The area around Cobden was originally inhabited by the
Nibachis, a sub-division of the native,
Algonquian speaking, tribes of
North America.
Champlain's astrolabe In 1613, the
French explorer Samuel de Champlain travelled through an area very near Cobden while he was exploring the Ottawa River. The Chenaux Rapids forced Champlain and his men to portage. They presumably took shore in Browns Bay, near present-day McKenzie's Hill. In 1953, a large rock was found in this area bearing a chiselled inscription. The inscription was hard to read but was determined to read, "Champlain Juin 2, 1613." Champlain's trail from that point is debatable. He may have cut straight across land to the southern tip of
Jeffreys Lake, or he may have veered south, and skirted the far side of what later came to be known as the
Champlain Trail Lakes. It is known that he eventually made his way to Green Lake, and at that point, according to several 19th-century authors, Champlain lost his
astrolabe. It stayed there for 254 years, until it was found in 1867 by
Edward George Lee, a 14-year-old farm boy helping his father clear trees near Green Lake (now
Astrolabe Lake). Edward gave the astrolabe to Captain Cowley, a Steamboat Captain on
Muskrat Lake; Lee never received the ten dollars that Cowley had promised him, and Cowley sold the astrolabe to his employer, the president of the
Ottawa Forwarding Company,
R.W. Cassels. The astrolabe eventually passed to
Samuel V. Hoffman of the
New York Historical Society in 1942, remained there for 47 years, and was acquired by the
Department of Communications for the
Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1989. In 1990, a special celebration was held in Cobden in honour of the astrolabe's return. Although it cannot be conclusively proven that the astrolabe found near the Lake indeed belonged to Champlain, the following facts should be taken into consideration: • The bottom portion of the astrolabe is engraved 1603, the same year that Champlain was commissioned "geographer royal" to
Henry IV on his first voyage to Canada. • Champlain's reading at Gould's Landing erred by 1 degree. Subsequent readings recorded at Allumette Island also erred 1 degree. • Apart from that reading at Allumette Island, Champlain does not enter readings for the remainder of his expedition. • It was not unusual for Champlain to omit recording events and conditions in his journal. He was considered a laconic journalist who dealt only with the facts that he considered important. • By 1611, the astrolabe had been largely replaced by the
vernier scale, which was considered to be far more accurate.
Founding and development Early years Cobden's very existence is a circumstance of location. As Pembroke and Ottawa grew so, the gap between them seemed to grow as well. In the 1800s, the easiest route between them was the
Ottawa River. However, the presence of rapids near
Portage du Fort necessitated a land route. The area was mostly a vast forest untouched by Europeans. A few settlers had put down near muskrat lake, (John Parsons, John Sheriff, Spencer Allen, Robert Allen, and others), but for the most part, there had been little activity since Champlain's visit in the 17th century. Then, in 1849,
Jason Gould built a road from what came to be called Goulds Landing to what would become Cobden on
Muskrat Lake. One could catch a steamer down the lake and then go on by road to Pembroke. The traffic on the road was a cause for growth. In 1850, Gould built a
post office and named the fledgling settlement Cobden after
Richard Cobden, a member of
British Parliament whom Gould admired. By October 2, 1876, the railway had crept its way to Cobden. The community started to expand from the lake towards the railway station further inland. Main Street began to take shape, with
The Cobden Sun, a Bank of Ottawa, black smith shops, a bakery, general store, mill, surgeon, and jewelry store. In 1880, a public school was opened to accommodate the strain on nearby
S.S.No 1. Cobden was soon the largest community in Ross Township and became an incorporated village in October 1901.
1901-present Cobden has been the victim of many fires, which have destroyed almost all of the original buildings. Main Street has suffered worst from fire, including one in 1913 that destroyed the
Cobden Sun building and many historical records. A hydroelectric dam began operating at the falls south of Cobden. It supplied the town off and on with power until it was destroyed on April 12, 1934 in a raging flood. Large blocks of ice ripped the dam apart, poured over Highway 17, and tore away sections of pavement. The plant operator, Mr. Bill Wall, was stranded in the upper section of their house until flooding subsided. The town then started receiving power from a station in
Calabogie. Council elections in 1949 were dominated by the issue of whether or not to hold another plebiscite on establishing a waterworks system. A previous plebiscite had come out 82–56 against the idea, but times were changing quickly. After the war a new council was elected. The next vote was 124–46 in favour, and by the early 1950s, Cobden had water. The waterworks system required constant maintenance until a major retooling in the 1980s. The visibly-dominating water tower was built in 1988 replacing the original, which had been built in 1951. A larger school was needed by 1903. The present-day
Cobden District Public School was built in 1938 and initially served as a high school until
Opeongo High School was built. In 2001, the Village of Cobden was amalgamated with the Village of Beachburg, the Township of Ross, and the Township of Westmeath to form the Township of Whitewater Region. Today, Cobden's location on the busy Trans-Canada Highway, known as Highway 17, makes it a convenient stopping place for the many who pass through the area. ==Demographics==