Thunder Bay Historical Museum

Last updated
Thunder Bay Museum
Thunder Bay Historical Museum.jpg
Thunder Bay Historical Museum
Established1908
Location425 Donald Street East
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Executive directorScott Bradley
CuratorMichael deJong
Website www.thunderbaymuseum.com/

The Thunder Bay Museum is located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is operated by The Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, incorporated in 1972 as the successor to the Thunder Bay Historical Society.

Contents

The Museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, the Ontario Historical Society, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

History

The Thunder Bay Historical Society was founded October 2, 1908 at the instance of Barlow Cumberland, president of the Ontario Historical Society. Peter McKellar served as president of the Thunder Bay Historical Society from 1908 to 1923.

Since 1994 the museum has been housed in the former Fort William police station and court house near Thunder Bay City Hall. The three-storey building, designed by architect Robert Mason, was erected in 1910 and is an example of Classical Revival architecture, with its two large Corinthian columns and pilasters. Fund raising is under way to restore the cornice and other missing architectural elements. The interior of the building has been treated with complete renovations since 1994, including an overhaul of its HVAC system and the addition of a wheelchair ramp. An annex was enlarged and converted to a storage area for the collection. Recently a visible storage gallery was built in front of the annex to display vehicles and other large items in the museum's collection.

Collection

The first floor gallery features permanent exhibits on various aspects of local history. The second floor gallery is known as the James Murphy Room and is dedicated to meetings and programming, such as birthday parties and themed march & summer break camps for children. The third floor gallery features military and music exhibits, local and traveling exhibit space as well as a multipurpose room available for rentals.

The museum collects objects of regional interest, such as dolls, pictures and furniture, and its collection includes a firetruck. The archives has 130 metres of linear records, 1900 maps and plans, 150,000 photographic images and a 2200 volume library.

Program

The Society produces an annual peer-reviewed journal entitled Papers & Records. It is also publishes a number of books annually on a variety of local and regional interest.

Arms

Coat of arms of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society
Notes
Granted 15 October 2006. [1]
Crest
An open book Argent bound Purpure in front of a demi-compass rose Or.
Escutcheon
Purpure on a pale of birchbark Proper between two keys wards in base Or an hourglass Proper its stand Purpure.
Motto
Learning From History
Badge
An hourglass as in the Arms encircled by a wreath of mountain maple leaves and nodding trillium flowers Proper.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder Bay</span> City in Ontario, Canada

Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous municipality in Northern Ontario; its population is 108,843 according to the 2021 Canadian Census. Located on Lake Superior, the census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay has a population of 123,258 and consists of the city of Thunder Bay, the municipalities of Oliver Paipoonge and Neebing, the townships of Shuniah, Conmee, O'Connor, and Gillies, and the Fort William First Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Ontario Museum</span> Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year, making it the most-visited museum in Canada. It is north of Queen's Park, in the University of Toronto district, with its main entrance on Bloor Street West. Museum subway station is named after it and, since a 2008 renovation, is decorated to resemble the ROM's collection at the platform level.

Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Gallery of Ontario</span> Art museum in Toronto, Ontario

The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West. The building complex takes up 45,000 square metres (480,000 sq ft) of physical space, making it one of the largest art museums in North America and the second-largest art museum in Toronto, after the Royal Ontario Museum. In addition to exhibition spaces, the museum also houses an artist-in-residence office and studio, dining facilities, event spaces, gift shop, library and archives, theatre and lecture hall, research centre, and a workshop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnipeg Art Gallery</span> Public art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collection of Inuit art. In addition to exhibits for its collection, the museum has organized and hosted a number of travelling arts exhibitions. Its building complex consists of a main building that includes 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft) of indoor space and the adjacent 3,700-square-metre (40,000 sq ft) Qaumajuq building.

The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) is a museum, art gallery, and archives for the Regional Municipality of Peel and are located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Previously, it was the Peel Heritage Complex. Its facilities were originally the Peel County Courthouse, Brampton Jail, a land registry office, and a county administration building. It is opposite Gage Park and Brampton City Hall.

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is Northern Ontario's largest art gallery specializing in the work of contemporary Indigenous artists. It is located on the campus of Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is the largest public gallery between Sault Ste. Marie and Winnipeg, featuring over 4,000 sq/ft of exhibition space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder Bay International Airport</span> Airport in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Thunder Bay Airport is an airport in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada. During the same year, more than 761,000 passengers went through the airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bytown Museum</span> Museum in Ontario, Canada

The Bytown Museum is a museum in Ottawa located in the Colonel By Valley at the Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal at the Ottawa River, just below Parliament Hill. Housed in the Commissariat Building, Ottawa's oldest remaining stone building, the museum provides a comprehensive overview of the origins of Bytown and its development and growth into the present city of Ottawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder Bay Transit</span> Public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Thunder Bay Transit is the public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 1970, after the amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur and Fort William and their respective transit agencies. Thunder Bay Transit is a member of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albany Institute of History & Art</span> Museum in Albany, New York

The Albany Institute of History & Art (AIHA) is a museum in Albany, New York, United States, "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region". It is located on Washington Avenue in downtown Albany. Founded in 1791, it is among the oldest museums in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo History Museum</span> United States historic place

The Buffalo History Museum is located at 1 Museum Court in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue and off of Nottingham Terrace, north of the Scajaquada Expressway, in the northwest corner of Delaware Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Fort William, Ontario</span>

Downtown Fort William, also known as Downtown Thunder Bay South or the South Core, is the urban core of the former city of Fort William, the southern half of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is centred on Victoriaville Civic Centre, an indoor shopping mall and civic centre built as part of an urban renewal project in the 1980s. It is separated from the Kaministiquia River by the Canadian Pacific Railway line, and its topography is relatively flat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemung County Historical Society</span>

The Chemung County Historical Society is headquartered in the historic Chemung Canal Bank Building in Elmira, New York. It is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and presentation of the history of the Chemung River Valley region. The society was founded in 1923 and first chartered by New York State in 1947. It is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and currently operates two cultural repositories, the Chemung Valley History Museum and the Booth Library, both as non-profit educational institutions.

The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is a non-profit, historical society and museum, to promote the study of the history of the Rensselaer County, NY. RCHS was founded in 1927, and originally operated out of a single room in the Troy Public Library, collecting manuscripts and published materials related to the county's history. It is located in the Central Troy Historic District, in Troy, NY. The Rensselaer County Historical Society operates a museum, and offers public programs from its location at 57 Second Street, Troy, NY.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Museum of the Great Lakes</span> Marine museum in Kingston, Ontario

The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes is a museum dedicated to marine history in the Great Lakes. It is located at 55 Ontario St. in Kingston, Ontario, which is also a designated National Historic Site of Canada.

Boone County Historical Society was established in 1924. Located in Columbia, Missouri, United States, the Boone County Historical Museum has been collecting, preserving and exhibiting artifacts and records of the people of Boone County, Missouri.

Founded in 1916, the Columbia County Historical Society and CCHS Museum & Library collects, preserves, interprets, and presents the history, heritage, and culture of Columbia County, New York, and serves residents of all eighteen Columbia County towns and the city of Hudson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elman W. Campbell Museum</span> Local museum in Newmarket, Ontario

The Elman W. Campbell Museum is a museum in Newmarket, Ontario. Beginning with the first Quaker settlers in the early 1800s, the museum covers the history of Newmarket and the surrounding area, with a focus on local artifacts and their significance. It has several permanent exhibits, as well as space for temporary exhibits. Also available are community group programs for elementary school students and groups such as Scouts Canada.

HMCS Griffon is a Royal Canadian Naval Reserve Division (NRD) located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS Griffon is a land-based naval establishment for part-time sailors as well as a local recruitment centre for the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. It is one of Royal Canadian Naval Reserve divisions 24 naval reserve divisions located in major cities across Canada.

References

Raffo, Peter. “The Rocky road home: a hundred years in the life of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society.” Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society Papers and Records XXXVI (2008): 3-17.

  1. "Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society". Canadian Heraldic Authority. Retrieved 21 September 2023.

48°22′57″N89°14′40″W / 48.38250°N 89.24444°W / 48.38250; -89.24444