Editing Coboconk (section)

== History ==
[[File:Coby ca 1900.jpg|thumb|left|The former Coboconk train station in 1901]]
Coboconk was first settled in 1851 with the building of a [[saw mill]] on the Krosh-qua-bo-Konk River (later anglicized to the [[Gull River (Balsam Lake)|Gull River]]) by John Bateman,<ref>{{cite book|last=Suggitt|first=Gladys M.|title=Roses and Thorns, A Goodly Heritage - The Early Days of Baddow and Area|publisher=John Deyell Co.|year=1972|page=252}}</ref><ref name="coboconkhistory">{{cite web|title=Coboconk History|url=http://www.vccap.org/coboconk/history.htm|access-date=July 15, 2009}}</ref> and like many villages in central Ontario, it served the lumber trade of the area,<ref name="kirk8184">{{cite book|title=County of Victoria, Centennial History|last=Kirkconnell|first=Watson|pages=81–84|url=http://www.canadiangenealogy.net/ontario/victoriacounty/phantom_village.htm#Nested|access-date=August 8, 2009}}</ref> which was clearing the forests of pine, hemlock and spruce, and sending the logs downstream for processing.<ref name="respectableditch2">{{cite book|last=Angus|first=James T.|title=A Respectable Ditch. A History of the Trent-Severn Waterway, 1833-1920|year=1999|pages=140–142|isbn=0-7735-1821-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeuqD9NSNIQC|access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref>

In 1859 the village name was anglicized by the establishment of a post office.<ref name="post">{{cite web|title=Post Offices and Postmasters|publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]]|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/post-offices/001001-119.01-e.php?&isn_id_nbr=878&interval=24&&PHPSESSID=64upq1e33gqlm3e14dhun5rg12|access-date=December 20, 2009}}</ref> The name is a translation of the two Indigenous names for the village, which came from the name of the river: ''Ko-ash-kob-o-cong'', translating to ''"the part of the river where a portage of a few rods needs to be made"'' and ''Quash-qua-be-conk'', translating to ''"where the gulls nest."''<ref name="roses253">{{cite book|last=Suggitt|first=Gladys M.|title=Roses and Thorns, A Goodly Heritage - The Early Days of Baddow and Area|publisher=John Deyell Co.|year=1972|page=253}}</ref>

In October, 1859, a bylaw was passed by the United Council in [[Bobcaygeon]], permitting the construction of ''[[List of Ontario colonization roads#The Cameron Road|The Cameron Road]]'' from [[Fenelon Falls, Ontario|Fenelon Falls]], then known as Cameron's Falls after the initial settler of the area, through [[Rosedale, Ontario|Rosedale]], then called Rosa Dale, after the wife of Mr. Cameron, and into Coboconk. The forced road cut through lots fronting Balsam Lake, and was little more than a dirt trail for many years.<ref name="roses253" /> When the [[Department of Northern Development]] was absorbed into the [[Department of Highways, Ontario|Department of Highways]] on April 1, 1937,<ref name="dond">{{cite web|title=Department of Northern Development|author=Archives of Ontario|at=Administrative History|publisher=Government of Ontario|url=http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/1374/1/6/607?RECORD|access-date=January 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714101723/http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/1374/1/6/607?RECORD|archive-date=July 14, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
''The Cameron Road'' was designated as part of Highway 35.

In November 1872, the [[Toronto and Nipissing Railway]] reached Coboconk and a station was built. The station was named ''Shedden'' after the president of the railway, causing the town to be renamed to that on June 1, 1873. The name would hold until December 1, 1880, when local residents had the town renamed Coboconk.<ref name="post" /> The line served the village for some time into the mid-twentieth century. The advent of local mail delivery coupled with the building of highways in the 1950s ([[Ontario Highway 35]] and [[Ontario Highway 115]]) into the area eventually led to the demise of the line. The tracks were lifted in 1965, and the station moved to its present location in the Laidlaw Heritage Village, overlooking Legion Park in 1995. It is not the original station, however, and was built after the old station burnt down due to a lightning strike on August 4, 1908.<ref>{{cite web|title=Coboconk Train Station|author=Charles Cooper|publisher=Northern Consulting|url=http://www.northernconsultingservices.com/cts/history_stn.htm|access-date=December 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kawartha Lakes Museums and Heritage|url=http://www.city.kawarthalakes.on.ca/residents/parks-recreation-culture/arts-culture-heritage/heritage-museums#The_Sheddon_Area_Historical_Society|access-date=August 8, 2009}}</ref>

Coboconk was home to several grist and lumber mills, as well as brick kilns for several brick makers, including the [[Toronto Brick Company]] and the [[Canada Lime Company]], which continued to operate into the mid-twentieth century, and a large limestone quarry.<ref name="kirk8184" /> While most of the mills have been torn down, the kilns remain in place on Queen street, and are visible as one enters the village from the south on Highway 35.<ref>{{Google maps|title=A view of the old lime kilns as one enters Coboconk from the south on Highway 35|url=http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=44.656029,-78.795765&num=1&t=h&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=16.71875,56.536561&ie=UTF8&ll=44.655375,-78.795362&spn=0.013951,0.027595&z=15&layer=c&cbll=44.655525,-78.795324&panoid=L-_y-BBrm-J2xwPV7wLToA&cbp=12,335.2,,0,2.62|access-date=February 13, 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Coboconk1965.png|thumb|An aerial view of Coboconk in the 1960s]]

When the Rosedale lock (Now lock 35 of the Trent-Severn Waterway) was completed in 1873,<ref name="respectableditch">{{cite book|last=Angus|first=James T.|title=A Respectable Ditch. A History of the Trent-Severn Waterway, 1833-1920|year=1999|pages=139–141|isbn=0-7735-1821-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeuqD9NSNIQC|access-date=July 7, 2009}}</ref> Coboconk became the furthest point one could travel from Lake Ontario. It remained as such for over three decades during a period when the construction of the Trent ceased due to political and financial turmoil. With the opening of the [[Kirkfield Lift Lock]]s in 1907,<ref>Government of Ontario Plaque at Kirkfield Lift Lock</ref> travel beyond Coboconk became possible.

On May 16, 1877, the central island of the village was destroyed by major fire which started in the local Key Hotel.<ref name="kirk8184" />

On January 1, 2001, being located within Bexley and Somerville townships, Coboconk was incorporated into the newly formed city of Kawartha Lakes.