Drug Store
This building combines the
examining room of Dr. Beattie and a drug store (or Apothecary),
originally located in the village of Kilbride, in the Regional
Municipality of Halton. The many items on the shelves, gifts of
the White Drug store in Aylmer, Hyde's Drugstore in Woodstock
and Scott's Drugstore in Norwich, were used in the practice of
medicine in the 1890s. These items include a saw, a capsule-making
device and a suppository-maker. The stained glass window,
showing a mortar and pestle, was made for the first drug store
in St. George in Brant County.Doctors were rare in the
rural areas of Ontario. Farm families would have to be self-reliant in
times of illness. Home remedies, many using native plants and taught by native peoples, were passed down from generation to
generation. Even in towns, medicinal herbs were part of every
home garden. |
 Gillen House
This elegant house was home to four
generations of the Gillen family at 100 Wellington Street,
Brantford. Dubbed "Old Hundred" by the Gillen grandchildren, the
house bears this name on the letter slot, and was the gift of the City of Brantford. The home was built by Robert Gillen, a
magistrate, who died the very year it was completed. His widow
and four daughters, the youngest of whom was only three, were its first occupants.
Their love of culture and music is
reflected in the furnishings throughout: in the front parlour sits a
Mason and Risch Victrola and a music box that operates on the
organ principle using reeds and air. In the summer months, the
"Old Hundred" is used as a food services centre featuring Eddie
D. 'Cat sweets and other delicious baked goods. |
| |
 McRoberts Dry Goods Store
Built in 1850 in the village of Troy, the store took its name from storekeepers Brice McRoberts
and his nephew Alexander McRoberts. The upstairs was also used as a meeting place for community functions.
Originally, the building had a stairway at its side leading to its second
floor. The original doors and windows were moved to the museum in
tact. Many of the bricks were replaced with other bricks stamped
"Hamilton Brick 1850".
As manufactured and processed goods became more plentiful, stores began to
specialize. The dry goods store sold yard goods, notions and a wide
variety of ready-made clothing, shoes and accessories in the village of Troy. |
General Store and Apple Hill Post Office
The general store came to the
museum from the village of Springfield in Elgin County. The store keeper,
Mr. Brown, was also the community banker. He extended or denied credit to
his customers. When local farmers were short of cash, he might have traded
goods, staples or seeds for their surplus butter, eggs and other produce. In the early
period of settlement, mail was carried by couriers or passing travelers - a system that was slow and unreliable at the best
of times. As roads improved, regular stage coach service became
the primary method of delivering mail. Prior to the issuing of
stamps by the government in 1851, it was the receiver not the
sender that paid the postage. The Post Office, a gift from Mr.
Angus Joseph MacDonnell, dates from 1843 when the government gave
the community of Apple Hill in Glengarry County official postal
status - greatly improving the mail service there. Until at
least 1908, farmers from outlying areas had to pick up their mail
from boxes at such a post office. That year Canada's first rural mail delivery was initiated between
Hamilton and Ancaster, in a Royal Mail Coach like the one from
Binbrook in our collection. In 1878, Hamilton had already been
the site of another major advance in communication, Canada's
first telephone exchange. |
|
 Cathcart
School
The Education Act of 1843 was fought
and won by reformers like Edgerton Ryerson. It organized school
sections, established the framework for the election of school
trustees, and implemented the system of taxes and grants
necessary for the free public education and the building of
schools like this one. School did not become compulsory until 1871 - and then
only for 50 days a year. Donated to the village by Mr. Alexander Szombati Sr., this school is a typical one- room school house, which in rural
areas were used into the early twentieth century. Students seated at plain wooden desks, learned a
standardized curriculum. Their few textbooks were supplemented
by the large charts and maps that can still be seen hanging on
the wall. They used slates for their daily work, conserving
pens, ink and paper for the final product that might be viewed
by the inspector on his next visit. The children helped maintain
their school, keeping the stove burning, filling the water
bucket and sweeping up, as well as cleaning slates and brushes. The cane hanging behind the
teacher's desk reminds us of an
earlier, harsher mode of discipline. The 1845 Brant County Cathcart School was converted to a
residence in 1865. The construction of
this building is notable for the exceptional wide logs (the
largest is 27 inches) that were positioned by man and animal
power. Doors and windows were cut after the logs were in place. |
 George
Potts' Spinning Wheel Shop
In 1800, Raynard Potts, a Maryland overseer who had been fired for showing
sympathy to an aging black slave, followed the Loyalists to Canada. On September 6, 1886, his grandson George, an enterprising Norfolk county farmer
who also operated a small hand weaving business, bought the patent rights to the
"Doolittle Improved Spinning Machine" for $150.00. The
patent designs for this machine eliminated the walking involved in the great
wheel, making the spinning process more efficient. George Potts built this shop on his farmstead near Simcoe
in 1866. It is thought to be the only complete spinning wheel shop preserved in
Ontario, with much of its original equipment The building was donated by the Potts family. |
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Westfield Buildings continued ...
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3, Page 4, |
Episcopal Methodist Church ca.1854
T.
H.& B. 103 Locomotive
Jerseyville
Railway Station