47 Tall Tales About Peterborough, Canada
/These facts are all totally pretty much not true...
1. The Peterborough Lift Lock was originally constructed to be a giant boat teeter-totter.
Millennium Park
2. Someone once went over Peterborough Falls at Millennium Park in a barrel.
3. Peterborough is the LARPing capital of Central Ontario
4. Little Lake was once called Big Lake.
Del Crary Park (photo courtesy David Feeley)
5. Del Crary Park was man-made and constructed in the shape of a pizza slice.
6. Northcrest Arena is built over a lost treasure of Peterborough sports trophies from the the early 20th century.
7. There are a vast array of tunnels connecting Trent University and Fleming College. There is also possibly a small community of people who live in them, a secret society.
Superlisde picture by Laura Copeland
8. The superslide at Riverview Park & Zoo was originally going to be constructed to extend right into the Otonabee.
9. Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch and Jason Dunn (formerly of Hawk Nelson) grew up playing ball hockey against each other.
10. Peterborough was originally thought to be named after Peter Pan. (The thought of our city being nicknamed “Never Never Land” was a bit of a turn off.)
11. Brad Pitt once hung out at Spanky's.
12. Jackson's Park was Canada’s first ever open-concept zoo, with free roaming large animals walking around.
Peterborough streetcars in olden days on George St.
13. A Peterborough streetcar once went all the way to downtown Toronto.
14. The pavement on Charlotte St. is Canada’s oldest serving road surface.
15. Before becoming a World Championship wrestler, Bobby Roode had dreams of being a professional shuffleboard player.
16. The Centennial Fountain at Little Lake continuously sprays Fresca, not water.
City Court House
17. The City Court House served as the inspiration for the Hall of Justice in Super Friends.
18. Peterborough-raised Sebastian Bach got his break in the music business as the 6th member of New Kids on the Block.
19. Wild Water and Wheels was built with the idea of it eventually becoming Canada’s largest amusement park.
20. There is a secret vault at City Hall full of Quaker granola bars and Minute Maid in case a city wide food shortage ever arises.
21. The iconic Hi Tops sign went on a National Tour across Canada.
22. The term “Canadian Tuxedo” referring to a denim outfit from head to toe was created in Peterborough in the mid-1980s.
Plaid
23. Peterborough is the Plaid Capital of Canada.
24. Dick Todd still plans on returning to coach the Petes on two more different occasions.
25. Quaker Oats invented the concept of people being happy about what they ate for breakfast.
Rainbow over downtown Peterborough
26. There is a giant rainbow protecting downtown Peterborough
27. 95 percent of all people in Peterborough have had at least one make-out session on Armour Hill.
28. Much like London Bridges, the Hunter St Bridge was originally built up with wood and clay, wood and clay, wood and clay.
John Grant picture via PeterboroughLakers.ca
29. The Peterborough Lakers eat Cap'n Crunch as a team in the dressing room before every game.
30. Canoeists often break out in random gunwale bobbing on the Otonabee.
Telephone construction crew on Brock St. circa 1905
31. Brock Street has actually had high speed internet access since the early 20th century (see picture below).
32. From the air, Peterborough’s boundary is actually shaped like a baby T-Rex holding an ice cream cone.
33. The term "hipster" was actually invented by Mike Watt during one of his talking out loud dreams in 1996.
34. David Koski and Zach Galifianakis are the same person.
35. Gerti Sina is Mike Judson's shorter, older brother.
36. Canada’s first mini portable pickleball court was designed and built by Canadian General Electric in Peterborough.
37. Ping Pong is the unofficial official underground indie sport of Peterborough.
38. Ketchup is outlawed at Hot Belly Mamas. If you want a condiment, it has to at least be tabasco sauce.
39. The Peterborough Skateboard park is one of the largest continuously grafittied skating surfaces in Ontario.
40. The Lift Lock tunnel is haunted, and Casper has been seen on multiple occasions.
41. The White House Hotel on Charlotte St. has been mistaken for The White House on occasion.
42. The "Love Tunnel" at the Peterborough Zoo has lead to thousands of marriages.
43. Peterborough Chamber CEO Stu Harrison once served as a body double for Bruce Willis.
44. There is a person living in the Market Hall clock, and they play around with the time sometimes depending on their mood.
45. The Peterborough Economic Development's Jamie Coughlin has longer sideburns than Jason Priestley and Luke Perry did on 90210.
46. Quaker Oats has a giant scent machine and controls which aromas we get to smell on any given day.
47. Poutine, Euchre, The Caesar and The Mullet were all invented here.
Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.
