February 2025
The former Parliament Oak Public School in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, has found itself in the way of progress, falling to the development of a new 129-room boutique hotel in this historic and picturesque town. While there is no conclusive proof, it has been long believed that the school property was the site of the one of the sessions of the first Parliament of Upper Canada.
In 1793, Niagara-on-the-Lake, then called Newark, was the capital city of the new British colony of Upper Canada, established two years earlier. For the next three years, until the capital was moved to the other side of Lake Ontario at York, the present-day Toronto, parliamentary business was conducted from Newark, with many believing one of the sessions was held at the the property along present-day King Street, under a large oak tree that was the inspiration for the school’s name.
Opened in 1948, Parliament Oak Public School is thought to be one of several locations that have thought to have been used during the first parliamentary session, with others including Navy Hall, which eventually became Simcoe’s home with his family; Butler’s Barracks and Freemason Hall. None of the sites have been conclusively confirmed.
After educating generations of students for over seven decades, Parliament Oak Public School closed in 2015 and the property was sold. Plans are being made with the demolition crew to salvage and preserve several artifacts from the building, including a stone marker for the large oak tree that once stood on the property (it was destroyed by fire in 1913), the two large, stone carvings on the King Street facade, a time capsule from 1948, ‘Parliament Oak School’ lettering, as well as slate chalkboards, brick and hardware from the building.
Megan Hobson, founder and director of Hobson Built Heritage, said during a heritage committee meeting in 2019 that “while the actual location of the first parliament (of Upper Canada) cannot be ascertained, the local community has chosen to commemorate the historic event on the (Parliament Oak) property …”
Amy Klassen, director of finance and marketing at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum, said the museum’s walking tour of the town identifies the Masonic Hall as the location of the first session of Parliament of Upper Canada
Sources: NOTL residents lament demolition of Parliament Oak building, Did the first parliament take place at Parliament Oak?, Upper Canada – Wikipedia, Which artifacts in Parliament Oak School will be kept, and who will keep them? – Niagara-on-the-Lake Local.
