For people in rural Ontario, the early years of the twentieth century marked a period of unparalleled growth and prosperity. Small bush towns became thriving centers of commerce that attracted entrepreneurs and adventurers of all description. Among all of those who came, one important but little recognized group of people, were Jewish immigrants, predominately merchants and trades people who fled religious persecution in Eastern Europe, to establish and bolster small but influential communities in many Ontario towns. These Jewish immigrants made a considerable impact on the commercial and cultural development of the times, and were a significant presence in the area. For example, in 1904, the Jewish community in Owen Sound was able to support a synagogue sizeable enough to engage a rabbi to lead regular services, and to run a Jewish school. In Dufferin County, the town of Shelburne became home to several Jewish families, who later ran local businesses, and who made significant contributions not only locally, but...

Although not a Dufferin County native, Mary Pickford was warmly embraced by our local citizens when she made a well publicized visit to Mulmur Lake in May of 1934. A picture (below), depicting her garbed in the typical Ontario girl's fishing outfit of breeks and brogues, and the story of her fishing trip to a private home on Mulmur Lake, made quite the splash in both the local and Toronto newspapers of the time. Mary Pickford was the Angelina Jolie of her day. Wild and daring, the Hollywood star was notorious for lopping off her famous locks in a fit of grief upon her mother's death, thereby popularizing the "bob" haircut, and for scandalizing the country by capturing the heart of the then married Douglas Fairbanks and subsequently marrying him herself. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship that shocked the world at the time and made Mary the stuff of Hollywood legend. Mary was a Canadian girl, born in Toronto in 1892. Although she lived in the United States for most of her life, she regularly visited Toronto....

This photo is of the Grand Valley Methodist Church organ ca 1898. This organ was installed after the new church was built in 1896. In 1912, it was replaced by an electric organ. Please notice the railing in front of the organ. Recognize it? We do, as it is now used as part of the Mezzanine, here, at the Dufferin County Museum and Archives.

Donald and Kimberly Bordeau (right) present DCMA Archivist Steve Brown (left) with a cheque for $2500.00 to the DCMA Trust in memory of their aunt, Merle (Gamble) Still of Orangeville. Merle was a knowledgeable historian and an avid collector whose passion for history will live on with this generous gift. The DCMA would like to sincerely thank the Bordeau family for this donation.

Renate, who works with the Collections Office, is gently removing dust from a 1923 Franklin.

A dust, dry-wipe and gentle wash with distilled water revealed the original finish. In original condition, it has been owned by the same family since new. It has been stored for a number of years. This is believed to be one of only two or three of this model in Canada and is the only one on public display.

When the “old” fire hall at the corner of Broadway and John Street in Orangeville was renovated in 2011 parts of the structure were removed. The community warming siren was one of those items. These sirens were used for fires, tornado warnings, even curfew times for those under 14 years of age. It sat on the very top of the tower. Manufactured in the late 1930’s, this was probably used for WWII air raid warning as well.

Photo of the siren on top of the tower, ca. 1955

Signal siren collector, Mark Reesor of Etobicoke, rescued this to add to his collection of very unusual objects. However, he has recently donated it to the Dufferin County Museum & Archives permanent collection.

The community thanks this young man for his generosity.

  Mark Reesor, and the Orangeville...

DCMA Curator, Wayne Townsend, recently told me about a subdivision known as Sunset Drive, located in the North end of Orangeville. Having grown up in the Orangeville area, I found it funny that I had never heard of it. It’s one of those tucked-away neighbourhoods with 1950’s bungalows and big back yards. Many people have asked DCMA staff about the name “Sunset Drive” and where it came from – it doesn’t quite fit in with the town’s trend of naming streets after important Canadians, local politicians and the original settlers of the area.

Contractor Eugene “Gene” James Reid built this subdivision, also known as Plan No. 65, in the mid 1950s. Gene was the son of Lena (Neelands) and Matthew Reid. He was raised on Zina Street in Orangeville. In 1954, Gene held a contest to name the new subdivision and Bert Anderson of Orangeville won with Sunset Drive. The Orangeville Banner announced the winning name in the February 25th issue and also stated that Bert Anderson had plans to build in the new development. According...

Today is probably a day just like any other for most of the citizens of Dufferin County, but in our recent past it was one of the most important holidays. To the settlers of the late 19th century July the 12th would have been awaited for months and was celebrated with parties and parades as well as steeped in rituals hundreds of years old.

Orange Parade with members of the Monticello LOL To understand this celebration we need a little bit of history.  Dufferin County was settled primarily by immigrants from Northern Ireland who were fiercely loyal to the King and devoutly Protestant. One of the many traditions that followed them across the Atlantic was that of the Orange Order, a fraternal religious organization that dominated social life in the early years of Dufferin...

The Shelburne Public Library celebrated its 100th anniversary last weekend as part of the Heritage Street Festival and the Dufferin County Museum & Archives was thrilled to be asked to take part.  Lauren, the Library’s summer student, put in some research time at the Archives and gathered together some really interesting items from the DCMA’s collection to put on display.  You can check out the grant application written to the Carnegie Foundation for monies to turn the “Mechanic’s Institute”, into a “Free Public Library”.  Mr. Carnegie agreed to give them a grant of $6000 to build the library building in 1911. 

For a population of only 1200 in 1907 they read a lot of books; over 4600 books circulated that year and there were 2832 books in the library’s holdings.  The account book, meticulously maintained by Mr. T.F.E Claridge, the original owner of the Shelburne Free Press and Economist – incidentally he lived in that beautiful house on Andrew St. with the round porch that previous owners have lovingly restored – shows that it cost $361.95 to run the library for a year in 1912 and that the Caretaker actually made a higher salary than the Librarian and it cost more in coal to keep the building heated than it did for a Caretaker!

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Interview with artist and illustrator Linda McLaren about her new art show & sale, "Other Nations - A Life Spent in the Company of Animals" on display in the Silo Gallery at the Dufferin County Museum & Archives until Sunday, August 26, 2012. Come hear Linda speak on Sunday, July 8 @ 2:00pm.