A little bit of Perth's chronological history. If there is something in error, or something you think we should include, please e-mail us with the date and description. Thank you.

• 1816 April 18th, Perth established as a military settlement. Land for the settlement was obtained from the Algonkians.



• 1816 Captain Joshua Adams builds the first house & tavern on Craig St.



• 1816 Fall: 20 houses in Perth, 250 houses in the area, population 1,505.



• 1817 settlers face starvation.



• 1817 settlement's first minister arrives in Perth.



• 1817 1,890 residents in the Perth area.



• 1819 first Presbyterian church is built.



• 1820 first Roman Catholic church.



• 1821 Methodist church starts up in Perth.



• 1823 Perth has seven general stores.



• 1823 Summit House built from brick.



• 1823 Inge-Va House erected.



• 1824 Perth gets its first lawyer, James Boulton.



• 1828 The first newspaper in Eastern Ontario founded in Perth; the Bathurst Independent Examiner.



• 1830 Perth has a population of 350.



• 1830 McMartin House built.



• 1833 the steamship Enterprise is launched in Perth.



• 1833 June 13th, last fatal dual in Canada fought in Perth.



• 1834 Tay Canal opens.



• 1836 Perth had 8 taverns, seven stores selling liquor, trhree distilleries and a brewery.



• 1836 population 1,000.



• 1841 Haggart Mill built after a fire.



• 1842 first Baptist meeting house.



• 1845 Perth's fair begins.



• 1850 population 1,581



• 1851 Perth becomes a separate municipality.



• 1851 Perth Public School erected.



• 1854 Perth was incorporated as a town on January 1st., population 3,500



• 1858 the Mallock House was erected, what is now part of Perth's Great War Memorial Hospital.



• 1859 The B&O (Brockville & Ottawa) railway reaches Perth.



• 1861 first Anglican church opened.



• 1863 Perth Town Hall is built.



• 1874 Perth's community has expanded along the streets of Gore, Drummond and Beckwith.



• 1875 Perth High School opened.



• 1880 Economic boom in Perth.



• 1882-92 Second Tay Canal built.



• 1887 electricity lights the town of Perth.



• 1887 nineteen phones and a switchboard in Perth.



• 1887 one-fortieth of all the money in Canadian banks was in Perth.



• 1891 Perth's population 3,136.



• 1892 World's biggest cheese, the Mammoth Cheese, was produced.



• 1906 Kininvie House built for T.A. Cole.



• 1908 first car in Perth.



• 1911 Perth's population 3,588



• 1914 first Perth library erected.



• 1915 the old power house at Haggart Dam is demolished.



• 1923 Great War Memorial Hospital opened.



• 1925 Stewart Park was a gift to the town by the Stewart family.



• 1930 Post Office opens across fron the Town Hall.



• 1947 Stewart Park is developed as a public park.



• 1953 population 5,000



• 1961 82 retail stores in Perth.



• 1964 Haggart Mill destroyed by fire.



• 1965 town installs a sewage lagoon to stop contamination of the Tay River.



• 1968 Algonquin College opens.



• 1974 Inge-Va House donated to the Ontario Heritage Foundation.



• 1980 first Perth library destroyed by fire.



• 1991 Perth's 175th anniversary.



• 1992 St. John's High School opens.



• 1994 The amalgamation of the Great War Memorial Hospital and the Smiths Falls Community Hospital to become The Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital.



• 2003 Perth's population 6,003