Museum Buildings and Rentals

The Head School House was built in 1880 in the same place it stands today. For a village to have a school, the community had to come together to organize the construction of the building, providing some school materials, as well as looking after the teacher. The Head School was continuously updated: in 1927, there was an addition on the east side, and in 1934 the board and batten exterior was redone with bricks. Classes were no longer held after 1960, but it was used by the Department of Education. During the summers of 1969 and 1970, the Historical Society used the schoolhouse for displays. In 1971, the schoolhouse became a year-round museum. 

Built on site in 1860 by Episcopalian Methodists, this was the first church built by the European settlers on Scugog Island. The Head Church was cared for and maintained by members of the community for decades. In 1905, a porch was built, and in 1914 a tearoom was added as a community social center, which was renovated in 1957. Over the years, fewer people attended the Church, and it was deconsecrated in 1968. The next year, the Historical Society took over responsibility for the church; this allowed for the building to be used as a place of collective and community memory.

In 1834, Isaac Rodman visited a friend in Scugog and was impressed by the landscape. He decided it would be a great home for family, who were in Bradford. Isaac started clearing land for this cabin, and constructed it on Head Rd, just east of the current day Museum. Isaac’s eldest son William and his wife Peggy inherited the cabin, and it was passed down through the generations. In the late 1800’s, a large farmhouse was built, and the cabin was no longer lived in. It was used as a pigeon keep, a workshop, storage, and a pumphouse before it was moved to the museum in 1994.

This log cabin was built in Manvers in 1845, and moved to the museum in 1973. The cabin was deconstructed log by log and rebuilt on the museum grounds over 3 years, and opened to the public in 1976. It was then moved to its present day site in 1991. This log cabin was a typical design used by early settlers in Ontario. It is furnished as a farming family's home from the mid to late 1800’s. 

The Lee House, or Victorian House, was originally built in Greenbank in 1865, where it was the home of Joseph and Rosina Lee. This building was donated and moved to the museum in 1972. The interior is modeled after a home of an artisan's family during the late 1800s, representing the Victorian Era. The house demonstrates how Canadians went from a life of practicality to a life of comfort. 

Barns built with squared logs and a gable roof was a common English style barn made in Upper Canada during the mid the late 1800’s. These architectural features are seen the Display Barn and attached Woodwright Shop, which was built in the 1870s in Seagrave. It was deconstructed and rebuilt on the museum grounds in 1987. Barns provided warmth and shelter for livestock, or acted as a storage building. 

Attached to the barn is a woodwright shop. Woodwrights were artisans vital to the community; virtually all furniture and equipment was made of wood until the rise of cast iron and industrial machinery. Woodworking depended entirely on hand-workmanship and specially designed handmade tools. 

This building was a summer kitchen of the Alldred home on Scugog Island, and it was moved to the museum in 1976. The front façade came from the Port Perry Star building on Queen Street, and the building interprets printing history. The production of newspapers and other printed materials had a strong cultural influence on society. Newspapers outlined the lives of people during that time as well as events happening around them. 

A blacksmith shop was an important building in villages as it provided many services. Blacksmiths in small towns had to act as locksmiths, gunsmiths, and farriers if the community could not support multiple craftsmen. The blacksmith shop at the museum was constructed onsite in 1991 using local material. Our shop houses a functioning forge that is still used in special event demonstrations.

The Harness Shop was built on the museum grounds in 1984 to represent one of the many craftsmen’s skills needed in an early settler village. It was very important to make long-lasting and comfortable harnesses for animals as they were extremely important for agriculture. Harness shops would provide saddles, straps and other leather goods depending on the needs of the local people. The building also contains a shoemaker shop as both trades worked with similar materials and tools.

This beef ring was from Greenbank, where it was in operation from 1880 until the late 1940’s. It was moved to the museum in 1981. Before the ability to refrigerate items, people had to find ways to preserve their meat. Using ice blocks or smoking meat could only preserve so much. In order to get the most use out of one animal, families in the surrounding area joined together to form a Beef Ring. Each week, one family would provide a cow to then to butchered, and distribute meat evenly to each family in the Ring.