Veteran's Memorial Park
Posted by: 
model12
N 45° 37.728 W 076° 52.760
18T E 353509 N 5054523
A rest stop on Highway #17 in Cobden Ontario.
Waymark Code: WM9N6M
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 09/07/2010
Views: 19
The Plaque reads:
Veteran's Memorial Park
This property was purchased on November 15, 1904 by the Village of Cobden from Thomas and Elizabeth Robinson for the sum of eight hundred dollars.
The nine lots later became the Village of Cobden Municipal Park.
The park was renamed Veteran's Memorial Park on June 3, 2000.
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The Veteran’s Memorial Park is located along Highway 17 within the village of Cobden. The park is easily recognized by the enormous Canadian flag that measures fifteen feet by thirty feet that is flying atop the one hundred-foot flag pole that was erected courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion.
On November 15, 1904, the village of Cobden purchased land from Thomas & Elizabeth Robinson for the sum of eight hundred dollars. Nine of these lots became the Village of Cobden Municipal Park that was later renamed on June 3, 2000 to the Veteran’s Memorial Park. A cenotaph was erected in the park to honour the memory of the brave men and women from Cobden & District who volunteered their services to Canada in its time of need. Mention is made on the cenotaph of the Boer War, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Gulf War and Canada’s peacekeeping operations.
In 1960 a plaque dedicated to Champlain’s journey of 1613 was erected in the park by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board which was later incorporated into the Ontario Heritage Foundation. As reported on the plaque, it was during 1613 that Samuel de Chaplain travelled up the Ottawa River seeking the northern sea (Hudson Bay) which his companion Nicolas de Vignau claimed to have seen. The party headed inland above Lac des Chats and then followed a series of small lakes towards Cobden. It was here on June 7th that they visited with Algonquin chief Nibachis. Later, the party met with Algonquin elder Tessouat at Allumette Lake who convinced Champlain that the northern sea did not exist. Champlain then proceeded to return down river.
It is during this journey that Champlain is believed to have lost his astrolabe, a navigational instrument that was used to measure latitude. In 1867, a 14-year-old farm youth named Edward Lee found the astrolabe while clearing trees by Green Lake in the former Township of Ross. It is reported that Lee was offered ten dollars for the astrolabe by Captain Cowley who operated a steamboat on Muskrat Lake. The youth never saw the money and Captain Cowley sold the astrolabe to his employer R.W. Cassels, President of the Ottawa Forwarding Company. Later, the astrolabe was sold to a New York collector and then passed on to the New York Historical Society. It was in June 1989 that it was acquired by the Department of Communications for the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
The Veteran’s Memorial Park is also the site of one of several visitor centres found within the Ottawa Valley. The centre is staffed by volunteers of the Cobden & District Senior Citizens group and it is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. beginning in late May until the end of June each year. From July 1st until the Labour Day weekend, it is open daily from 10:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. The visitor centre is a popular stop for travellers and its guest register shows visitors from all over the world including Russia, China, Hong Kong and Sweden to name a few places. Records show that 1800 to 2000 visitors have visited the centre annually. Please contact the visitor centre at (613) 646-7188 during its hours of operation when planning your next trip to the Township of Whitewater Region and the Ottawa Valley.
Group that erected the marker: Village of Cobden
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Highway #17
Cobden, Ontario Canada
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Visit Instructions:
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