History and Heritage

Explore the rich history of Cramahe Township from the comfort of your home! Our Digital Doors Open experience highlights local heritage sites with historical information, architectural notes, and videos.

Founded in 1792 by Vermont Empire Loyalists, Cramahe Township is full of stories to discover. In the Village of Colborne, you’ll find a distinctive main square laid out in the late 1790s and a main street recognized in Ron Brown’s Downtown Ontario: Unusual Main Streets to Explore. Just ten minutes north, Castleton features one of Canada’s longest-running general stores and a popular summer ice cream stop. Further north, explore remnants of Ontario’s tall grass prairie at Red Cloud Cemetery and the Goodrich-Loomis Conservation Area.

For much more details of Cramahe Township's history, please visit www.heritagecramahe.ca  

The Cramahe Township Library offers an OLA Award Nominated Digital Archives  with thousands of images, stories and photos on the history of Cramahe.

Check out the latest digital archives from the Library, Finding Cramahe's past: Historical directories and gazetteers and Cramahe Township: It's Geography, Environment, and Ecology. 

Below is a photo of 9 Church Street East, which is located in the village of Colborne.  This Colborne property, built in 1820 by the founder of the village, Joseph Abbott Keeler, is one of the oldest buildings in the Township.