In March 21, 1889, the Peterborough Board of Trade was formed by 33 men, including John Carnegie, John Bertram, William Cluxton, James Stevenson, John McWilliams, D.W Dumble, Thomas Cahill, and Francis Dobbin. They described the Board of Trade as follows; “that such propositions as came to town for the establishment of industry would be sifted and analyzed. The attitude of the Board is to stand between the irresponsible promoter and a too impulsive Council and see that things worked out right.”

Meanwhile, in 1870, Lakefield had yet to be incorporated or named but Queen Street quickly began to fill with merchants of all types. The business owners at the time would soon band together and call themselves the “Queen Street Merchants Association,” the first form of the president-day Chamber of Commerce.

Between 1880 and 1890, the Queen Street Merchants Assoc. Would change their name to the Manufacturers and Traders Association, then the Lakefield Merchants and Business Association and the Lakefield and District Chamber of Commerce.

In 2009, the name was simplified to East Kawartha Chamber of Commerce. It announced its merger with the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce as of January 2021.