Village Squire, 1980-08, Page 6collection of radios including several
pre-war models. Later the collection was
donated to the museum along with one of
the first black and white television cam-
eras.
A wide array of doctor's instruments,
hospital equipment, pharmaceutical bot-
tles, and photos of early doctors has been
collected for the medical room.
REID PAINTINGS
The art room contains several paintings
by George Agnew Reid, who was born in
East Wawanosh Township, educated in
Wingham and studied art in Toronto,
Philadelphia and Europe. He was Presi-
dent of Ontario Society of Artists from 1897
to 1902, President of the Royal Canadian
Academy of Art from 1906 to 1909 and
Principal of the College of Arts from 1912
to 1929. He donated hundreds of his
paintings to the Ontario government for
use in schools and public buildings.
Unfortunately many have become lost. Mr.
Reid died in 1947.
Articles from a bygone era include a
special P.U.C. meter used during the
Depression as an alternative to shutting off
power when people couldn't pay their bills.
The museum also displays dyes and
and post cards on the walls of the museum
trace Wingham's growth.
Wingham Museum is open Monday,
Wednesday and Friday during the summer
with the curator or other members of the
Historical Society on hand. According to
John Pattison, the people who seem to
enjoy the museum most are former
residents visiting their hometown, and in
1979, Wingham's centennial year, was
especially busy.
ST. MARYS AND DISTRICT MUSEUM
One of the most interesting aspects of
this "community" museum is its location -
a stately stone house overlooking a
children's park and swimming pool. The
house was built by George Tracey in the
early 1850s. Mr. Tracey had been one of
the early settlers in the area in 1841; he
later moved to the United States. The home
had a series of owners, until the house and
surrounding land were given to the town
for recreational purposes in 1926.
In the early 1950s, Queen Alexandra
Women's Institute set up a museum in the
library basement. When their collection
grew, they took over two rooms in a vacant
school. In 1959, a museum was opened in
the three-storey Tracey Home under the
was also an accomplished musician and
violin maker.
Upstairs one bedroom is furnished with a
matching dresser and commode, a rope
bed with a straw mattress, foot warmers
and chamber pots, handmade linen, and a
baby's cradle and night dresses.
WEDDING GOWNS
The museum has a wide selection of
wedding gowns dating from 1869 and a
shawl that belonged to Laura Secord. The
library contains several family Bibles and
books on the history of Perth County.
Another room is filled with military
memorabilia. The military room has certain
prominence for the residents of St. Marys
because the two World Wars were dram-
atic times in the town.
On another part of the second floor, a
large room is used for demonstrations. In
June, museum staff demonstrated butter
making for groups of school children.
Future demonstrations may include pio-
neer washing of clothes, candlemaking and
spinning.
A shed behind the house harbours tools
for woodworking, leathermaking, shoe and
harness making as well as farm imple-
ments. Modes of transportation are traced
The St. Marys Museum is in a stately stone house
mallets from Guerney Glove Works - a
company which operated in Wingham from
1906 to 1976.
The telephone exhibit is of special
interest to curator John Pattison. In the
early days, Bell served only townspeople.
The Wingham Board of Trade formed the
Huron Telephone Company in 1909 to
serve the farmers. A directory from 1915
has two pages for Wingham - town and
country. In 1915, John Pattison's father
became lineman for Huron Telephone, a
post he held until Bell took over seven
years later. The museum has some of the
early lineman's repair tools as well as a
telephone dated 1890 and another 1877;
the latter was used by one of the first
lawyers in town to communicate between
his home and his office.
THRIVING VILLAGE
An 1879 map shows where early
factories, schools, churches and businesses
were located. Another sketch details
Zetland, which was a thriving village three
miles west of Wingham. In the early years,
Wingham students went to school in
Zetland and Wingham residents picked up
their mail in Zetland. As in many areas, the
railroad decided which community would
prosper and which would fade. Old photos
PG. 4 VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1980
co-operation of the Town of St. Marys and
the Women's Institute. Two years ago the
town formed a Museum Board. In the
beginning, only two rooms were needed;
now the whole house is filled. The museum
is open seven days a week during the
summer months.
Shady landscaped lawns lead from the
stone fence at the street up the hill to the
front porch, which has a plaque describing
the history and architecture of the build-
ing. Inside the door are a massive wooden
hall tree for hats, gloves and scarves and a
desk that was presented to a lady by the
town in 1883 to commemorate her work
with poor children.
To the left are the parlour, music room,
kitchen and pantry. On the kitchen table is
a cloth "tatted" by a local lady. The music
room is especially interesting because
visitors can listen to a victrola or an
old-fashioned organ. A large glass case
contains a collection of mounted birds,
some more than 100 yews old.
Items belonging to Nor a Clynch and her
family are in a showcase in the parlour.
Nora Clynch, born in St. Marys, was a
concert violinist who studied and perform-
ed in Europe. She married an Australian
and died in Australia. Her father, a lawyer,
from a horse-drawn buggy and cutter
complete with harness for the horse and
bearskin coats and hats worn by passen-
gers to a 1902 Baker Electric car owned by
a St. Marys family and reputed to make a
trip to London and back on one battery
charge to a 1913 motorcycle.
Curator Mary Smith says new museums
have two choices. They can represent a
certain period in history or they become a
gallery with varied artifacts in showcases.
The implication for already -established
museums seems to be to try to reach the
same standards, which causes problems
for "community" museums, such as St.
Marys and District.
To try to restore the Tracey House to its
original 1850 era would mean ignoring
many valuable collectables donated by
interested citizens. Conversely to renovate
the interior of the house to insert
showcases could destroy the atmosphere
of the pioneer home which is one of the
museum's natural assets.
HURON COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM
With 40,000 square feet, more than
12,000 artifacts and approximately 20,000
visitors annually, Huron County Pioneer
Museum in Goderich is the largest pioneer
museum in Southwestern Ontario.