Port Hope
When the United Empire Loyalists arrived in Port Hope in 1793, they were the first permanent settlers of European descent in the settlement, which they named Smith’s Creek after a former fur trader. By the turn of the century, mills and a town plot were being developed. Following the War of 1812, more British settlers were sought after, and a more appropriate name was needed.
After a brief flirtation with the name Toronto, the village was renamed Port Hope in 1817, after the Township of Hope, of which it was a part, which in turn had been named for Colonel Henry Hope, lieutenant governor of the Province of Quebec, who had been born in the hamlet. The post office has been in operation since 1820. Port Hope, located near Bowmanville, ON, was officially established as a town in 1834.
Downtown Port Hope has a variety of shops as well as a historic main street. A Via Rail station is located in the town of Port Hope. There is a medical center, a walk-in clinic, and a community health center on the premises. It has had its own daily newspaper since 1878, the Port Hope Evening Guide, which was until 2007 a part of the Osprey Media chain and later a part of the Sun Media organization; in 2009, the newspaper was amalgamated with the Cobourg Daily Star and renamed Northumberland Today.com. The town has a population of approximately 8,000 people.
It was announced in November 2017 that the newspaper would be closed as part of a widespread closure of numerous local community newspapers across the province of Ontario. The Economic Development Strategic Plan for Port Hope seeks to enhance job growth at a rate that is at least as rapid as population growth. The town is home to a diverse range of enterprises.
Historically, Port Hope has been noted for having the biggest volume of low-level radioactive wastes in all of Canada. These wastes were initially generated by Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited and its private sector predecessors as a result of the refining of radium from pitchblende. They were eventually disposed of by the government.
During the summer of 2002, a significant amount of contaminated dirt was removed from beachside areas. More recently, a testing program for over 5,000 homes was launched, with the goal of removing and storing hazardous soil that had been used as a landfill. The soil remediation project, which is projected to cost more than a billion dollars, will be the largest of its kind in Canadian history, according to estimates. The project is expected to be completed by the year 2022.
