. Lumber mills began to spring up, the most famous of them being
the Gilmour Lumber Company, which became the largest such business in 1852.
On September 20, 1852, Trent Port
incorporated into a village bringing the east and the west side of the Trent
River into one municipality.
In 1855 the Grand Trunk Railway (CNR) built its
lines through the village, which boasted a grammar school, four private schools
, several manufacturers and a distillery. The population was 1,500.
By 1867, the year of Confederation, further expansion of
communication and transportation exploded and railways brought increasing demand
for ties which were to be a boon for the lumber industry in Trent Port. By
1873, Trent Port was producing 400,000 ties annually.
July 1, 1880 the Lieutenant Governor approved Trent Port as a
town, business flourished and in 1884 construction began on the Murray Canal.
In 1885, the Ontario government allowed Trent Port to develop its
own water power and a generator dam was built above Dam No. 1 to send power to
Gilmour Lumber Company as well as Belleville through new transmission lines.
In 1888, Trent Port grand post office was constructed.
In 1910 bad news hit with the closing of the Gilmour Lumber
Company throwing several employees out of work but it was predicted that the
completion of the Murray Canal would bring prosperity back to the town.
But in fact it was the cheap power from the hydroelectric dams
that drew industry to Trenton. One of those industries was the British Chemical
Plant, financed by the British government and constructed on the site of the old
Gilmour Saw Mill. It was the largest ammunition factory in the Commonwealth.
The plant covered 2,000 acres and contained 120 buildings on the northeastern
limits of the town. However on Thanksgiving weekend in 1918 a fire caused a
massive explosion at the plant that rocked to town and ended the production of
ammunition in Trenton.
The town of Trenton came to life in 1929 when 8 Wing Trenton
moved to town and was home to 3,500 employees and the subsequent opening of the RCAF training centre in 1931, which has evolved into Canada’s largest air force base.
In January 1998, Quinte
West was formed with the amalgamation of four former municipalities – City of
Trenton, Village of Frankford, SidneyTownship and Murray Township.
Frankford Ward
For thousands of years the Trent River
rushed by, tumbling through a narrow, shallow trough in the limestone on the
last few miles of its course. Near a spot where the river became shallow, it was
joined by the last of its tributaries, a long winding creek named Cold Creek,
which drained many square miles of forest to the west. The scene was rarely viewed by
man until nearly the end of the eighteenth century. For many years, the low roar
of rapids was absorbed in the stillness of the deep, surrounding
forest.
In 1782, Cold Creek/Scotts Mills was settled
by United Loyalists. At this location they were able to ford the river just
below the rapids.
The village of Frankford was named following a visit by Sir Francis Bond Head, Lt. Governor of Upper Canada in the year 1837. The question of a
proper name was of paramount
importance to the developing community. Most people knew
the site as Scott’s Mill, others called it Cold Creek, while a few wanted to
call it Waterford, because of the ford in the river. Eventually the first name
of the visiting Governor was combined with the idea of the ford. The name was
ratified by a meeting of the villagers and a petition was sent to Bond Head. The
Governor approved of the choice.
In 1854, Frankford was incorporated as a
Police Village and was later incorporated in July 1920.
Murray Ward
 Murray Ward, like many areas in Quinte West, is rich with local history. Murray Ward is located on the great pine
ridge of Northumberland County. It is bordered to the east and north by the
scenic Trent River and the Bay of Quinte and Murray Canal to the
south. The Murray Canal connects Presqu’ile Bay to the Bay of Quinte, the boating gateway to the Trent Waterway System, and the inland route to the Thousand Islands. Murray ward is known for its vast waterways and trout fishing opportunities. Campgrounds, marinas, and beaches line Weller’s Bay shore offering charter fishing tours, boat rentals and local fishing derbies for anglers of all ages.
Located south of the swing bridge in Carrying
Place is the Kente Portage, a route used by Joliette, Champlain, LaSalle and
scores of missionaries, traders and settlers to cross the 1½ miles between the
Bay of Quinte and Weller’s Bay. A cairn marks the spot of the gunshot treaty
signed in 1787 by the British with the natives in the area to acquire the land.
Many old homes and buildings can still be seen along the Kente Portage, the
oldest road in continuous use in Ontario.
The township was first surveyed in 1791 into
38 lots in width and 13 concessions deep. It was incorporated on July 1, 1851.
In 1878 records show a population of 3734 living mostly on the lower
concessions.
While considered an agricultural community,
there are three main hamlets: Woolder, Stockdale, and Carrying Place. In the
early years, Wooler was the political, social and religious centre of the
township.
Sidney Ward
Sidney ward is known most significantly for its strong agricultural base and rugged landscape. Sidney is also home to Canadian Forces Base 8 Wing Trenton and the National Air Force Museum of Canada. Other points of interest include the glacial feature known as Oak Lake Island and the largest glacial rock in North American, the Bleasdell Boulder, located in Glen Miller.
Sidney, from its earliest days of settlement to the present, has
remained a rural municipality with some industrial buildup.
 It is here that Thomas Bata established the Bata shoe manufacturing plant in 1939, resulting in the development of the inlet of Batawa. It was around this
manufacturing site that the settlement of Batawa was established, complete with
a ski hill and school. Oak Lake is also located in
Sidney Ward and is known to be part of a glacial feature known as Oak Lake
Island. The Bleasdell Boulder, located at Glen Miller, is the largest known
glacial rock in North America.
Sidney Township claims the place of honour
in the history of municipal government in Ontario as the township with the
oldest continuous local government. A group of pioneers assembled and recorded,
on May 15, 1790, the minutes of a town meeting to elect officials to administer
their affairs.
In September 1787, the first two concessions
of Sidney were surveyed and settlement began with a few Loyalists and the sons
and daughters of Loyalists Bay of Quinte. In 1789 the Township was named Sidney,
in honour of Viscount Sydney, a veteran politician, leader of the House of
Commons, and Secretary of State for the Home Department at the close of the
American Revolution who helped make preparation for the United Empire Loyalists
to settle in the Quinte area. The first settler in Sidney was Captain John W.
Meyers in 1787 and became the first elected Moderator in 1790. In 1794, Sidney
and Thurlow were united for municipal purposes and were separated in 1798 with
Sidney becoming an independent municipality in 1850. Caleb Gilbert was the first
Reeve.
The Clock
Tower - 65 Dundas Street West, Trenton
 In 1888, with the upcoming completion of the
Murray Canal, the federal government expected tremendous growth and prosperity
for the Town of Trenton. Representative of this faith was the construction of a
monumental Post Office at the foot of King Street on Dundas Street West.
With the laying of the cornerstone in June of 1888, the Trenton
Courier reported that the "building will be a permanent improvement in the
Town." The irony of that statement is clear today as only the tower remains. The
Post Office was demolished in 1971 to make way for the City Hall and a parking
garage.
There was no expense spared in the construction of the Post Office
and Clock Tower. Architect Thomas Fuller’s specifications called for the "best
quality limestone from Ox Point Quarries near Belleville." Similarly, the brick
was "the best approved quality of red brick…the pick of the kilns" from the
Belleville Brickyard. Fuller was the Chief architect for the Federal Department
of Public Works. The builder was Walter Alford of Belleville.
Fuller favoured the Romanesque style of architecture. The
attributes of this style are still evident in the Clock Tower. Bold round-headed
arches accentuate the windows and door openings. Random course, quarry faced
limestone on the external walls add to this imposing form. Smooth faced cut
stone bands give added importance to the structure. The end result was the
appearance of a massive and stable building which projected a firm and solid
government image.
The Clock Tower is a landmark in the downtown core. During
construction in 1888, Mayor Morrison and other citizens noted that the clocks
were difficult to see from the street. They wrote the Department of Public Works
on the matter. As a result, the tower was raised an additional ten feet over the
original design. The approximate height of the tower is 90 feet. Clocks on four
sides of the octagonal tower toll the hour.
In 1979, Trenton Council designated the Clock Tower as a heritage
property under the Ontario Heritage Act for architectural and historic
reasons.
Trenton
Town Hall - 1861 - 55 King Street, Trenton
Although Trenton incorporated as a Village in 1853, it
took eight years before a Town Hall was constructed. Action was finally taken in
1860 when the Honourable Robert Charles Wilkins donated the site for the Town
Hall. Although Wilkins stipulated, in the perpetuity, the executors of Wilkins
estate removed that condition in 1868.
(Click on the photo above to view a larger
image)
The structure was built in 1861 for use as a Town Hall, Market
House and Police Station. The Town Offices moved in 1921 to the former Gilmour
Offices on Dundas Street East. The Court Room remained on the second floor until
the early 1970’s. The market is now located in the waterfront parking lot on
Front Street while the Police Department relocated to their new building in June
1985.
The hall, which was designed by architect Kivas Tulley, embraces
the Classical Revival Style. Tulley was a prominent architect in Canada West (as
Ontario was then known) and was responsible for the design of Victoria Hall in
Cobourg. Tulley was paid $40 for his drawings and specifications. The building
was constructed by Michael Gormley, a local builder for approximately $2400.
The Classical Revival Style was preferred for government buildings
because the style followed Greek and Roman architecture. The Greek and Roman
civilizations were recognized for their democratic principles. The preference to
have government structures associated with democratic principles is obvious.
The Town Hall had a symmetrical appearance, front to back and side
to side. The end facing King Street was the front and featured a closed pediment
at the gable. A round window, now covered over, was located in each of the gable
ends. Symmetrically arranged against the walls were wooden pillasters. The
pillasters, of the collosal doric order, represented the columns of the Greek
Temple.
The front entrance was symmetrically situated on the front facade.
The doorcase, identical to the one inside the Old Market Hall, featured a
transom having six panes of glass. The wooden mouldings surrounding the doorcase
have bold low profiles. The door mouldings at the upper corners project in what
is referred to as an ear mould detail. These two latter features are typical of
the Classical Style.
Ear mould trim is also found around most of the windows. Where the
wooden window surrounds were not used the window arches are created with stone
voussiors. Many of the windows retain their original six over six panes of glass
window sash.
The building has a reconstructed bell tower on the roof. It is a
pagoda style and houses the original bronze bell.
In 1983, Trenton Council designated the building as a heritage structure. In 1996 the  Trent Port Historical Society signed a lease agreement with the City of Trenton whereby the Society would undertake the renovation/restoration of this building.
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