Joseph Keeler opened a store on the site of present-day Colborne about 1819. A community began to grow as other small businessmen followed suit. With the opening of harbour facilities in the 1840s and the arrival of the railway in 1840, Colborne became an important service centre for the region.[3] Cramahe was incorporated as a township in 1850. In 1858, the Village of Colborne seceded from the municipality as a separate township. In 2001, both municipalities were reamalgamated to form an expanded Township of Cramahe.
Communities
The township of Cramahe comprises a number of communities, including the following communities such as Castleton, Colborne, Dundonald, East Colborne, Edville, Greenleys Corners, Griffis Corners, Loughbreeze, Morganston, Purdy Corners, Salem, Shiloh, Tubbs Corners, Victoria Park; Banford Station, Browns Corners, Ogden Point, Spencer Point, Victoria Beach
Colborne
Originally named Keeler's Creek, Colborne (44°00′20″N77°53′20″W / 44.00556°N 77.88889°W / 44.00556; -77.88889) is the largest and main population centre of the township. It was named after Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, by Joseph Abbott Keeler in 1829. Colborne was incorporated as a village in 1858 with a population of approximately 700 people. In 2001, Colborne and Cramahe Township were amalgamated as part of municipal restructuring to form an expanded Township of Cramahe. At the time of dissolution, Colborne Village had a population of 2,040 over an area of 5.2 square kilometres (2.0 sq mi).
Colborne is the home of the Big Apple, a tourist attraction located along Ontario Highway 401. With a height of 10.7 metres (35 ft) and diameter of 11.6 metres (38 ft), the Big Apple is billed as the largest apple in the world. There is an observation deck on top of the apple, a restaurant and other amenities on the premises.[4]
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cramahe had a population of 6,509 living in 2,603 of its 2,772 total private dwellings, a change of 2.4% from its 2016 population of 6,355. With a land area of 202.22 km2 (78.08 sq mi), it had a population density of 32.2/km2 (83.4/sq mi) in 2021.[2]
