Openings

Museums! I love museums. My love of museums began in the 1950s when our teacher took the class to the Schmidt-Dalziel Barn in Vaughan, Ontario. The barn was built in 1809 by Johannes Schmidt in the Pennsylvania barn fashion. The farm was purchased by the Dalziel family in 1828 and was a working farm until 1954 when it was purchased by the Humber Valley Conservation Authority and converted to a museum. The moment I stepped off the school bus, I was in love with that magnificent structure at just over 8,000 square feet, standing on its original foundation. My heart literally skipped a beat. I remember the smell of apples, lumber, bayberry candles and barnyard. The tack, the wagons, the implements and our host—a Dalziel. Perhaps our teacher was related to the Dalziel family or to the Schmidt family; I never thought to ask.

Many years later, working at a multinational pharmaceutical corporation, a coworker introduced herself. Her surname was Dalziel. I remembered to ask about the connection question. She was, indeed, “that Dalziel.” She had “history,” locally. It was a first for me. History and heritage were pages in our social studies books. I didn’t know anyone who had such deep connections to the community.

The school trip opened my mind (school trips are not a luxury, by the way). I was bewitched. I was hooked. I fell in love with Ontario’s built heritage. I was enchanted by Ontario’s family histories and stories. My parents weren’t born in Canada. My family links, here in Canada, were short and close, mostly first cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. My family was just beginning its Ontario history. Over the years, from the 1950s until the 1990s, I enjoyed many visits to homey sites such as Black Creek and Upper Canada Village, and to fortifications including Fort Henry, Fortress Louisbourg and Fort York. But I never met another person like Ann Dalziel. She had close community connections that spanned generations and hundreds of years.

That was, until I moved to Prince Edward County. It all changed for me, here, in the County. In PEC people like me and my family were the exception to the County connections. Almost everyone living in the County was hooked up to someone else living in the County. Their homes were on properties that had been owned by their families for generations. Families here were huge. To paraphrase my friend Janet (a County person), “Be careful who you talk to, they’re probably related to the person you’re talking about.” And then. Well, and then I discovered the Museums of Prince Edward County and for several years had the opportunity to flex my Ontario Museum Studies certification within the walls of those sites. Oh, what a treasure trove of stories, artifacts, connections and family histories. Every day was a feast of beautiful buildings such as Rose House, Macaulay House, the “lighthouse” at Mariner’s Park, the Quaker Meeting House and the Church at Ameliasburgh site, and so many more.

This weekend past, it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the County’s beautiful built heritage. Eleven public sites and private locations threw Doors Open and invited us in to enjoy the heritage and history of this community. Don’t be a stranger to the opportunity to soak up the culture and heritage of this beautiful community. Put a County museum or other heritage site on your agenda sometime this upcoming summer season. Oh the stories you’ll hear! Oh the stories you’ll share and the family you might meet.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca