It was first aggressively settled by United Empire Loyalists fleeing the former 13 British American Colonies in the late 18th century. The Crown provided plots to the settlers for nominal sums (with the stipulation of making the land productive in a set number of years) or gratis to those who had served against the American Colonial Army. Following the war of 1812 many port towns, Cobourg in particular became important centres for commercial activity and a landing point for European immigrants arriving on steamers.