Upper Canada Village

Building the St. Lawrence Seaway and its power dam in the 1950s meant flooding a stretch of the river and with it ten communities, about six and a half thousand people displaced, in what became known as the Lost Villages. Some buildings were moved and reassembled here to create Upper Canada Village, set in 1866, with about forty structures. It works as a functioning settlement rather than a display: a water-powered sawmill and flour mill run, a woollen mill spins and weaves, a tinsmith and a blacksmith work, bread is baked in the bakery and the farm is worked with oxen and horses.

History

Building began in 1958 as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway project, which flooded ten communities, the Lost Villages, for good; the village belonged to the project's heritage plan, and many of its buildings were moved here directly from the villages about to be flooded. The park, run by the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, opened to the public in 1961, and other buildings from the Lost Villages went to Ault Park nearby (Wikipedia, Upper Canada Village).

Highlights

• The working mills - water-powered sawmill, flour mill and woollen mill.
• The Lost Villages story - buildings saved before the 1958 flooding.
• The working farm - oxen, horses and period agriculture.
• The trades - tinsmith, blacksmith, baker and cabinetmaker at work.

When to go

May to October for full operation; the village runs a large Christmas lights event in winter with the historic buildings otherwise closed. Weekdays outside school trips are calmer.

What to expect

Closed for most of the winter apart from the lights event. The site is large and involves considerable walking, though a wagon and a small train help. Buildings staffed varies by day.

Nearby

Ottawa lies north; Kingston is west.