History of the ORILLIA CITIZENS BAND

History of the ORILLIA CITIZENS BAND

Written & researched by Trish Crowe-Grande, History Committee Chair and Cliff Whitfield, Guest Contributor In the late 1800s, it was common to gather at Orillia’s Civic Park (now Couchiching Beach Park) and listen to the Orillia Citizens Band, where hundreds of...
Solving the Peter Street Cemetery Mystery

Solving the Peter Street Cemetery Mystery

Who owned the Peter Street South cemetery? Your first thoughts might be that this was the St. James’ Church Cemetery, but that cemetery was about two blocks further north on the southeast corner of Peter Street and Coldwater Road. On June 19, 1873, the following...
Another Waterfront Transformation

Another Waterfront Transformation

Orillia Waterfront Transformations By David Town, Historian, Author of ‘A Waterfront for Everyone’ Orillia Museum of Art & History Guest Contributor What a transformation our waterfront is undergoing!  There’s a new road going in with better access to the...
Harriett Todd – Orillia’s Forgotten Hero

Harriett Todd – Orillia’s Forgotten Hero

By David Town, Historian and Guest Contributor Harriett Todd, image provided by David Town Few people have had a greater influence on Orillia than Harriett Todd.  Most of us only recognize her name because a school has been named after her in Orillia, but 100 years...
Great Grandparents Immigration to Canada

Great Grandparents Immigration to Canada

By Janet Houston, OMAH History Committee Alfred and Jane Hucker What could tempt a middle-aged couple to emigrate from England to a distant part of the Empire in 1912? Fifty years of age is not now considered old as it was thought then. Nonetheless, this adventurous...