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Whitby is an ideal destination for any type of traveler. Located in Ontario, it has something for everyone! Our travel guide has the best information about Whitby regarding places to visit, things to see and do, accommodations, dining, and much more! When visiting Ontario, you will find that the shopping, night life, and beautiful scenery has some of the top standards in the country, and will definitely leave you wanting to come visit this city again. Take a look at our Canadian listings and find all the information you need about Whitby, and all its surrounding cities and travel spots. So don't waste another minute, and starting planning your vacation to Whitby!
The Town of Whitby, known also as the Community of Choice, is situated in the centre of the Regional Municipality of Durham, 50 kilometres east from Toronto. Right after the American Revolution, the British founded a new colony of Upper Canada in order to offer land to the Loyalists resettlement. One of those early settlers was Jabez Lynde – he purchased his land in the early nineteenth century. His second house was reported to have been built a little later, and still stands, representing the Whitby Museum at Cullen Gardens. However, the downtown didn’t develop until 1836, when Peter Perry from Lennox and Addington Counties arrived at Whitby.
The settlement appeared at Brock and Dundas, which later became known to everyone as Perry’s Corners, today called “Four Corners”. As for Peter Perry, he is still remembered via the Peter Perry Awards, as well as the annual festival called the County Town Carnival, reminding Whitby’s citizens of their history. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the town of Whitby was chosen as the County Town for the County of Ontario. The town was made the government seat for the fresh established County, which contained Oshawa, Whitby, Pickering, and northward past Lake Simcoe. Just in a year The County Court House was constructed. After getting the seat for the County government, followed by the incorporation of Whitby as a Town, and with a vibrant harbour and the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway, Whitby flourished and land prices increased.
This allowed people to make fortunes and establish large estates. The castle in Kinsmen Park was built in 1857 by Peter’s son, John Ham Perry. In his turn, Sheriff Nelson Reynolds constructed Trafalgar Castle 2 years later, not willing to be outdone. In fact, during this boom period lots of the buildings in Whitby’s centre were constructed. Lots of people established the estates that occupied whole blocks when constructed, but since then have been surrounded by smaller buildings. Meanwhile, the town appeared to be a vital manufacturing and financial centre. For example, the first subsidiary of the Dominion Bank outside Toronto (now known as the Toronto Dominion) was founded in the town in 1871 and did so well that they managed to construct their own building in three years at the Four Corners. Then, one block south the first clock factory in the country was founded by the Canada Clock Company at the same time.
