In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Mackenzie Investments is offering FREE regular admission to nine Toronto History Museums until November 30, 2017. What a way to celebrate! Here are the sites:
“Explore 19th-century innovation and creativity, city building, science, technology and design as exemplified by John Howard at Colborne Lodge. The site was built in 1837 and is located at the south end of High Park. Drop in to Colborne Lodge to view the many original furnishings and artifacts, and some of John Howard’s own water colours depicting images of early Toronto.”
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Fort York National Historic Site
“Fort York is the birthplace of urban Toronto and contains original War of 1812 buildings.”
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“Gibson House was built in 1851 and became a heritage museum in 1971, This elegant farmhouse reveals the evolution of North York through the experience of David Gibson – Scottish immigrant, land surveyor, farmer, politician and rebel – and his family. Gibson Park features an apple orchard, gardens, a public art installation and a large granite wall etched with photos of Gibson descendants.interpreting 19th-century domestic arts and rural life skills that include culinary and textile arts, gardening and farming.”
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“Mackenzie House was the last home of Toronto’s first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, and is located downtown just steps from theatres, the Eaton Centre and Yonge-Dundas Square. The museum interprets urban Victorian life of the 1860s and the evolution of democratic institutions through the lens of Mackenzie as a writer, publisher, politician and rebel.”
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“The Market Gallery animates the second floor of the South St. Lawrence Market which encloses all that remains of Toronto’s original 19th-century Front Street City Hall council chamber, operating from 1845-1899. The historic site presents a variety of changing exhibits related to the art, culture and history of Toronto. The gallery’s signature fan windows, which once overlooked Toronto’s harbour, today overlook the main floor of the market featuring various food vendors.”
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“Montgomery’s Inn Museum highlights the historical role played by the Inn as a tavern, farm, local gathering place and community hub in the development and history of Etobicoke. The site is located in Thomas Riley Park which includes wildflower gardens, trails, a lawn bowling facility, tennis courts, playgrounds and a community garden. The site includes a free-standing, brick wood-fired bake oven built in 2011.”
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“Scarborough Museum is set along the walking trails of beautiful Thomson Memorial Park, once the farm fields of Scarborough’s first settlers and now a popular heritage community. The museum shows the history and development of Scarborough from its founding and early settlement to its growth and emergence as a major suburb in the 20th century. The site and its gardens are situated on property first granted to David and Mary Thomson, who settled in Scarborough in the late 1790s.”
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“Spadina Museum offers a glimpse of Toronto during the 1900-1930 period through the lens of the Austin family. The museum highlights the effects of transformative events on the Austins such as the First World War, the Great Depression and societal changes in Canada. Spadina Museum opened in 1984 and completed an extensive interior restoration in 2010. Spadina’s artifacts feature the family’s contributions to the financial, business and cultural development of Toronto through an intact collection and archival holdings, music, art and decorative arts.”
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“Todmorden Mills Heritage Site features a group of historic buildings set in the scenic Don Valley that were once part of the small industrial community of Todmorden. The historic site exemplifies the changing human and natural history of the Lower Don Valley over the past 12,000 years. A 9.2 hectare wildflower preserve with a walking trail adjoins the museum site where a number of natural habitats can be explored, including upland and bottomland forests, dry and wet meadows, swamp lands and a pond.”
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“Schoolhouse was built in 1869 to provide free public education for children in the small farming community of L’Amaroux. Children from neighbouring farms came to the one-room schoolhouse to learn basic reading, writing and arithmetic as well as agriculture, nature study, geography and history.”
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Where: nine distinct heritage sites in Toronto
When: until November 30, 2017. See each site for open hours.
Cost: free regular admission.
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