Museum on the Boyne plans centennial celebration

February 5, 2014 · 0 Comments

The Museum on the Boyne is celebrating a centennial anniversary this year, not for the museum itself but rather for the building that houses it. It’s a building with a colourful and diverse past, with roots deep in the history of South Simcoe.

The building was first constructed in 1914 for use by the Agricultural Society and their annual fall fair. Just a few months after it was christened by the fair, however, it was used as a recruitment centre and drill hall for training soldiers for WWI.

During the 1920s car dealers in town were allowed to store their cars in the agricultural hall through the winter, since the floors at that time were still dirt. In the 1930s the floors were improved and the space was used occasionally as a dance hall. The maple floor that is still in tact today was installed 1937.

In 1945 the building became the home of the Dorothea Knitting Mill and remained so for the next nine years. It wasn’t until 1960 that the building was used again. After sitting empty for six years, it became home to the Museum on the Boyne, a place dedicated to honouring the rich history of South Simcoe and of the building itself.

“It’s always been a building that’s been important to the community, no matter what was happening in the building it was always kind of a community building,” says Katie Huddleston, Curator of the Museum on the Boyne. “And I think that it’s great that the museum is in it now, because now it will always stay a community building.”

The museum at first was open only during the summer months, but in 1996 there was a major renovation to winterize the building and install new bathrooms, allowing it to be a year-round facility.

“That renovation really kicked things off to let us grow,” says Huddleston, explaining that the change allowed the museum to qualify for further government grants to help them improve and offer even more.

Currently acting as the museum, the building is used to display artifacts and exhibits demonstrating life in all of South Simcoe from settlement to present day.

“The museum is here for the community. We collect the community’s artifacts and display them. What we want to do is become kind of a staple in the community, somewhere that people can go to take part in anything.”

The goal during the centennial year of the museum building is to show people all over South Simcoe that there is something inside for everyone to enjoy, even those who least expect it.

“We’d really like to just have people realize that’s it’s not just tours and artifacts, that there’s something here for everyone.”

Huddleston says there are lots of great museums in the area, but the thing that makes the Museum on the Boyne so unique is the building itself. Not only is the building filled with artifacts rich in history, but the structure is a part of that history.

“It’s a little bit of a piece of our agricultural history that has remained,” says Huddleston. “It’s a little attachment to the past that has luckily been untouched.”

The museum typically features three semi-permanent exhibits rotated throughout the year, as well as two travelling exhibits per year. This May will see a Free Masons exhibit, as well as a Victorian Wedding collection in June and a Victorian Medicine collection in the fall. With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI, an exhibit featuring WWI artifacts will also be displayed.

In celebration of the centennial anniversary, the museum will offer extended hours and open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. beginning in May. Currently the museum is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from June through August it will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For more information call 705-435-4030 ext. 1802.

By Emily Wood

SOUTH SIMCOE THROUGH THE AGES – There are several different exhibits featured in the museum, with a huge display of artifacts and tableaus to represent South Simcoe through artifacts and photographs, many of which are donated by local residents.