Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village Tour

Where Road and River Meet: The story of Minden hills is a tale of hope and gritty perseverance. Discover local history at Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village

Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village Tour

Minden, Ontario K0M 2A1, Canada

Created By: Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village

Tour Information

Where Road and River Meet

Welcome to Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village, part of Minden Hills Cultural Centre. Minden Hills is centred around Bobcaygeon Road and the Gull River. Two major forces of change, these transportation links brought immigration and industry to the area. Bobcaygeon Road was a ‘colonization’ road the government built in 1856-1859 to attract farmers and open this area up to European settlement. The Gull River was a major waterway lumberjacks used to transport millions of logs from forests to factories.

Farmers and loggers did not always see eye to eye, with plenty of conflicts over logging rights and road maintenance. But together they built tight-knit communities with fiery determination. A visitor to the area in the 1880s, author Pelham Mulvaney, described a dance at Daniel Buck’s hotel in Minden “which commenced on New Year's Eve, 1864, and lasted, with slight intermissions, for four days and five nights.” Buck’s hotel, now called the Dominion, still stands on Minden’s main street and continues to be a centre for community events today.

In 2001, Minden, Snowdon, Hindon, Lutterworth and Anson came together to form the present Township of Minden Hills. These communities share a history of surviving floods, fires and crop failures with gritty perseverance. Discover some of the history of this area by exploring Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village at Minden Hills Cultural Centre. For more information and to find out what’s happening at the Cultural Centre, visit www.mindenhillsculturalcentre.blog


Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

This house is one of Minden's oldest surviving buildings. It was originally located on a 111-acre homestead at the corner of Bobcaygeon Road and Highway 35, where Minden Home Hardware is now. When the building was relocated to the museum in... Read more
The Cookhouse is a new building, built at the museum to recreate the look of a logging camp cookhouse. As early as the 1840s, lumber barons with logging rights in these forests were commissioning land surveys and mapping out riverways in a ... Read more
Built in the late 1800s, the Bailey Barn was relocated to the museum in 1999 from its original location at the corner of Deep Bay and Murdoch Road. It dates back to a time when farming was more common here. When Philip Vankoughnet became M... Read more
Hundreds of one-room schoolhouses just like this were built in the late 1800s to meet a growing demand for public education. In 1871, provincial legislation in Ontario made schooling compulsory and free for children up to the age of 12. Wit... Read more
This building is a replica of the original Bethel Church, which still stands on Bethel Church Road in Minden. Over 130 years ago, in 1889, a Crown deed was issued to the Methodist congregation. In early May (peak black-fly season!), workers... Read more
This bank dates back to the early 1900s. Minden's very first bank was established by J.H Delamere in 1895. In July 1907, the Sterling Bank of Canada purchased a property at the corner of Newcastle Street and Bobcaygeon Road, and built this ... Read more
The Agnes Jamieson Gallery is named in honour after Dr. Agnes Jamieson. Operating since 1981, the Agnes Jamieson Gallery is entrusted to preserve and present the life, work and ongoing legacy of André Lapine ARCA (1866-1952) and to exhibit... Read more
Nature’s Place in Minden Hills is a nature interpretive centre, with a mandate to educate, inspire and expand our understanding of our place in nature. Visitors are encouraged to experience interactive, digital displays and exhibits that ... Read more
This scenic pathway traverses natural wetlands, leading to the Gull River. A short 10 minute walk to main street Minden. 

 

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