Pembroke, ON

I’m travelling Ontario based on the Reader’s Digest Canadian Book of the Road. I should also make it clear that I got the 1991 edition for free from a garage giveaway so some of the information isn’t current. I arrived in Pembroke looking for Ontario’s largest totem pole at its Riverside Park only to learn from locals that it was removed in 2012 because the wood was rotting quite badly.

What I did find very interesting are the many churches on Renfrew Street. The Wesley Community Church, St. Columbkille’s Cathedral, Calvin United Church, and Holy Trinity Anglican Church are all located within a stone’s throw from each other. Victoria Hall at the end of the street looks like a church, but is actually a museum. The local public library is located just off the corner from Victoria Hall.

To my surprise I found two churches with the name of Wesley. One is the Wesley Community Church I mentioned on Renfrew Street and the other is the Wesley United Church on William Street just opposite the Renfrew County Courthouse. Both these churches adhere to the teachings of John Wesley, I don’t know anything beyond what Wikipedia told me.

In terms of actual historical sites, Pembroke has two. The first is the Murray L. Moore Hydro Museum, built in 1884, it was Canada’s first commercial electric lighting plant. The other is the Champlain Trail Museum on the eastern end of town with original pioneer buildings showing the lumber trade of the 19th century.

The buildings include the first schoolhouse in Pembroke built in 1838, a church, and various other outdoor and indoor displays. Call ahead to make sure they are open the day you want to visit because they might be closed for private parties once in a while.