Cramahe, Ontario


Cramahe is a rural township located in Northumberland County of southern Ontario, Canada. It is situated just off Ontario Highway 401, approximately 140 km East of Toronto.
The township was named for Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec from 6 June 1771 to 18 September 1774. The township's seat and largest town is Colborne.

History

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. Cramahe was incorporated as a township in 1850. In 1858, the Village of Colborne seceded from the township as a separate municipality. On January 1, 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:
  • Banford Station
  • Browns Corners
  • Castleton
  • Colborne
  • Dundonald
  • East Colborne
  • Edville
  • Greenleys Corners
  • Griffis Corners
  • Loughbreeze
  • Morganston
  • Ogden Point
  • Purdy Corners
  • Salem
  • Shiloh
  • Spencer Point
  • Tubbs Corners
  • Victoria Beach
  • Victoria Park

Colborne

Originally named Keeler's Creek, Colborne 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.
In the 2021 Census of Population, Colborne had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
Colborne is the home of the Big Apple, a tourist attraction located along Ontario Highway 401. With a height of and diameter of, 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.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cramahe had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.
Mother tongue according to the 2021 Canadian census:
  • English as first language: 94.6%
  • French as first language: 0.9%
  • English and French as first language: 0.2%
  • Other as first language: 3.5%

Notable people