Oshawa

History

Historians believe that the area that would become Oshawa began as a transfer point for the fur trade. Beaver and other animals trapped for their pelts by local natives were traded with the coureurs des bois (voyagers). Furs were loaded onto canoes by the Mississauga Natives at the Oshawa harbour and transported to the trading posts located to the west at the mouth of the Credit River. Around 1760, the French constructed a trading post near the harbour. This location was abandoned after a few years, but its ruins provided shelter for the first residents of what later became Oshawa. Most notably, one of the fur traders was Moody Farewell, an early resident of the community who was to some extent responsible for its name change. In the late 18th century a local resident, Roger Conant, started an export business shipping salmon to the United States. His success attracted further migration into the region. A large number of the founding immigrants were United Empire Loyalists, who left the United States to continue to live under British rule. Later, Irish and then French Canadian immigration increased as did industrialization. Oshawa and the surrounding Ontario County were also the settling grounds of a disproportionate number of 19th century Cornish immigrants during the Cornish emigration which emptied large tracts of that part of England. As well, the surveys ordered by Governor John Graves Simcoe, and the subsequent land grants, helped populate the area. When Col. Asa Danforth laid out his York-to-Kingston road, it passed through what would later become Oshawa. In 1822, a "colonization road" (a north–south road to facilitate settlement) known as Simcoe Street was constructed. It more or less followed the path of an old native trail known as the Nonquon Road, and…

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  23,875
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,841
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,186
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,738
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  20,641
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  20,358
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,476
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,403

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2026-01-28
  24 km ESE of Orillia, Canada
• M 2.6 — 2020-03-29
  11 km N of Lyndonville, New York
• M 3 — 2018-05-08
  14 km SSE of Ajax, Canada
• M 2.52 — 2017-07-11
  11 km NNW of Barker, New York
• M 2.46 — 2014-02-13
  34 km N of Lyndonville, New York
• M 2.7 — 2009-12-21
  10 km NNE of Olcott, New York