Museum takes you back in time to the early days of Simcoe County

Spearin log home (1834). Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

April 2024

The southern Ontario County of Simcoe, named after Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796, has a long, rich history, dating back to the early days of British North America.

That history is celebrated at the Simcoe County Museum, an interactive museum that tells the story of the county, with recreations of key historical events, displays focusing on key individuals who shaped the county, and a collection of 19th Century heritage buildings, which were relocated to the museum property from various locations.

Founded in 1843 as Simcoe District and re-designated Simcoe County on 1 January 1850, the county was the site of the earliest French exploration and settlement of what would become Ontario. It was also host to several British Army and Naval forts and depots, connected by the Nine Mile Portage supply route, based on an old Indigenous trade route and the site a battle during the War of 1812, at the present-day Wasaga Beach.

The abundant history of Simcoe County led the Simcoe County’s Women’s Institute to establish the Simcoe County Museum in 1928. The museum initially consisted of a collection of artifacts displayed in the Barrie Library.

By the 1950s, the collection had grown so much that a new facility was required. Simcoe County took over management of the historical collection, and in 1962 it was moved to its present location just north of downtown Barrie in Minesing, on Highway 26.

The over 300-acre property, with 120 hectares forested area, provided more than enough room to properly display the 19th Century heritage buildings, along with over 30,000 artifacts, displayed in five different galleries. Recreations of key historical moments and interactive displays tell the story of Simcoe County and some of the important figures in the county’s history.

Some of the heritage buildings on display include the Spearin log home (1834), Cedar View Cottage (1922), the Gilford Train Station (1870s), the Minesing Schoolhouse (1900), which was featured in the 1985 Anne of Green Gables TV movie. Additional displays include a variety of antique farm tools and old machinery, including a 1922 Erie Steam Shovel and Caterpillar Sixty.

Inside the main building, visitors will find the People’s Gallery, which features a replica of a traditional Wendat longhouse, and a replica of Barrie’s Main Street from around the turn of the 20th century.

Other galleries include the Living and Working Gallery, with a collection of historical artifacts that demonstrate the transformation of Simcoe County for locals from the 1890s to the 1970s, and the Natural Resources Gallery, which profiles the diverse landscapes of Simcoe County.

In winter, the museum’s outdoor 1 km skate trail is a great way to spend a day with friends or family, skating against the forest backdrop.

tells the county’s fascinating and storied past, with carefully recreated key historical moments and engaging interactive exhibits and displays of key individuals.

Spearin Log Home

Built in 1834 by Irish immigrant John Spearin. Once standing the corner of Steele Street and Duckworth Street, it was home to 5 generations of the Spearin family. The log house was moved to the Simcoe County Museum in 1963.

Christ Church Vespra Township

Vespra Township Church (1872). Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

Minesing Schoolhouse (1900)

The Minesing Schoolhouse was featured in the 1985 TV movie Anne of Green Gables, as the Avonlea Schoolhouse attended by Anne Shirley.

Gilford Station

Built in 1870 for the Hamilton and North-Western Railway, which merged with the Northern Railway in 1879, becoming the Northern & North-Western Railway (N&NWR). It became part of the Grand Trunk Railway’s inventory in 1887, then Canadian National Railway in 1923. In 1965, the station was moved to a private property in Gilford, for use as a shed. It was moved to the Simcoe County Museum in 1976.

Canadian Northern Railway Steam Engine and Canadian National Railways Caboose

Steam locomotive 1531, 1910-1958. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

Originally built for the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) in 1910, Engine No. 261 became part of the Canadian National Railway’s inventory in 1918, when the newly-formed railway took over the bankrupt CNoR. Re-numbered No. 1322, it continued to serve with CN Rail in the Barrie area until it was retired from service in 1958.

The old steam engine was donated to the City of Barrie in November 1960 and put on static display at Centennial Park along Barrie’s waterfront, now designated as Engine No. 1531.

Caboose No. 79374 was built in October 1970 for CN Railway. Made of riveted steel plates on a steel framework with a central cupula, it was decommissioned in 1995 and donated to the City of Barrie. It was coupled to Engine No. 1531.

In advance of the planned re-location of Lakeshore Drive to the abandoned CR Rail line, the steam engine, tender and the caboose, which by this time were mounted along the abandoned rail line, were moved to the Simcoe County Museum in August 2008.

Grand Trunk Railway/Canadian National Railway Allandale Station Yard

Diorama of the Allandale Grand Trunk Railway station. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

Originally built in 1904 as the flagship station of the Grand Trunk Railroad, the Allandale station was part of the transportation corridor between Toronto and the GTR’s northern Ontario operations. Located in the former Village of Allandale, which had been annexed by the Town of Barrie seven years earlier, it was given the Allandale name to distinguish it from the Barrie GTR Station, approximately one mile north, on the north shore of Kempenfelt Bay. A rail yard was built to support the trains coming through Allandale, including a roundhouse, master mechanics office, stores building, and coal and water towers.

Canadian National Railways took over the Allandale Station in 1922, along with all of the GTR’s operations following the demise of the company, and operated the station until closing it to passenger service in 1980. The Allandale Station briefly re-opened as a passenger station for GO Transit from 1990 – 1993, after which the station was permanently shut down.

The Allandale Station sat abandoned and deteriorating until 2009, when the City of Barrie undertook a $10 million project to restore and preserve the historic station. Although the historic Allandale station itself doesn’t service trains anymore, a new station was built just to the south to service GO Transit.

The rail yard is gone, but some remnants can still be found. The former railway mechanics office, to the east of the station, also remains in use as a community centre, now called the Southshore Centre.

The former GTR roundhouse was demolished around the time of the station’s closure, but work floor of the roundhouse, along with the filled-in work pits, remained until 2017, when it was covered over during the creation of Barrie’s Military Heritage Park. A round concrete band was placed to represent the exterior roundhouse walls, partially encircling a hill on top of the roundhouse’s footprint that offers a good view of the various park features.