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Established | 1959 |
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Location | 2609 Fanshawe Park Road East London, Ontario, Canada N5X 4A1 |
Coordinates | 43°03′08″N81°11′41″W / 43.05222°N 81.19472°W |
Type | historic site |
Collection size | 33 buildings |
Director | Dawn Miskelly |
Owner | London and Middlesex Heritage Museum |
Public transit access | none |
Nearest car park | on-site, free |
Website | www |
Fanshawe Pioneer Village is an open-air museum established in 1959 and located in the Fanshawe Conservation Area in London, Ontario. [1] The village uses historical re-enactments to communicate the history of rural communities in the former townships of Westminster, London, North Dorchester, Delaware, West Nissouri and Lobo in Middlesex County from 1820 to 1920 and the founding and development of the City of London up to 1840. [2]
The heritage village is owned and operated by the London and Middlesex Heritage Museum, a not-for-profit charity, with the support of the City of London, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, the Municipality of Thames Centre and the Municipality of Middlesex Centre. The intended purpose of the pioneer village is to involve the community in the preservation of history and tradition through living history experiences. [3]
Fanshawe Pioneer Village was first conceived in 1955 under the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's responsibility to conserve historic structures in the Upper Thames watershed. The Village officially opened on June 26, 1959 with support from Dr. Wilfrid Jury, Director of the University of Western Ontario's Museum of Indian Archaeology and Pioneer Life. In 1961, the site was enlarged to 2.2 acres and in 1963, the Authority set aside an additional 22 acres for future development. Wilfrid Jury had accumulated a large collection of pioneer artefacts which were exhibited at Middlesex College, University of Western Ontario. This collection was brought to the Village and formally donated to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in 1978. By 1980, the Village consisted of 23 buildings placed throughout the original 22 acres. Today the village consists of 33 original and replica historic structures on 46 acres.
Fanshawe Pioneer Village contains a collection of material culture significant to the history of the city of London and Middlesex County. The collection includes over 25,000 artefacts [4] representing furniture, decorative arts, costumes and textiles, archival materials, domestic tools, vehicles as well as agricultural and industrial tools and equipment. The collection has been assembled through donations from residents of London and Middlesex County who have donated their artefacts.
As part of their attempt to encourage community involvement, Fanshawe Pioneer Village hosts a number of historically based events every year.
Fanshawe Pioneer Village is the site of 33 historic buildings with origins spanning one hundred years. The Village is separated into four historical clusters to depict the development of the community.
Fanshawe Settlement 1820-1850 is intended to be representative of the impact upon the land and aboriginal people by settlers who immigrated from Europe and other parts of North America to the London area in the first half of the 19th century.
Representative of the first stage of urban development at a transportation crossroads.
Tells the story of farming, as it becomes the economic engine that drives development in London and Middlesex County.
Tells the story of the rapid changes that marks the 20th century.
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River and North Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York. The city of London is politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the county seat.
Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The nearest cities are Woodstock to the east and London to the west.
Black Creek Pioneer Village, previously Dalziel Pioneer Park, is an open-air heritage museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The village is located in the North York district of Toronto, just west of York University and southeast of the Jane and Steeles intersection. It overlooks Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. The village is a recreation of life in 19th-century Ontario and gives an idea how rural Ontario might have looked in the early-to-mid-19th century. The village is a regular destination for field trips by schoolchildren from the Greater Toronto Area. It was opened in 1960 and is operated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority is a body based in London, Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1947. It was responsible for the construction of the Fanshawe Dam, completed in the 1950s, to control flooding from the Thames River, which runs through London. During the last ice age, the site of London was the terminus of a large glacier. When the region warmed at the end of the ice age, the glacier melted and receded North, leaving behind a drainage ditch and features such as Sifton Bog. As such, the Thames is a watershed for most of Western Ontario, and is therefore highly susceptible to seasonal flooding. In 1937, such flooding had devastating consequences, destroying over 1,000 homes, and causing millions of dollars in damage.
Oxford County is a regional municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Highway 401 runs east–west through the centre of the county, creating an urban industrial corridor with more than half the county's population, spanning 25 km between the Toyota auto assembly plant in Woodstock and the CAMI General Motors auto assembly plant in Ingersoll. The local economy is otherwise dominated by agriculture, especially the dairy industry.
Middlesex Centre is a township in Middlesex County, in southwestern Ontario, Canada, north and west of London. The Corporation of the Township of Middlesex Centre formed on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Townships of Delaware, Lobo, and London. It is part of the London census metropolitan area.
Flamborough is a district and former municipality in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. For most of its existence before amalgamation with Hamilton in 2001, Flamborough comprised the former townships of East Flamborough, West Flamborough, and Beverly, as well as the village of Waterdown. The largest suburban community is the former village of Waterdown containing perhaps one third of its thirty thousand or so inhabitants. Other Flamborough communities include Carlisle, Christie's Corners, Clappison's Corners, Copetown, Freelton, Greensville, Lynden, Kirkwall, Millgrove, Mountsberg, Orkney, Peters Corners, Rockton, Troy, Sheffield, Valens, Strabane and Westover.
Thomas Talbot was an Irish-born Canadian soldier and colonial administrator. He founded the community of Port Talbot, Ontario, which was at one time the most prosperous town in the region due to his insistence on building quality roads, and was responsible for enticing 50,000 people to settle in the Thames River area.
Highbury Avenue is an arterial road located in the Canadian province of Ontario. In addition to serving as a primary north–south thoroughfare in eastern London – through which part of it is a limited-access freeway – the road also provides access to Highway 401 and continues south to St. Thomas. The southern terminus of Highbury Avenue is an intersection with South Edgeware Road, just north of Highway 3 and the eastern end of the St. Thomas Expressway. From there, it travels 45.6 kilometres (28.3 mi) north to Highway 7, east of Elginfield. Outside of London and St. Thomas, the road also passes through the communities of Ballymote and Bryanston. It is designated as Elgin County Road 30 within Central Elgin, and as Middlesex County Road 23 within Middlesex Centre, the two rural municipalities through which the route passes.
Westphalia is a small unincorporated community in Falls County, Texas, United States, located 35 mi (56 km) south of Waco on State Highway 320. Westphalia has a strong German and Catholic background. The Church of the Visitation was, until recently, the largest wooden church west of the Mississippi River. Westphalia is mainly noted for its historic church and convents, but also for its meat market and for its annual church picnic, which is one of the largest in the area. Westphalia is also known for the Westphalia Waltz.
The Township of Norwich is a municipality located in Oxford County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. At the centre of the Township of Norwich is the Town of Norwich. The preferred pronunciation of the town name is NOR-witch, which differs from the pronunciation NORR-ij used for the city of Norwich, England. The origin of Norwich, Ontario, is more likely Norwich in upper New York State, the area from which the pioneering families emigrated in the early 19th century, where the community was known as Norwichville.
The Township of Perth East is a municipality in Perth County, Ontario, Canada and situated north of Stratford. It was created in 1998 when the Ontario government amalgamated the village of Milverton with the surrounding former townships of Ellice, Mornington, North Easthope and South Easthope.
Weston Green is a small suburban village and a ward in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey. This area was, until 1901, a part of Thames Ditton with which it remains contiguous and associated. Weston Green is also contiguous with Esher, which provides the village's closest railway station. The village forms a rough triangle of land along the west side of the midsection of the Hampton Court Branch Line next to Thames Ditton railway station and down to Esher railway station, with the split between the two being the part dual-carriageway, the A309.
Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park is a former state park located just south of London, Kentucky in Laurel County. It is now a city park under the auspices of the city of London, KY. The park encompasses 896 acres (363 ha) and includes a section of the Wilderness Road that early settlers used to reach Kentucky. The park is named for Levi Jackson, an early Kentucky pioneer. It serves as both a recreational and historic park.
The Garfield Farm and Inn Museum is a Registered Historic Place in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The property is a 375-acre (1.52 km2) farmstead, centered on an inn that served teamsters and the nearby community during the 1840s. It is currently a museum offering a variety of educational and entertainment events. The buildings that remain are three original 1840s structures, including the 1842 hay and grain barn, the 1849 horse barn, and the 1846 inn. Various other barns and outbuildings also stand, the last dated to 1906.
Stirling Agricultural Village was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada on June 22, 1989. The site was designated as a national historical site of Canada because it is the best surviving example of a Mormon agricultural village. The Michelsen Farmstead was the focus of the community, and is now a totally restored museum, listed as a Provincial Historic Site in 2001. The Galt Historic Railway Park is another popular museum located in this historic site.
Lang Pioneer Village Museum is a living history museum located in the hamlet of Lang in Peterborough County, Ontario. It was established in 1967 by the County of Peterborough. Lang Pioneer Village is situated on the shores of the historic Indian River. Lang Pioneer Village is an "outdoor museum" featuring more than 30 restored and furnished buildings, many of which were donated from the surrounding townships. The buildings, constructed between 1820 and 1910, are interpreted by costumed villagers portraying authentic 19th-century pioneer life. Since 2014 the Museum has been the site of the Aabnaabin Encampment, a pre-colonization representation of a Michi Saagiig camp where the story of the First Nations history and culture of the region is told by indigenous interpreters. Lang Pioneer Village Museum is owned and operated by the County of Peterborough.
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