Share:

Browse by category

Share:

Hurricane Hazel 50 years later

Flooding in Toronto caused by Hurricane Hazel (Photo: Madeleine McDowell)

"A provincial plaque marking the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel was unveiled by the Ontario Heritage Foundation and The Humber Heritage Committee on October 16, 2004. The plaque, located in King’s Mill Park in Etobicoke, is part of the Foundation’s Provincial Plaque Program that commemorates significant people, places and events in Ontario’s history. Since 1953, more than 1,160 of these distinctive blue and gold plaques have been unveiled."

By

Ontario Heritage Trust

Natural heritage, Community

Published Date:12 Feb 2005

Photo: Flooding in Toronto caused by Hurricane Hazel (Photo: Madeleine McDowell)

There was little warning about Hurricane Hazel – one of the worst storms in Canada’s history. At the time, few Canadians paid attention to tropical storms. But when Hurricane Hazel struck southern Ontario at rush hour on October 15, 1954, that complacency disappeared.

Buffeted by winds of up to 110 km/h, over 200 mm of rain fell within 24 hours, causing rivers to overflow and flood communities across southern Ontario. The storm killed 81 people and left thousands homeless. Property damage – with homes and bridges washed out – was estimated at over $180 million. But the legacy of this catastrophe was the development of a sophisticated provincewide weather warning system, measures to conserve watersheds of major rivers and a flood warning and control system.

“Hurricane Hazel devastated Toronto, and left our city reeling,” said Toronto Mayor David Miller. In its wake, the storm had dumped 181.6 billion litres of rain on the city. Rivers swelled, flooding railway lines and highways. Many guests at the plaque unveiling in October 2004 recalled seeing refrigerators and bodies floating downriver as they viewed the devastation from bridges left unscathed.

“The extent of the flood waters and the people who perished touched the lives of almost everyone in the Toronto area,” said Madeleine McDowell, Chair of the Humber Heritage Committee, “but most particularly in its largest watershed, the Humber, where the greatest loss was felt.”

The damage from the storm in this area was catastrophic. Floodwaters swept away 14 homes on Raymore Drive on the west side of the river just south of Lawrence Avenue and killed 32 residents in one hour. In areas where floodplains had been drained and developed for housing, the damage to homes was extensive. Many lessons, however, were learned from Hurricane Hazel. The Province of Ontario established a flood forecasting and warning system, managed by representatives from all three levels of government. Flood control facilities were studied, upgraded or constructed. Dams, three lakes and several reservoirs were also built to control water levels and monitor the flow of rivers and streams. As a result of Hurricane Hazel, homes on low-lying lands were cleared. Greenbelts were established in watershed areas as part of a broad system of Toronto and area parks. Conservation authorities throughout southern Ontario were either formed or given greater support to manage these parks in areas prone to flooding.

“Certainly the forces of nature continue to display their awesome powers,” said The Honourable Lincoln M. Alexander, Chairman of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, “but Hurricane Hazel forever changed the way we prepare ourselves for such events.”

RelatedStories

The Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station was opened for a special Doors Open weekend on October 26-27, 2019. (Photo: Niagara Parks)

How Doors Open Ontario activates the province’s communities

The Ontario Heritage Trust’s Doors Open Ontario program works with communities and partners to open the doors, gates and courtyards of Ontario’s most unique and...

CBC's Murdoch Mysteries

Quiet on the set

Shaftesbury is the company behind the hit television series Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries, both of which air on CBC in Canada and are...

Photo courtesy of the First Christian Assembly in Philadelphia, USA

The economic halo effect of sacred places: Measuring civic impact in an innovative new way

Nestled in the old city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Old St. George’s United Methodist Church is a “mother church” of the denomination and the oldest Methodist...

Brockville Railway Tunnel

Case study: Brockville Railway Tunnel

Location: 1 Block House Island Road, BrockvilleOwner: City of BrockvillePartners: Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee (plus countless generous donors)Original use: Canada’s first railway tunnel and part...

Mudtown Station Brewery and Restaurant

Case study: Mudtown Station Brewery and Restaurant (Owen Sound)

Location: 1198 1st Avenue East, Owen SoundOwner: City of Owen SoundPartners: Kloeze Family (Mudtown Station Inc.)Original use: Passenger train station (Owen Sound Canadian Pacific Railway...

Windsor Armouries, now the School of Creative Arts (SoCA) at the University of Windsor

Learning from the past

Heritage has always been at the heart of the University of Windsor’s ambitious plan to preserve the century-old Windsor Armouries and transform the building into...

Toronto’s Distillery District (Photo: Josh Evnin)

Museums and heritage: Building livable communities through soft power

Museums and heritage are engines of urban redesign and revitalization. Lord Cultural Resources has worked in 450 cities worldwide on some 2,600 museums, cultural plans...

Loudoun County, Virginia, USA

Nine ways that heritage conservation is good for the economy

Advocates for heritage conservation have traditionally made their case on the basis of architectural character, cultural significance, social relevance, esthetic quality and other values of...

This bench overlooks the river and burial mounds (Photo: Chris McEvoy, Rusty Anchor Productions)

Present. Preserve. Protect.

Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre, the Place of the Long Rapids, is a historically significant meeting place located along the banks of Manidoo Ziibi (Spirit River or...

Thunder Bay District Courthouse (Photo: Courthouse Hotel)

Case study: Thunder Bay District Courthouse

Location: 277 Camelot Street, Thunder BayOwner: David Sun, Business owner/InvestorPartners: Ascend HotelsOriginal use: CourthouseCurrent use: Hotel The former Thunder Bay District Courthouse sits perched atop...

RCAF Station Clinton, Air Force Day 1956

From adversity to the stars

The rural Municipality of Huron East is a composite of rolling farmland and historical settlements dating back to the mid-1800s. Although agriculture, manufacturing and a...

Kingston City Hall National Historic Site during movies in the square

Heritage builds vibrant communities and cultural economies in Kingston

In 2010, the City of Kingston released its first Culture Plan – a document that shared a sustainable, authentic, longterm vision for cultural vitality in...

MacNab-Charles heritage conservation district

The economic value of heritage districts: How assessment growth in heritage conservation districts compares with non-designated areas in Hamilton

There are competing views about the value of heritage properties. On the one hand, there is a growing consensus on the esthetic and economic development...

Photo courtesy of Clare Ronan

Reside: When heritage preservation translates to affordable housing

Raising the Roof is a Canadian charity that provides national leadership in homelessness prevention through various initiatives. Reside is one such project that creates affordable...

Old building (Photo: Paul Burk)

Old places support a sound, sustainable and vibrant economy

In Why Old Places Matter, I wrote about the many reasons that old places help people flourish. Yet, I intentionally saved the discussion of how...

Rideau Canal, Ottawa (Photo: Destination Ontario)

Revitalizing communities – The power of conservation

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken and written extensively about value – exploring questions of what we protect, how we make those decisions, and...

Kenora Post Office

Communication – Forging community, building understanding, shaping society

Humans have always shared an interest in communicating with one another – to exchange stories, experiences, ideas, thoughts. To be in community with one another...

Legislative Assembly (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario)

The conscience of our province

Ontario’s Legislative Building, completed in 1893, is a magnificent structure filled with stories from the most significant moments in our province’s modern history. The place...

Muhammad Qureshi on a pond (Photo courtesy of Muhammad Qureshi)

Our natural fingerprint

The magic began on a cold autumn afternoon after a hockey game with friends. I was walking home through a trail and the leaves had...

Sunset over Manitoulin Island

Heaven on earth

A month before Ontario turns 150 years old, I’ll celebrate my 57th birthday. I’ve lived all but one of those years in the province of...

Cycling in the Don Valley

Reconnecting with nature

My first visit to Ontario, from Québec, was at about age 8. I have a distinct memory of arriving by car down the Don Valley...

Chinguacousy Badlands

Celebrating the Chinguacousy Badlands

The Chinguacousy (“land of the young pines”) Badlands have been visited by hundreds of thousands of Ontarians. This rapidly eroding clay-shale bedrock at the foot...

Wolves (Photo: Michael Runtz)

Drawn back to Algonquin

Being a lifelong naturalist whose goal has been to explore Ontario’s natural history, I’ve come to appreciate just how rich this province’s biodiversity is. The...

Four generations of the Williamson family

A story of two families

What a story the Macdonell-Williamson House and property can tell! Its location – with a commanding view overlooking the Ottawa River (where goods and people...

Oiseau Rock, a sacred site for aboriginal peoples who have left behind a remarkable legacy of ancient pictographs drawn using red ochre (Photo courtesy of Larry Graham)

Along the Ottawa River

The original Trans-Canada Highway The Ottawa River is one of Canada’s most important transportation routes, playing an integral role in many of the key stories...

J.E. Sampson. Archives of Ontario War Poster Collection [between 1914 and 1918]. (Archives of Ontario, C 233-2-1-0-296).

On the eve of war: Ontario in 1914

What was life like in Ontario during those years before the First World War? Before the war that saw men leave their families and friends...

Looking considerably more martial is this group of finely turned-out soldiers from Toronto's Queen's Own Rifles, stationed in England before the start of the First World War.

Fighting power: Ontario soldiers in the making

That Canadians are an unmilitary people has become something of a cliché. But a look back at Ontario in the summer of 1914 might leave...

Valentine sent to Dorothy Ashbridge in 1914 from her friend Norma

The end of an era

The years before the Great War are often romanticized as a series of garden parties, Sunday afternoon strolls in the park, stopping everything for afternoon...

A drill crew at Petrolia in 1910, standing before their steam-powered drilling rig

Oil Springs Heritage District: Working from the ground up

In the mid-19th century, southwestern Ontario was Canada West’s last frontier, where lines of travel, civility and comfort faced the untamed. From these impassable wetlands...

Downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake – a frequently visited heritage conservation district.

Heritage conservation districts: The most popular tool in the heritage toolkit?

When the Ontario Heritage Act came into force in 1975, municipalities across the province suddenly had the authority to protect and enhance “groups of properties...

Barberry Lane streetscape in the Meadowvale Village HCD (Photo: City of Mississauga)

How districts change

Meadowvale Village – a once-small, rural village – is located on the Credit River at the north end of the City of Mississauga. In the...

The Bell House at 151 Stanley Street, New Edinburgh (Photo courtesy of Joan Mason)

Grassroots heritage: The stewards of New Edinburgh

Located in the City of Ottawa at the confluence of the Rideau and Ottawa rivers is the historical community of New Edinburgh. With its roots...

Port Hope was a recipient of a Community Leadership Award in 2008. The award was presented to Councillor Karen O’Hara by Lincoln M. Alexander, former Chairman of the Ontario Heritage Trust, and David C. Onley, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor. (Photo: Tessa J. Buchan)

Heritage conservation people

Growing up in Port Hope fostered a belief that every community had an amazing main street. That ignorance was shaken when I returned from university...

50 West Street, following the tornado (Photo courtesy of Bob Davis)

The Goderich story: A lesson in survival

For the past 18 months, West Street in Goderich has been as much a construction site as it has a place of service and retail...

Feast after a quilting bee at Mrs. Burts, Erin Township, 1915. (Ph 10312, Wellington County Museum and Archives)

Coming together

Neighbourliness has always been a part of Ontario’s rich agricultural heritage. Much of what we view in the rural landscape today was once created by...

Ontario Heritage Trust plaque commemorating the Dawn Settlement

Overcoming historical amnesia: Recognizing people of African descent as pioneers and community builders

Essential Canadian history often recognizes people of African descent solely through the heroic stories of the Underground Railroad. These stories alone, however, do not represent...

An aerial view of the Enniskillen Valleylands (Photo courtesy of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority)

The Enniskillen Valley Land Acquisition Project: Making stewardship count

Through the Enniskillen Valley Land Acquisition Project, The Ontario Heritage Trust and the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) have successfully partnered to acquire natural...

Wood conservator and master craftsman Alan Stacey instructing heritage staff in traditional preservation techniques at the Ontario Heritage Centre.

Investing in preservation

It is an unfortunate reality that the preservation of our heritage remains the exception rather than the norm. What is a common-sense approach to living...

Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site of Canada © Ontario Tourism

Into the Kawarthas

When visitors first enter Peterborough’s stately city hall, they should look down. Inspired by the City Beautiful Movement – active in Canada from 1893 to...

Red Chestnut Prospector canoe of legendary canoeist, author and filmmaker Bill Mason (1929-1988) (Photo courtesy of John Summers, Canadian Canoe Museum)

CCM 3.0: Reimagining the Canadian Canoe Museum

A decade has passed since the permanent exhibits at The Canadian Canoe Museum (CCM) were opened to great acclaim. Funded with help from the federal...

Hutchison House

Peterborough’s Living History Museum

Hutchison House holds a special place in the social history of Peterborough. Local volunteers built the house in 1836 to persuade one of their first...

Dog-strangling vine or Cynanchum rossicum (also known as pale swallowwort) at Fleetwood Creek

Reclaiming Fleetwood Creek

It’s hard to put a price on experience. Students enrolled in Sir Sandford Fleming College’s Ecosystem Management Technology (EMT) program understand this. During the program’s...

Fleming College students with Kawartha Conservation Area Coordinator Jessie James, preparing to gather data on the Fleetwood Creek plantations, spring 2010

A plantation management strategy for Fleetwood Creek Natural Area

Fleetwood Creek Natural Area, a 360-hectare (890-acre) property on the Oak Ridges Moraine, is valued for its unique post-glacial geographic features, diverse resident breeding bird...

On July 6, 2010, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a provincial plaque to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Queen’s Park (Photo: Rick Chard)

The People’s park

Queen’s Park, Toronto, was officially opened by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) in September 1860, and was a forerunner of the late-19thcentury...

The Alexander Hope Smith property

Saving biodiversity, one property at a time

What do wetlands and forest nesting sites for northern goshawks in eastern Ontario have in common with south-central Ontario cold-water streams harbouring brook trout and...

Planted area of lowland species expanding existing cover adjacent to the former pasture on the Blair property (Photo: John Stille).

New life for an old property

Heritage restoration is not limited to old buildings. Natural heritage properties, too, can be restored or adapted to new uses for future generations to enjoy...

Sheppard's Bush ostrich ferns

Biodiversity in Ontario: Taking up the challenge

Many are familiar with high-profile threatened species such as polar bears, whose habitat is in flux and whose numbers are dropping, or bald eagles, once...

Fieldworker on ice ridges overlooking Lake Nipissing at Great Manitou Island, 2010.

Working with stewards and partners

The Ontario Heritage Trust owns over 160 natural heritage properties and protects over 40 natural heritage sites with easements. Because the Trust cannot manage and...

Ruby-throated hummingbird at a cardinal flower in the Native Plants Garden (Photo: Jon Brierley).

Enhancing urban biodiversity

Inside the Gosling Wildlife Gardens By Chris Earley Most gardeners are biodiversity geeks. “What little plant can I cram in there? Which spring bloomer can...

Creating Memory, by John Warkentin

Resources: Finding our place in Ontario’s history

On the shelf Creating Memory, by John Warkentin Becker Associates, 2010. Toronto has over 6,000 public outdoor sculptures, works of art that provide a sense...

Historic Unionville (Photo courtesy of Regan Hutcheson).

Designations in bulk

Understanding Unionville, by Regan Hutcheson A visit to Unionville is like a journey back in time. Located north of Toronto in the heart of Markham...

One heritage volunteer and activist is Linda Hoad, a retired librarian who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Hintonburg’s history and whose research has saved city staff hours of work over the years.

Leading by example

Ontario towns and cities have been designating properties under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since the passage of the act in the 1970s...

Hill House, built circa 1855 by Hiram Hill, owner of the Morpeth Dockyard. This Italianate residence provides confirmation of the affluence early Great Lakes shipping and Chatham-Kent agriculture created for people in the mid-19th century. (Photo: Dan Reaume)

Cataloguing a community

The amalgamated municipality of Chatham-Kent includes a number of early settlements that encompass thousands of heritage buildings. Recently, Heritage Chatham-Kent (HC-K), our municipal heritage committee...

Photo of a woman. Photo courtesy of Fraser Dunford

Self-identifying

While we are all familiar with local archives, museums and libraries (and the materials they contain), you may be startled to discover what individual collections...

Aerial view of the northern tip of Walpole Island First Nation looking southwest along the St. Clair River (Photo: Karen Abel)

Bkejwanong: Sustaining a 6,000-year-old conservation legacy

Nestled at the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair in southwestern Ontario is the Walpole Island First Nation or “Bkejwanong,” meaning...

Foxley – The Ambery-Isaacs House, designed by Albert Kahn, on Devonshire Road (Photo courtesy of Pat Malicki)

Walkerville: The heritage of a company town

Among the shrinking number of 19th-century company towns, Walkerville – part of the City of Windsor since 1935 – remains an outstanding example of what...

Fort Malden National Historic Site, Windsor (© Ontario Tourism 2010)

Exploring Ontario’s southern peninsula

As you roam the highways and waterways of Ontario’s southern peninsula, a tapestry of stories unravels. These stories speak about settlement and growth, a testament...

A military encampment at Tecumseh Park, c. 1885. Tecumseh Park has been a military reserve since 1794 when Simcoe ordered the establishment of a shipyard on this site.

The history of Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent’s rich cultural heritage began long before European settlement when large stockaded villages and Neutral Indians dominated the Thames River and the Lake Erie-Lake St...

Toronto Jewish Old Folks’ Home (1918), Toronto

A legacy of support: Faith-based community

Reaching out to those in need has long been a part of Ontario’s religious tradition. Faith-based groups offering medical and social assistance arrived with the...

Art deco-designed Holy Blossom Temple

Toronto’s synagogues: Keeping collective memories alive

Collective memory is cultural memory – what is remembered about an event by a social or cultural group that experienced it and by those to...

St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church is one of 20 designated places of worship in Hamilton and one of three in the city with an Ontario Heritage Trust conservation easement

From Hamilton, a municipal perspective

Places of worship are often stunning buildings, constructed in forms and styles that have existed for thousands of years around the world, using specialized techniques...

Built in 1836, the Auld Kirk in Mississippi Mills is an early example of a Presbyterian church in Ontario

Form and function: The impact of liturgy, symbolism and use on design

During the 19th century, the location, physical condition and stylistic merit of churches were publicly discussed as reliable indicators of a community’s value, moral fabric...

Beaverton’s Old Stone Church benefits from a dedicated group of stewards

Enduring stewardship preserves a treasured heritage church

Located just east of Beaverton, the Old Stone Church, built in 1840 by a predominantly Scottish congregation, is a simple but handsomely proportioned small Georgian...

Windsor Mosque, Windsor

The changing face of worship

The architectural style, massing, materials and date stones of a place of worship offer clues about the congregation’s history and values. Likewise, the building’s size...

First Baptist Church, Chatham

Religious freedom in the promised land

Eli Johnson toiled on plantations in Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky before making his bid for freedom in the “promised land” – the term used by...

With its associated cemetery and rural landscape, St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church is a Haldimand landmark

Places of worship in Ontario’s rural cultural landscape

The cultural landscapes of rural southern Ontario contain a variety of heritage resources – land patterns and uses, built forms and natural features. Within these...

Ste-Anne-des-Pins, Sudbury

Churches of “New Ontario”

In the middle of the 19th century, northern Ontario remained much as it had been under the French regime – a region of Catholic missions...

Interior of Assumption Church, Windsor

Ontario’s rich religious heritage

From the First People who for thousands of years conducted religious and cultural ceremonies at places they believed held spiritual significance, to subsequent arrivals who...

Christ Church Anglican, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

Christ Church and the Queen Anne Silver

Located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on the Bay of Quinte, Christ Church houses a silver communion service dating to 1712. This remarkable service represents an...

Trust Researcher Erin Semande (left) and planner Laura Hatcher conducting fieldwork for Ontario’s Places of Worship Inventory.

Launching the Places of Worship Inventory

Survey, documentation and research – these are the first steps in the conservation process. How can decisions be made about our heritage without first acquiring...

Demolition of the Palmer Livery Building, Cambridge, March 27, 2007 (Photo courtesy of Ken Hoyle)

Subsidizing demolition

In nature, there is no such thing as waste. Nature operates in an endless web of interconnected cycles of use, transformation and reuse. The concept...

The heart of the Ruthven estate is this two-and-a-half-storey limestone Greek Revival-style mansion

Heritage in harmony: The integration of natural and cultural landscapes

Approximately 11,000 years of human culture are recorded in Ontario’s landscapes. Most existing natural landscapes in Ontario today have intrinsic cultural heritage meaning and significance...

The Huron Historic Gaol (1839-42) is designated a National Historic Site

The sustainability of place

Located on the Lake Huron shore at the mouth of the Maitland River, Goderich is known as “Canada’s Prettiest Town.” It is situated in what...

Meagan (left) discusses Canadian climate change policies with MP Jim Prentice (third from right) and Canadian negotiators at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2008.

Working for change

Protecting the environment and natural heritage has become an important part of my life over the past few years. While busy as a Grade 1...

The Fairfield White House, Bath

Heritage off the 401

Highway 401, stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border, is one of the busiest highways in North America. Anyone who has journeyed east of Toronto...

The dining room at Fulford Place in Brockville

Building on the past

Eastern Ontario offers an array of impressive historic houses. Some of these houses – owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust – are featured...

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Almonte (Photo courtesy of John T. Fowler, Photography for Education)

From mill to museum

The big oak door of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte in eastern Ontario swings silently open as it has done for over 10...

A beaver pond on the recently acquired Carp Hills property

Protecting Ottawa’s Carp Hills

Just north of the Village of Carp lie the Carp Hills – one of the largest and wildest natural areas within the City of Ottawa...

Statue of Samuel de Champlain, Ottawa (Photo © Ontario Tourism, 2009)

Ontario's eastern treasures

Inhabited by Aboriginal Peoples for 7,000 years, present-day eastern Ontario is rich with heritage. The area gradually transformed as French and later United Empire Loyalists...

J. Sandfield Macdonald (Archives of Ontario, RG 4-114)

Honouring Ontario’s premiers

The Ontario Heritage Trust launched the Premiers’ Gravesites Program at a memorable ceremony last November in Cornwall to commemorate the province’s first premier – The...

One noteworthy example of a successful adaptive reuse project was the conversion of this former post office into 91 market-rate units

Second chances for Peterborough’s priceless heritage

One of the greatest challenges to creating a healthy downtown is getting people to live there. While Peterborough’s historic centre is full of beautiful heritage...

A study is being conducted that will hopefully result in the establishment of the Old Sydenham Heritage Area (representing approximately 550 properties) as a heritage conservation district

Kingston’s heritage: Time and again

The City of Kingston sits at a strategic location, halfway between Montreal and Toronto, where Lake Ontario meets the western end of the St. Lawrence...

The Arctic Watershed is the natural high point where rivers and lakes flow in one direction towards Hudson’s Bay and in the other towards the Great Lakes. Shown here, Old Fort William, Thunder Bay (Photo © Ontario Tourism 2008)

Along the Arctic Watershed

The Arctic Watershed follows an erratic course of some 2,240 kilometres (1,400 miles) across northern Ontario. It marks the point where rivers and streams in...

Thunder Bay’s Tourist Pagoda

A renaissance of northern heritage

After railway development connected this once-isolated area to the rest of the province at the end of the 19th century, the abundant natural resources attracted...

Near Thunder Bay, on the Kaministiquia River, the North West Company is immortalized by the Fort William Historical Park (Photo © Ontario Tourism 2008)

Northern Ontario: An authentic heritage

Heritage is often associated with the distant past and, for many, a dusty museum. Northern Ontario, however, is proposing a rejuvenation of its heritage by...

Ontario Northland Railway, North Bay

Routes through the wilderness: The development of a transportation network in Northern Ontario

Isolation, great distances, demanding terrain and difficult weather conditions challenged the fortitude and perseverance of the people who forged water routes, roads, railways and air...

Sir Harry Oakes Chateau, Kirkland Lake

Adventurous workers wanted for remote locations – Housing provided

The exploration, settlement and development of northern Ontario were motivated by the exploitation of the region’s natural resources – primarily fur, timber, gold and silver...

St-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral, Timmins (Photo from the collection of the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre)

Our Francophone heritage

Fauquier. Moonbeam. Kapuskasing. Hearst. Val Gagné. Belle Vallée. Sudbury. Timmins. Sturgeon Falls. The history of northern Ontario cannot be told without looking at the contributions...

McIntyre Mine Headframe, Timmins

Northern icons

The towering McIntyre Mine Headframe in Timmins. The Clergue Block House and Powder Magazine in Sault Ste Marie. St. Francis of Assisi Anglican Church in...

1907 Right of Way Mine with growing community in background

The historical Cobalt Mining District – A community resource

At the turn of the 20th century, Cobalt was a small and isolated lumber camp. In August 1903, two lumbermen – James McKinley and Ernest...

SOS-Églises at work. David Tremblay leads the discussion while Jérôme Baillargeon helps with the notes.

Community conservation: Ingredients for success

For the past seven years, a group called SOS-Églises has led the fight to preserve two century-old village churches in Essex County. Located in Pointe-aux-Roches...

Ottawa’s Rideau Canal – recently designated as a World Heritage Site – is enjoyed by people year-round. © Ontario Tourism 2008

Resources: Engaging citizens in community conservation

What's on the shelf Old Canadian Cemeteries: Places of Memory, by Jane Irwin with photographs by John de Visser (2007) Firefly Books. Canada abounds in...

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) – special concern provincially and nationally

Sustaining species at risk

Ontario, with its broad geography, is blessed with incredible biologically diverse landscapes. Most of us take this amazing biodiversity for granted and do not fully...

Beaver River Wetland (Photo: Lou Wise)

Exploring the Beaver River Wetland

In June 2007, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) hosted a celebration to recognize the private and public efforts to protect two recently acquired...

A 1930s view of the town site taken from the north, looking towards the mill (Photo courtesy of The Ron Morel Memorial Museum, Kapuskasing)

Discovering the City Beautiful

On July 25, 2007, the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Town of Kapuskasing unveiled a provincial plaque to commemorate the town plan that helped shape...

$29 million restoration of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre by the Trust in 1987-89 (Photo: George Pelekis)

The R’s of conservation

An earlier generation spoke of the three R’s as “Reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.” They were the fundamentals of education in the 19th century and considered...

Archaeological assessment of a Trust natural heritage property

Tools through time: Protecting the past for the future

Identifying and protecting places in our communities that have cultural heritage value is an important part of managing change. Heritage buildings, archaeological sites and cultural...

The Mason-Girardot House – a Victorian Italianate house built c. 1879 in the former town of Sandwich – is one of the properties participating in Windsor’s heritage property tax relief program

Leading the way in municipal heritage planning

What’s happening in your community? With significant amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act in April 2005 and a strengthening of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS)...

A monarch butterfly

Species at risk: The monarch butterfly (danaus plexippus)

The beautiful Monarch butterfly is the most recognized butterfly in North America. What is not commonly known is that it is also a species at...

Port Carling plaque unveiling, from left: Mr. R.J. Boyer, MPP, Muskoka; Miss Elizabeth Penson; The Honourable Leslie Frost, Premier; The Honourable Bryan Cathcart; The Honourable William Griesinger; and Reeve Robert Bennett.

In the beginning . . . the first provincial plaque

Fifty years ago – on a fine fall afternoon, September 26, 1956 – I witnessed the unveiling of Ontario’s first provincial plaque in my hometown...

Clark-McCleary House, rear elevation

Exploring Country Heritage Park

In March 2006, the Ontario Heritage Trust acquired a cultural conservation easement on Country Heritage Park. Located in Milton, this designed heritage attraction was created...

Hiking the Oaks Ridges Moraine Trail

Along the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail

Hiking along the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail offers a memorable experience. Situated close to the Greater Toronto Area, the Trail provides an opportunity to encounter...

Homewood Museum in Maitland

Heritage by numbers

Ontario’s heritage is an immense and complex jigsaw puzzle. Every individual element of heritage creates a whole . . . a sort of heritage by...

Parading into the Spencerville Mill grounds is the Glengarry Pipe Band (Photo: The Spencerville Mill Foundation)

Saving the Spencerville Mill – Preserving community heritage

The Spencerville Mill, a fine cut-stone flour and grist mill, is located on the bank of the South Nation River in the small rural village...

Richview-Willow Grove Cemetery

Rush and remembrance

On a windswept summer day in 2005, a small congregation gathered beside a cloverleaf off-ramp at the western fringe of Toronto. In Richview-Willow Grove Cemetery...

This 1958 provincial plaque unveiling to commemorate Catharine Parr Traill was attended by Mrs. Anne Atwood and Miss Anne Traill, the author’s granddaughters. Also in attendance (shown here second from left) was the then-editor of the Peterborough Examiner – Robertson Davies – who, in time, became a literary giant in his own right.

Literary giants

Catharine Parr Traill is one of Canada’s literary luminaries. Her life story spans most of the 19th century, crossing oceans, battling cholera and journeying through...

Today, the Ashbridge Estate is widely known in Toronto’s east end for its lush gardens. The Estate is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. Its extensive collection of artifacts and archaeological discoveries celebrate the evolution of the Ashbridge family.

The biography of a house: If these walls could speak

Researching family history is a popular pastime for many who want to uncover their family’s unique past and discover how they contributed to Ontario’s growth...

The Brent Crater

Giant meteorite slams Algonquin Park

Well, that would have been the headline 450 million years ago. Today, it is a fascinating mark on our natural landscape. This is not a...

Butterfly milkweed (Photo: Karen Abel)

It’s not easy staying green: Working for a green and healthy Ontario

Natural heritage conservation can be traced back to the early times of the First Nations, whose close relationship with nature was reflected in religious beliefs...

This majestic beech tree is located at Toronto’s Ashbridge Estate, a property owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust

Remarkable trees – Heritage tree preservation in Ontario

What is heavier than any land animal, taller than most buildings, older than many ancient monuments? One of the world’s oldest living organisms are –...

Hiking near Killarney (Photo: Ontario Tourism)

Making tracks

Ontario’s 64,000-km network of trails traverses a varied landscape of wilderness, rural and urban areas. These trails range from waterways and portage routes to footpaths...

An urban garden with gray-headed coneflower, a native prairie species

Gardening for biodiversity

Many gardeners today are finding enjoyable and educational ways to participate in the promotion and preservation of Ontario’s natural heritage through the creation of habitat-inspired...

Willem Hanrath, with his children and grandchildren, being presented with an Ontario Heritage Trust easement marker to recognize their generous donation of the natural heritage easement for the Caistor-Canborough Slough Forest ANSI (47 acres/19 hectares)

The anatomy of a heritage conservation easement: Building the framework for a conservation partnership

Private landowners are often faced with a difficult dilemma – how to preserve the heritage of their land for future generations in a world where...

Lone Pine Marsh, Braham

Our provincial tree: The eastern white pine

Builders of British sailing ships during the 1800s sought the tall, straight white pine for the masts. The best trees in British North America were...

Backus Woods

Giving back to nature

Southwestern Ontario sustains the richest array of flora and fauna in the country. Known as Canada’s deep south, this area includes sassafras, flowering dogwood, tulip...

Site discussion at Speyside Woods about property management with staff from the Bruce Trail Association, the Ontario Heritage Trust, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Conservation Halton (Photo: Eric Boysen, Ministry of Natural Resources)

Working together to save our natural heritage

With ongoing development pressures for housing, roads and commercial and industrial activities in Ontario, natural heritage protection has become more critical than ever before in...

Peterborough's Market Hall, before

Winning the battle

There are countless examples across the province of successful restorations of Ontario’s treasured heritage sites. Although the challenges are great – funding being the primary...

Peel Heritage Complex, Brampton

Our cultural heritage places: how heritage buildings adapt

Although heritage remains a year-round activity for many of us, Heritage Day is celebrated annually on the third Monday in February. This year’s theme speaks...

Penetanguishene Centennial Museum and Archives

Small-town museums key to small-town success

For 18 years, my wife and I raised our two sons in the Town of Richmond Hill just north of Toronto. When we moved to...

A bequest from Barbara Elizabeth Jacquith of Carolinian forest contains a tributary of the Credit River and an important water recharge area

Protecting natural spaces in Southern Ontario

On August 3, 2005 the provincial government announced the creation of the Natural Spaces Program, which included a $6-million allocation to the Ontario Heritage Trust...

The earliest brick structure in the City of Hamilton – the Book House, located in Ancaster – was recently lost to a suspected case of arson. (Photo: Sharon Vattay, City of Hamilton)

Moving forward with heritage conservation

Thirty years ago, when the Ontario Heritage Act was new, I was a young planner with about a year’s experience working in London, England and...

Coldwater Grist Mill – serving the community since 1833; an active part of Doors Open Huronia since 2002

The new Ontario Heritage Act: The evolution of heritage conservation

An important shift has occurred in Ontario’s legislative framework for heritage conservation. On April 28, 2005, the Ontario Heritage Amendment Act (Bill 60) received royal...

The Cheltenham Badlands

Visiting the Cheltenham Badlands

Nestled on the Niagara Escarpment amid the rolling countryside of the Caledon Hills lies a unique landscape locally known as the Cheltenham Badlands. The site...

Tree in winter

Gifts of nature

The Egbert Ross Boothby property Imagine a plot of land on the Lake of Bays, seemingly untouched by human habitation. It has almost a mile...

Share:
Share: