Explore Our Collection
The Middleville and District Museum houses a collection of several thousand artifacts depicting the building of a community from early days of settlement through to the Second World War. Your visit begins with local Indigenous artifacts and continues with an actual log cabin. You will see a significant textile display, a farming exhibit and a glimpse of the early domestic life. A dramatic 1911 horse drawn hearse, a 1918 Chev Truck and a 1921 Ford Car are big hits. Early blacksmith and carpenter tools from local collectors are also popular. The old school house, offering books with many signatures of local youngsters, brings back memories of days gone by.
Our archival holdings include genealogical records, taxation records, school records, deeds, wills and hundreds of photographs. The Museum also has an abundance of old maps and atlases to assist in research.
In addition, the Museum has records of local Churches, cemeteries and organizations such as the Women's Institute groups from the area including Tweedsmuir History Books.
Our Inventory
To search our inventories for specific items, if a search icon is not available on your device, use 'control F' to access a search box.
Check out our Resource Library to find out about our collections of family histories, letters, diaries and scrapbooks. You'll discover lots of treasures hidden in the pages carefully preserved by generations before. Whether you're an avid researcher or just want to learn about what life was like for our ancestors, you're sure to find something of interest. Drop by the Museum when it's open or make an appointment to come by another time.
Stories of the Past
|
|
Videos
The Old Fashioned Way
This Middleville and District Museum video compilation from days gone by begins with a demonstration of some heritage farm equipment in John Borrowman's field in Middleville in 1987. Watch a grain cradle, scythe and flail being used. Listen for the hiss of a steam tractor and see a display of antique tractors including a 1929 Oliver hard crank. Watch local community members try their hand at ploughing behind a team of horses. It might not be as easy as you think. Other features include a display of antique cars, a spinning wheel and some old time fiddle music.
People included in the video are: Gordon James, Alex Bowes, Allan McFarlane, Stewart Rodger, Hazel Mitchell, Edwin McKirdy, John Creighton, Ken Manson, Len McKay, Preston Harris, Ernie Giles, Norman Paul, Ken Bowes, Keith McLaren, Bob Reid, Lyall Mather, John Hodgins, Jim McKay, Jim Dobbie, Murray Affleck, Randy McKay, Allan McKay, Frank Stead, Bert Rodger and Sylvia Rodger.
This Middleville and District Museum video compilation from days gone by begins with a demonstration of some heritage farm equipment in John Borrowman's field in Middleville in 1987. Watch a grain cradle, scythe and flail being used. Listen for the hiss of a steam tractor and see a display of antique tractors including a 1929 Oliver hard crank. Watch local community members try their hand at ploughing behind a team of horses. It might not be as easy as you think. Other features include a display of antique cars, a spinning wheel and some old time fiddle music.
People included in the video are: Gordon James, Alex Bowes, Allan McFarlane, Stewart Rodger, Hazel Mitchell, Edwin McKirdy, John Creighton, Ken Manson, Len McKay, Preston Harris, Ernie Giles, Norman Paul, Ken Bowes, Keith McLaren, Bob Reid, Lyall Mather, John Hodgins, Jim McKay, Jim Dobbie, Murray Affleck, Randy McKay, Allan McKay, Frank Stead, Bert Rodger and Sylvia Rodger.
1918 Model T Chev Truck
Watch a slideshow showing the various stages as a 1918 Model T truck chassis is transformed to a fully restored truck . This truck, restored by CM Rodger, now resides inside the Middleville and District Museum.
Watch a slideshow showing the various stages as a 1918 Model T truck chassis is transformed to a fully restored truck . This truck, restored by CM Rodger, now resides inside the Middleville and District Museum.
1940s CANADIAN LUMBER INDUSTRY FILM "STORY OF CANADIAN PINE"
59894 Archives
This logging video is presented as a "newsreel titled 'The Story of Canadian Pine' made by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau in the mid to late 1930’s. Starting with freshly cut, raw Canadian pine floating in a tributary of the Ottawa River, the viewer is taken along the story of pine manufacturing and all its production stages."
Credit: This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA.
59894 Archives
This logging video is presented as a "newsreel titled 'The Story of Canadian Pine' made by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau in the mid to late 1930’s. Starting with freshly cut, raw Canadian pine floating in a tributary of the Ottawa River, the viewer is taken along the story of pine manufacturing and all its production stages."
Credit: This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA.
Click here to watch the Logging video
The Macaulay-Borrowman
Photo Collection
Reverend Alexander Macaulay was a Congregational minister in Middleville, Ontario from 1891 to 1896 and then again from 1905 to 1910. He purchased a 'Sanderson' camera in London, England before coming to Canada and took many pictures of the people and places around the community. When he left the area to return to Scotland, he entrusted the camera to Russell Borrowman, a local youth. Mr. Borrowman continued to take photographs in the community.
Between them, they unknowingly created a rich portrait of community life at the time.
The negatives were produced by chemical reaction of metallic salts to light on glass plates. The fragile glass negatives could be used to produce many copies of the same image, a remarkable feat for the time.
The extensive collection of 300 glass negatives are housed in the Middleville and District Museum. Each of the glass negatives measures 6 1/2 inches by 4 3/4 inches.
Between them, they unknowingly created a rich portrait of community life at the time.
The negatives were produced by chemical reaction of metallic salts to light on glass plates. The fragile glass negatives could be used to produce many copies of the same image, a remarkable feat for the time.
The extensive collection of 300 glass negatives are housed in the Middleville and District Museum. Each of the glass negatives measures 6 1/2 inches by 4 3/4 inches.
Reverend Macaulay Sanderson Camera Russell Borrowman
Below you can view a few photos from the Macaulay-Borrowman collection. For more, check out the photos in the photo catalogue contained in our Resource Library.
