Top 3 Abandoned Places In Kawartha Lakes

There are so many abandoned places in Kawartha Lakes! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Kawartha Lakes. Browse through all abandoned places in Kawartha Lakes

1. Canada's Smallest Jailhouse

Coboconk is one of Ontario's communities (including Tweed, Creemore, Providence Bay, Port Dalhousie, Rodney, and the ghost town of Berens River) which lay claim to be the previous home of Canada's smallest jail. Coboconk's claim was once promoted on the welcoming sign on the south side of the village. At 4.57 m by 8.84 m, it is certainly amongst the smallest jails in North America. However, the absolute distinction belongs to the jail house in Rodney, Ontario, which measures just 4.5 m by 5.4 m. The jails in Providence Bay, Port Dalhousie and Berens River are also smaller than Coboconk's.

The Coby Jail has 2-foot-thick limestone walls mined from the local quarry. These along with the iron bars remain unchanged since the construction of the jail in 1884. Inside the jail were two cells, in addition to the wardens office. The sole constable of the jail, Joseph Wakelin, was appointed in 1899 and retired in 1922.

Local legend tells of a man named Lee who was locked up one night by the constable, who then returned home. Upon the constable's return, Lee was found sitting beside the jail, with no physical damage to the door or lock. This legend, however, can be attributed to the builder of the jail, Albert Ryckman, who left several bricks in place without mortar with the foresight that should he be caught after a night at the Pattie House, he could simply escape unnoticed. It is said that he made use of this escape route several times over the years.

2. Uphill (semi-ghost town)

Uphill is located at City Rd 45 and Victoria Rd in the City of Kawartha Lakes. It was once a thriving village in the late 1800(a)s at the crossroads of the Monck Colonization Road (which connected Bancroft to Orillia) and at the Victoria Colonization Rd . It can be considered a semi-ghost town due to the fact that its population is a bit less than it once was and there is no longer any business conducted here. The Victoria Rd. today only extends a bit north of Uphill; but in the 1800(a)s it extended through swampy, rocky terrain up to the Peterson Colonization Rd. in Muskoka at Vankoughnet. Most of this section of the road fell into disuse in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800s it had over 50 people and was located near the south end of the Digby and Dalton Township boundary. At that time, it was long made famous by its tavern keeper, John Calhoun of the North Star Hotel. It stood on the east side of Victoria Rd. a few properties south of the 4 corners next to the blacksmith and the school (became a town hall after 1943, since removed). There was also a post office run by Nelson Tallman, a church at the NW side (removed in 1941) and two stores (one run by John McRae).

The main industry in the early days was the Longford Lumber Comp. which operated at the NE side of the 4 corners. Lumber was brought down the old Victoria Rd. (see the "Legendary Road Swallowed Whole" for more details). A saw mill and shingle mill were erected to the south on the Head River. After the lumber ran out the 4 corners village lost a major employer.

There were other villages in the area of (Victoria County) that made their claims in the logging/farming business and became ghost settlements. These include: Ragged Rapids, Dartmoor, Cooper(a)s Falls (in Rama Township), Horncastle (just south of Uphill in Carden Township) and Lewisham (in Ryde Township, well to the north). All had been rural post offices at one time or another.

Early settlers to the area included: Montgomery(a)s, Thompson(a)s and Gardiners.

The Digby fire tower and the old Victoria Rd. alignment (now gone):

The 100 foot tall Digby fire lookout tower (erected 1957) once stood directly north of Uphill until it was de-commissioned in the late 1960s. It had been the site of an earlier wooden fire lookout built in 1922. Two local brothers manned the tower, named Walter and Fred Muir. They had property in Uphill on the east side of the Victoria Rd. north of the 4 corners. They walked the trail each day to man the tower. The tower was located on a trail that was once the Victoria Colonization Rd., but that road has now completely vanished and has been taken over by marsh and trees at the point where the modern Victoria Rd. ends (check "Legendary Road Swallowed Whole" on here for more info on this colonization road). The original tower cabin was moved from this site during the winter in the 1970's and placed on Uley Lake and used to this day as someone's cabin.

The only way to get to the tower hill location is to wait until winter when the swamp has frozen over, and then snowshoe in. My ex and I did this once and it was perhaps my fondest memory ever-- and a lot of hard work as well.

• In the middle of the 1900(a)s other ghost towns had a Department of Lands and Forests fire tower lookout on a nearby hill. Many of Ontario(a)s ghost towns listed on here had fire towers located in or near them, such as: Pakesley, Key Junction, Dufferin Bridge, Pickerel Landing, Lost Channel, Byng Inlet, Cheddar, Germania, Ormsby, Uphill, Biscostasing, Milnet, Armstrong, Metagama, Cheminis, Wavell and Pineal Lake.

3. Dartmoor (forgotten hamlet)

Dartmoor has vanished from modern mapbooks, but at one time was a post office, pioneer community with a schoolhouse (still standing) and Presbyterian church. Some of the old barns remain as well as an original log cabin/farmstead. It is located on the Monck Colonization Rd. at Lake Dalrymple Rd. in the former Township of Dalton.

The Township of Dalton is a former municipality located in the northwest corner of the former County of Victoria (now the City of Kawartha Lakes). It was named after Dr. John Dalton (1766-1844), an English scientist who had a lot to do with the beginnings of atomic theory.

Dalton Twp. has an extensive history in logging and colonization along the Old Monck Colonization Road. Villages in the Township include old logging/farming communities from the 1800s. These include: Sadowa, Sebright, Uphill (also on Monck Rd.), Ragged Rapids (ghost town) and of course, Dartmoor. All had been rural post offices. Settlers included the Thompsons, Gardiners, and Montgomery(a)s, who were mainly of Scottish/Irish Presbyterian backgrounds.

Back then, one of the most picturesque figures of the municipal history of the township was Joseph Thompson who was reeve for a quarter of a century. Thompson was a great hunter and many legends had been handed down concerning his prowess in the wilderness.

Dartmoor(a)s last postmaster was J. Johnson in 1911. Rural route mail delivery came soon afterwards.