Upper Canada Village is a living museum of 1860's life in what is now southern and eastern Ontario. The Village recreates the 1860's with buildings from the Morrisburg area. They were moved to the current site on the St Lawrence River and assembled into a rural village. We had not toured the Village for several years when we visited in early May 2024.
The Willard Hotel hosts a full service restaurant, but there is no full service at Cooks Tavern
The homes on site cover a variety of owners "status". The Robertson home represents the most well to do owners
The piano in the first and second photo is a vertical grand piano
The "Hired Man's House" looks quite comfortable (for the times) and is likely at the other end of the spectrum of homes.
There are many different styles of horse and buggies/wagons in use throughout the village
There is also a horse drawn barge in which visitors can have a 20 minute ride.
A pair of oxen are used to pull wagons, a barn has yolks etc used by the oxen. A few diary cattle are kept in small pastures. A few pigs are also kept in (muddy) enclosures.
Small gardens are prepared by hand, all grass cutting is done by scythe
Louck's Farms House represents the home of a successful farmer. There are "actors" in most buildings that describe the "goings-on" of the 1860s in their situation.
Some of the actors are learning to play period instruments....
The photographic "test" at the doctor's house is get an interior photo of the circular window in the upstairs front bedroom. I also enjoyed the old "bathtub: in the kitchen.
There is a one room schoolhouse with the school mistress often played by a retired teacher.
The local printer makes up newspapers and notices for the various events at the Village
The McDiarmid Home features a demonstration of spinning and using a loom.
There are two churches in the Village. A log cabin chapel and a large frame church that can be seen from many spots in the Village. The interiors of both are rather plain.
The dry goods store is completely stocked including with a knowledgeable storekeeper
A Masonic Lodge in the Village
A tinsmith makes tin goods, many of which are sold at the Village (real) store
The Cabinet Maker and Blacksmith shops are fully equipped and make period items for the Village
The broom maker is kept busy, but his craft is being undercut with manufactured brooms by the 1860s
A fully operation water-powered saw mill provides cut lumber for the Village
A woollen mill, also water powered, is in full operation
They also have a felting machine that uses teasel flower blossoms after the flower dies and dries out
There are sheep at the Village, but not enough to provide enough raw wool for the mill, but the herd grows each year....
Two videos about the Village. The first, a short one, from 2024, the second is a lengthier 35mm slide show production from 2005 converted to digital
The Village hosts a number of special events during the summer and two off season. The two videos below are from Pumpkerinferno, 2023 and 2018. A very well attended show each hallowe'en