Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in Central Ontario, Canada, 78 miles (125.53 kilometers) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 78,698. The population of the Peterborough Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which includes the surrounding Townships of Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Otonabee-South Monaghan, and Douro-Dummer, was estimated in 2014 at 258,867. It presently has the 33rd largest CMA in Canada. The current mayor of Peterborough is Daryl Bennett.
Peterborough's nickname is "The Electric City" as it was the first town in Canada to use electric streetlights. It also underscores the historical and present-day importance of technology and manufacturing as an economic base of the city, which has operations from large multi-national companies such as Siemens, Rolls Royce, and General Electric, and more local technology businesses such as Fisher Gauge and Bryston. Electricity was one of the reasons Quaker Oats moved to the city, and as part of PepsiCo, remains a major fixture in the downtown area to this day.
Peterborough is known as the gateway to the Kawarthas, "cottage country", a large recreational region of the province. It is named in honor of Peter Robinson, an early Canadian politician who oversaw the first major immigration to the area. The city is the seat of Peterborough County.
Geography[]
Peterborough is situated in Central Ontario within the Kawartha Lakes region in Ontario. Peterborough lies in the St. Lawrence Lowlands ecoregion, just south of the Canadian Shield and approximately 35 kilometers north of Lake Ontario. The city is sited on a series of rapids in the Otonabee River, approximately halfway between the river's source (Katchewanooka Lake) and its mouth (Rice Lake). The City completely surrounds the only lake on the Otonabee, Little Lake, and the Trent Canal runs along the eastern edge of the city, connecting Little Lake to a section of the Otonabee above the rapids.
Topography[]
Peterborough's topography is largely defined by land formations created by the receding Wisconsian glaciers 10,000-15,000 years ago. The South End and Downtown portions of the City sit on what was the bottom of the glacial Lake Peterborough - part of a glacial spillway created when glacial meltwaters from ancient Lake Algonquin (now Lake Huron) traveled south to ancient Lake Iroquois (now Lake Ontario). This area of relatively low and flat relief (approximately 627–656 feet (191.11-199.95 meters) above sea level) is prone to flooding, exemplified in the major flood that occurred on July 15th, 2004. The ground elevation rises to the west, north, and east where a large upland area (the Peterborough Drumlin field) defines the landscape. Much of the land in the North and West Ends of the City rises to 755–899 feet (230.12-274.02 meters) above sea level, with Tower Hill, at 938 feet (285.9 meters) a.s.l., being the highest point in the City. Armour Hill, another prominent drumlin located in East City, forms the physical obstacle which the Trent-Severn Waterway ascends by way of the Peterborough Lift Lock. The Oak Ridges Moraine is located approximately 15 kilometers south of the city.
Climate[]
Peterborough has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with four distinct seasons. It lies in a transitional zone between areas to the south, which have a milder winter climate, and areas to the north (within the Canadian Shield), where the winters are snowier and sharply colder. Peterborough's Hardiness zone is 5b. Peterborough's climate can be quite unpredictable and vary greatly from one part of the City to another due to the effects of the Oak Ridges Moraine and changes in elevation. In the South End and areas south of the City, the Moraine acts as a barrier for weather patterns moving off Lake Ontario, reducing precipitation. In the North and West Ends of Peterborough the effects of the Moraine are not as prominent, at times creating slightly cooler temperatures and more precipitation than the more southern parts of the City and County.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Peterborough was 102 °F (38.9 °C) on July 11th, 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −39 °F (−39.4 °C) on December 21st, 1871.
In 2004, Peterborough experienced a flood which caused much damage for the city and surrounding areas. On July 14th, 2004, the sewage treatment plant recorded 7 million gallons of water as opposed to the average 1.3 million gallons average. The city recorded 12,500 metric tonnes of debris added to landfills due to the amount of damage caused by excessive rain and wind.