Written & researched by Trish Crowe-Grande, History Committee Chair and Cliff Whitfield, Guest Contributor Following the success of the Orillia Citizens Band in 1923, winning second place in Class B at the CNE Band Competition, the Kiltie Band brought honour back to Orillia again in 1926 by winning the Class B medal at the CNE competition.  As reported in the Barrie Examiner in September 1926, the Orillia Kiltie Band took first place. There was no age limit at that time. Cowden Whitfield was 15 years of age and played the clarinet. His medal was donated to the Orillia Museum of Ar ..read more

Written & researched by Trish Crowe-Grande, History Committee Chair and Cliff Whitfield, Guest Contributor In the late 1800s, it was common to gather at Orillia’s Civic Park (now Couchiching Beach Park) and listen to the Orillia Citizens Band, where hundreds of people would show up to watch the performance.  As early as 1867, a Grand Promenade Concert was presented to celebrate the opening of the Drill Shed, held on the former grounds of the Armoury, more recently known as the Oval.  The Band of the 10th Royals from Toronto was engaged to assist with the music.  As repor ..read more

By Mary Ann Grant, OMAH History Committee Every year in February, which is Black History Month, the History Committee at the Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH) takes time to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions made by Black Canadians, and to learn about their history. This year we acknowledge the contributions of Ron and Ann Harrison, descendants of the freedom trail to Canada, the Underground Railroad. We are recognizing Ann & Ron for their ongoing work in educating our community about the Underground Railroad, a “network” that helped African-Americans to escape slave ..read more

Who owned the Peter Street South cemetery? Your first thoughts might be that this was the St. James’ Church Cemetery, but that cemetery was about two blocks further north on the southeast corner of Peter Street and Coldwater Road. On June 19, 1873, the following article appeared in the Orillia Packet and Times: “I would like to call the attention of those who have the management of the Village to the slovenly appearance of the graveyard on Peter Street between Colborne and Elgin Streets.  This graveyard is in the heart of the Village, it occupies a very beautiful position and is so situ ..read more

Orillia Waterfront Transformations By David Town, Historian, Author of ‘A Waterfront for Everyone’ Orillia Museum of Art & History Guest Contributor What a transformation our waterfront is undergoing!  There’s a new road going in with better access to the downtown, massive new sewers lie sprawled ready to be installed and a shiny, new row of three-story townhouses backed by an eight-story tower will soon rise up to frame the waterfront.  Can you imagine a more dramatic re-configuration? Actually, yes, I can.  It has happened before, not once, not twice, not even three t ..read more

As 2023 ends, the OMAH History Committee is very appreciative of the continuous, wide-reaching support for our popular History Speaker Series where local history is celebrated. A full calendar of topics was presented, with our annual kick-off in January featuring Dave Town who gave us a fascinating account of the Black Swamp Gang that terrorized Orillia and area back in the 1880s.  The year continued with guest presenters presenting a wide range of local history and cultural topics such as famous sculptress Elizabeth Wyn Wood, the local Fairmile production during Second World War and t ..read more

By David Town, Historian and Guest Contributor Harriett Todd, image provided by David Town Few people have had a greater influence on Orillia than Harriett Todd.  Most of us only recognize her name because a school has been named after her in Orillia, but 100 years ago she was a dominant force here advocating for women’s rights. In the male-dominated world of the early 1900s, “Hattie” Todd eagerly joined the new East Simcoe Women’s Institute (WI), an organization formed to “improve the lives of rural women.”  Soon she was President of the Institute and advocating for temperance ..read more

By Janet Houston, OMAH History Committee Alfred and Jane Hucker What could tempt a middle-aged couple to emigrate from England to a distant part of the Empire in 1912? Fifty years of age is not now considered old as it was thought then. Nonetheless, this adventurous couple embarked on the White Star Line ship ‘Teutonic’ in April, 1912, just a few days after the Titanic went down. On the Teutonic, they sailed to Canada. England was entering into a period of intensive industrialization around 1912 that would eclipse the first Industrial Revolution. Labour unrest was rife and violence was pa ..read more

Mona Cottage, the Residence of James Scott, Esq. 1844 – Orillia Township, Ontario By Fred Blair, OMAH Family researcher and guest contributer In July of 1844, Titus Hibbert Ware, originally from the City of Worcester, England, left England at the age of 33 to assess Upper Canada for commercial investment and the potential location for a new law practice.  Titus kept a travel diary in which he recorded his plans, expenses, and day-to-day experiences. In Toronto, land agents offered 80 acres near the Narrows for $160; 200 acres on Lake Simcoe nearby for $300; and other land in the area ..read more

By Fred Blair, OMAH Family researcher and guest contributer Eleanora’s Diary, November 4, 1833 “In the morning, before we went out of the steam vessel, George put his fish [line] in as he saw a good number of fish.  He caught nine very soon, but he had not time to ketch more … We stayed on some trunks of trees whilst father went to … [see] about the luggage.  We saw three Indian woman and a man come down the lakeshore with a canoe.  One of them and the man got in and away the woman rowed … very fast.  The other two filled two bark baskets with water and went up again.&nb ..read more