Black Creek, Part V

The Black Creek Pionneer Village, Part V

This open-air heritage museum was opened in 1960, and it can be seen just west of York University and southeast of the Jane and Steeles intersection. The village overlooks Black Creek, a tributary of the Humber River. The Black Creek Pioneer Village is a regular destination for field trips by schoolchildren from the Greater Toronto Area.

The museum is operated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. B. Napier Simpson, Jr. (1925-1978), a restoration architect in Ontario devoted his professional life to raising public awareness of the importance of heritage conservation including the Black Creek Pioneer Village project. Here and in other parts you can find over photographs of the Black Creek Pioneer Village which may awaken your interest to visit it.

All the pictures have been taken by Elena.

Built with a timber frame and board and batten finish this house was used by several farmers in the community to butcher livestock.

Because storing large quantities of meat was difficult in a time before refrigeration, farmers often worked together sharing the meat from one animal at a time.

The Black Creek Village Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Toulouse Geese: A massive, heavy goose with both sexes being grey. Originally bred in Southern France from a dark variety of Grey-Lag goose, the Toulouse is also known as the wild European goose. Rare Breeds Canada now lists the Toulouse as a “rare” breed with fewer than 499 breeding females registered in Canada.

The village is operated by historical interpreters and craftspeople housed in the restored buildings.

Henry Snider's Cider Mill c1840 Original Location: Keele Street & Finch Avenue. It's vertical board on timber frame, built by Henry Snider in Elia on the banks of the Black Creek. This mill could produce about 500 gallons of cider a day but was used to produce cider for the Snider family and friends and was not in commercial production.

These home had plenty of space for families which had usually up to ten daughters and sons.

Clydesdale Horse: Settlers brought heavy horses with them, including the Clydesdale to pull ploughs, wagons, and carts or to provide power on sweeps, treadmills, and other farm machinery.

Of all the heavy horse breeds, the Clydesdale is the lightweight and the most intelligent.

Settlers' houses had plenty of space for the occasional visitors or hired hand.

The kitchen with its fireplace was probably the most important room in a log cabin.

Laskay Emporium 1856. Original Location: Laskey, Ontario (King Township). The general store and post office that Mr. Joseph Baldwin built in 1845 served customers well into the 20th century.