Upper Canada Village

Upper Canada Village

Upper Canada Village, developed during the 1950s and 1960s near Morrisburg, Ont, a replica of a 19th-century community that might have existed along the St Lawrence R. It includes a pioneer farm, general store, doctor's house, tavern, blacksmith shop, school, sawmill, cheese factory and woollen mill. Many original buildings have been moved to the site from nearby, eg, Crysler's Hall, restored to 1846, and Cook's Tavern, restored to 1835. The buildings are authentically furnished and demonstrate to the visitor various aspects of early life in Upper Canada. Guides in period costumes explain the history and also demonstrate the way of life of the region's original inhabitants.

The St Lawrence Seaway project, beginning in 1954, called for the flooding of a large portion of the old river "front," one of the first areas to be settled in Ontario. To save some of this heritage and develop the new riverbank area, in 1955 the Ontario government established the Ontario-St Lawrence Development Commission. This sponsored the creation of Upper Canada Village to preserve representative buildings and memorialize life as it was along the front. The commission also developed 800 ha of adjacent parkland and relocated the old monument commemorating the 1813 battle of Crysler's Farm.