Westfield Heritage Village and its Historical Buildings

Marr Shop
This small ca.1800's timber frame building was built in Ancaster. It features demonstrations of spinning and weaving and utilizes a variety of spinning wheels and looms.  Interpreters include volunteers from the Cambridge Spinning and Weaving Guild.

Seth Fothergill's Print Shop
A great step forward in the development of any district was the establishment of a print shop, such as this one constructed in Goderich. Here a village's weekly newspaper was printed along with handbills announcing sales, auctions, sporting events, political meetings and even funerals. The fine collection of wooden types in the cases at the back of the shop are still ready for use on the 1863 Washington flat bed press, a gift of the Hurley Printing Co. of Brantford. Imagine the scene when a young apprentice dropped a case of type... and the hours of labour in replacing the letters in their cases before resetting the page. The Hoedrum type press was operated by steam and required at least three men to run it. 

Reading was popular in Queen Victoria's reign and since most news was carried by letter or newspaper, the influence of the printed word was perhaps more powerful than it is today. 

Misener House
In 1720, the Misener family emigrated from Germany to New Jersey.  After the American Revolution, they accompanied other New Jersey residents and founded a settlement subsequently called "Jerseyville" near the established village of Ancaster.  Another branch of the family settled several miles further north in the village of Troy.  Well known for its timber and sawmills, Troy provided dressed lumber for the Misener homestead (built in 1832), which was presented to Westfield by the Misener family.  The style of this frame house was very popular among  early settlers because of its large kitchen.  The kitchen was the most-used room of the house providing space for sitting and visitors.  The small parlor, used for special occasions, afforded privacy for confidential conversations, serious games of checkers and even a wake.

Albrecht Seip Boot & Harness Shop
As long as horses were the source of power for wagons, buggies and ploughs, the leather worker's skill as a harness maker would be essential to the community. During early settlement, shoemakers were itinerant craftsmen who visited farmsteads making and repairing leather equipment and producing shoes for the whole family.
Bamberger House
Built ca. 1806 by Samuel Bamberger, it was moved from Hamilton's west-end in July 1993. It is Hamilton's oldest surviving building.  The home represents a ca. 1820 upper-middle class homestead.  This remarkable two-story log cabin was rescued through the efforts of the West Hamilton Heritage Association.
Native Log Chapel
Believed to be the oldest surviving log church in Ontario, this building was erected as a school but used as a church at Kanyengeh on the Six Nations Reserve until 1854. This building is a reminder that the Mohawk came to this area as Christian Native Loyalist settlers and were important British allies in North America.  The church was constructed of hand cut logs, assembled without nails and chinked with oakum.  In 1962, the church was rededicated here in a service conducted in Mohawk and English.  The church is interpreted as an Anglican church of 1802 and the building would have served the Iroquois who were Christians like those who occupied the native house.
Covered Bridge

A reproduction covered bridge of the Victorian period.

 

 
Native Log House
The house was built in 1911 by the Hill family on the Six Nations Reserve.  The home stayed with the Hill family until it was moved to Westfield in the 1960's.  The house is interpreted as a circa 1802 building.  This home depicts the story of the settlement of the Brant's Ford community, which eventually grew to be Brantford.  The Iroquois who settled here as followers of the Loyalist Native Leader Joseph Brant were intensely proud of their Native heritage but lived much like the neighbouring Loyalists of European descent.
Trading Post
In the 1700s, Wentworth area trading posts had been located in what is now Crook's Hollow and at the site of Dundurn Castle.  Trade with the native people remained an important part of Upper Canada's pioneer economy as late as the 1830's.  Natives traded pelts, produce, basket ware and leather beadwork for sugar, tobacco, gunpowder, blankets and other commodities.  This early 19th century two story building of tamarack logs from Leeds County, the former Dorman family residence and a gift of Mr. Hollis Dorman, shows many of the items stocked in a traditional trading post including traps, blankets, barrels, stoneware crocks and snow shoes.
Queens Rangers' Cabin
Built in 1792, this building was originally located in Dundas and is one of the oldest log cabins in Ontario. 
 
Westfield Buildings continued ... Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4,