Port Perry is a community located in

Scugog Scugog is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, south-central Ontario, Canada. It is northeast of Toronto and just north of Oshawa. The anchor and largest population base of the township is Port Perry. The township has a populatio ...

, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, north of

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

, and east of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

. Port Perry has a population of 9,553 as of 2021. Port Perry serves as the administrative and commercial centre for the township of Scugog. The town is home to a 24-bed hospital ( Lakeridge Health Port Perry), Scugog Township's municipal offices and many retail establishments. Port Perry serves as a hub for many small communities in the Scugog area, such as Greenbank, Raglan, Caesarea, Blackstock and Nestleton/Nestleton Station. The Great Blue Heron Charitable Casino is a major employer. Located at the basin of the Trent-Severn Waterways is

Lake Scugog Lake Scugog is an artificially flooded lake in Scugog, Regional Municipality of Durham and the unitary city of Kawartha Lakes in central Ontario, Canada. It lies between the communities of Port Perry and Lindsay. The lake has been raised and l ...

, one of Ontario's largest man-made lakes.

History

The area around Port Perry was first surveyed as part of Reach Township by

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Samuel Street Wilmot in 1809. The first settler in the area was Reuben Crandell, a

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

who built a homestead with his wife in May 1821. Their original home is still in use and can be seen on King Street between Prince Albert and Manchester. In November 1821, Lucy Ann Crandell became the first child of European descent born in the area. In 1831, Crandell and his family moved to a homestead at what became Crandell's Corners (later called Borelia). It had its own Post Office, near the present-day junction of Queen Street and Highway 7A. Settler Peter Perry laid out village lots on the shore of

in 1848 on the site of a former native village known as Scugog Village. The townsite was named Port Perry in 1852 and its first Postmaster was Joseph Bigelow. It was incorporated as a village in 1871. At the time there was an intense rivalry between Port Perry and two nearby towns, Prince Albert and Manchester. Expecting great things for "his" town, Peter Perry predicted that goats would eat grass off of Prince Albert's main street. At the time, Prince Albert sat astride a planked toll road running south to

. Grain and lumber from areas throughout the area south-east of

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was called ''Ouentir ...

fed through Prince Albert, which was a major grain trading area. Perry and others in Port Perry felt a railway was a much better option, and Perry's prediction would eventually come true. A group of local businessmen started the process of bringing the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

to the town in 1867, and the first train on the Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway reached the terminus in Port Perry in 1872. In the following year the grain elevator was built, still standing today as Canada's oldest existing

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

. Cargo from all over northern Ontario was shipped via the Trent-Severn Waterway to Port Perry via

, and then via the railway to Whitby, where it could be loaded onto the CP or CN mainlines running along the shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

, or onto ships in Port Whitby. Businesses quickly moved out of Prince Albert and moved to Port Perry, leaving Prince Albert effectively a suburb of Port Perry today. The Port Perry Granary still stands as a tall sentinel on the shores of Lake Scugog and proud of being Canada's oldest grain elevator outlasting numerous fires and modern day demolition. Port Perry grain mill and elevator circa 1930

Port Perry grain mill and elevator circa 1930

The village was amalgamated with Cartwright, Reach and Scugog Townships to form the Township of Scugog in 1974 upon the creation of the Regional Municipality of Durham. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected at the Scugog Shores Museum by the province to commemorate cartoonist

Jimmy Frise James Llewellyn Frise (, 16 October 1890 – 13 June 1948) was a Canadian cartoonist best known for his work on the comic strip ''Birdseye '' and his illustrations of humorous prose pieces by Greg Clark. Born in Scugog Island, Ontario, F ...

's role in Ontario's heritage.

Culture and recreation

Former Port Perry Town Hall NHS- Port Perry- Scugog- Ontario-4211-20211230

Port Perry's Victorian-era downtown is a tourist destination, with clothing stores, restaurants, cafés, bookstores, galleries and antique shops. In the summer, the town features the festivals

Mississauga First Nation Mississauga First Nation, also spelt Mississaugi, is one of the six First Nations that make up the Mississauga Nations. It is located directly west of Blind River, Ontario, Canada, on the Mississagi River 8 Reserve.Theatre on The Ridge
summer theatre festival featuring 6 shows performed at Townhall 1873 during July and August. Its annual fair, held every

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

weekend, has been running for over 150 years. There are also golf courses, both public and private. Other attractions in Port Perry and surrounding area include the Great Blue Heron Charity Casino, Scugog Memorial Library (featuring the Kent Farndale Art Gallery), the Scugog Shores Historical Museum and the Town Hall 1873 Centre for the Performing Arts. At many local farms, visitors may pick their own seasonal fruit (strawberries, raspberries, apples). In the summer, bass tournaments and lakeside activities are also featured. The Lake Scugog shoreline offers two popular lakeside parks, Palmer and Birdseye. There are active fishing seasons, both winter and summer. In the winter months, Lake Scugog is dotted with ice-fishing huts and is a destination for ice fishermen and snowmobilers.

Scugog Community Recreation Centre

The township of Scugog built the Scugog Community Recreation Centre in the late 1977 as a replacement for the old downtown arena. The original facility contained just one pad with 6 dressing rooms. In 1995 a community centre was built and In 2004 there was a second pad attached to the complex. The Rec centre contains: 2 Ice Rinks, 2 seasonal floor pads in the summer, 3 meeting rooms, 1 banquet hall, 1 commercial kitchen and 2 multi purpose rec rooms. The centre also hosts the Scugog Sports Hall of Fame, and is the main hub for Camp Scugog. The arena is home to North Durham Minor Hockey, the Central Ontario Wolves and the Port Perry Lumberjacks.

Demographics

Notable residents

Kate Beirness Kate Beirness ( ; born March 8, 1984) is a Canadian television sportscaster, currently working as a host for ''SportsCentre'' on TSN. Career During her first year hosting SportsCentre, Beirness often worked with Bryan Mudryk on the weekend'' ...

, TSN sports broadcaster and Port Perry native * George Burnett, hockey coach in

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

and

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

* George A. Cope, CEO, Bell Canada Enterprises * Gertrude Spurr Cutts, English-born painter spent latter part of her life in Port Perry * Ty Dellandrea, forward for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

of the

* Brad Goreski, celebrity fashion stylist and TV personality born in Port Perry *

Vladimir Hachinski Vladimir Hachinski is a Canadian clinical neuroscientist and researcher based at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. He is also a Senior Scientist at London's Robarts Research Institute. His research pertains in ...

, renowned clinical neurologist and researcher in stroke and dementia; born in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and raised in Port Perry * Bill Lishman, sculptor, filmmaker, inventor, naturalist and public speaker; lived in nearby Blackstock *

James Howden MacBrien Major General Sir James Howden MacBrien (30 June 1878 – 5 March 1938) was a Canadian soldier and Chief of the General Staff, the head of the Canadian Militia (renamed the Canadian Army in 1940) from 1920 until 1927. Military career Educated ...

, Commander of the Canadian Army and RCMP; born in nearby Myrtle and raised in Port Perry *

Jayde Nicole Jayde Nicole (born February 19, 1986) is a Canadian model and businesswoman. She was ''Playboy''′s Playmate of the Month for January 2007 and was named the 2008 Playmate of the Year in the June issue of the men's magazine. She is the first Cana ...

, Canadian Model, born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and raised in Port Perry *

Daniel David Palmer Daniel David Palmer (March 7, 1845 – October 20, 1913) was a Canadian-born American spiritualist and activist best known for creating chiropractic. Palmer was born in Pickering Township, Canada West, but emigrated to the United States in 186 ...

, the founder of Palmer School of Chiropractic; born in Port Perry * J. F. Paxton (1857–1936), Canadian ice hockey administrator *

Thomas Paxton Thomas Charles Paxton (November 27, 1820July 3, 1887) was a Canadian politician, businessman and sheriff. As a partner in industrial business ventures, he was one of the founding fathers of Port Perry. He helped establish the first steam-power ...

(1820–1887), Port Perry industrial businessman, politician and sheriff *

Dan Petronijevic Daniel Petronijevic (born March 28, 1981), known professionally as Dan Petronijevic, is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various feature films, including the '' American Pie'' franchise, and in TV shows such as '' 19-2'', '' Playmakers'', '' ...

, television actor *

John Ross Roach John Ross Roach (June 23, 1900 – July 9, 1973) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League between 1921 and 1935. His nicknames were "Little Napoleon", "The Housecleaner", "The Port Perry Cucumber" ...

, NHL goalie of the 1930s and born in Port Perry * Craig Russell, female impersonator, best known for his lead role in the movie, ''Outrageous!''; buried in Port Perry *

Emily VanCamp Emily Irene VanCamp (; born May 12, 1986) is a Canadian actress. She gained acclaim and international recognition for portraying the lead role of Emily Thorne on the ABC series ''Revenge'' (2011–2015). She also starred on the Fox medical dra ...

, film and television actress; born and raised in Port Perry * Fred Whitcroft, amateur and NHA hockey player, inductee of Hockey Hall of Fame; born in Port Perry

In film

Port Perry has attracted many film crews over the years, both for

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

; it doubled as the fictional

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

town of Mooseport in the 2004 film ''

Welcome to Mooseport ''Welcome to Mooseport'' is a 2004 political satire comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, and starring Ray Romano and Gene Hackman in his final film role. It was filmed in Jackson's Point and Port Perry in Ontario. Plot Former President o ...

'' and was used briefly as a small town in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

during the sixth season of ''The West Wing''. The town was the primary production location for the 1996 film, ''

Fly Away Home ''Fly Away Home'' ( ''Flying Wild'' and ''Father Goose'') is a 1996 children's film, family Adventure film, adventure drama (film and television), drama film directed by Carroll Ballard. The film stars Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels, and Dana Delan ...

'', based on Port Perry inventor Bill Lishman's experiments in the 1980s and 1990s imprinting geese in order to alter and preserve migration routes. The film fictionalized Lishman's personal life, but used him as a consultant for its aerial and technical production. Port Perry is also used as exteriors for the TV series ''Hemlock Grove'' which is set in Western Pennsylvania. American TV Series "Jack Reacher" (Season 1) was shot around Downtown Port Perry in 2020–2021. The town's "Piano Inn & Cafe" was changed into a "JJ's Ale House" for the shoot. Port Perry was used as a small town known as Lakeside for season three of the Amazon show ''

American Gods (TV series) ''American Gods'' is an American fantasy drama television series based on Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel of the same name and developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green for the premium cable network Starz. Produced by Fremantle North America a ...

''. They painted the shop portion of the Mill black, and the "PORT PERRY" wording at the top of the Old Mill was changed to "LAKESIDE" for the duration of filming. Outdoor scenes of the movie

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

were filmed in downtown Port Perry.

References

External links

{{authority control Communities in the Regional Municipality of Durham Former municipalities in Ontario Populated places disestablished in 1974