More from Muskoka Heritage Village

The 2 photos below are of a seasonal camp that the First Nations people would have made in the early 1900s. I just LOVE the blanket! Looks like a great place to take a nap too.

The photos below show what a typical trapper’s cabin would be like. This one is a reproduction round log cabin. Fur such as beaver, muskrat, raccoon, wolf, marten and mink were harvested off the trap lines. The trapper lived here and stretched and dried the hides. They were sold locally or taken to the Fur Auction for export to Europe.

One room school house

This one room school house was built in 1895 out of hand-hewn hemlock logs. It was constructed by volunteers with a $75.00 allowance  from the School District.  It came from Lake Vernon in the Muskoka’s and now rests at Muskoka Heritage Place. I went there recently with my Granddaughter and will be sharing all the photos I took starting with the school house. Click on photos to enlarge.

 

From the Archives of the Government of Ontario…

The education of children in isolated northern communities presented special challenges. Often there wasn't a large enough population base to support a teacher and build and maintain a schoolhouse. One way of reaching the students in theses areas was the railway school car.

From the 1920s to the 1960s there were several school cars, each considered its own school section, traveling routes ranging from 83 to 221 miles on the Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and Ontario Northern Railways. Students were taught in a railway car that had been converted into a classroom with separate teacher's quarters.

How exciting that must have been to go to school in a railway car!

If you have any photos or short stories about one room school houses and would like to see them posted here, just shoot me an email or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Remembering the past - one post at a time

 This new blog will be all about life in the past 200 years to the present. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I should have been born 100 years earlier which would have been 1864, which sounds about right to me. 

 I absolutely love history and "story tellin's" of the past. I hope to have a lot of photos, articles, home remedies, and of course stories! I'll keep adding to the list as time goes on and I hope I can bring back some wonderful memories for all of us.

 I have a special fascination with the Great Depression so I'll be sharing everything I can find about that too. My parents were both born during the Depression and I'll be getting a lot of information directly from them. 

Times were hard, life was simple, and people were kinder to one another. I think it brought out a certain kind of strength of character to live through something like that.  

With that said I'd like to share a poem from Paul Harvey. It's appropriate for me being a first time Grandma and I'm sure many of you will relate to it as well.

~To My Grandchildren~ 

We tried so hard to make things better

for our kids that we made them worse.

For my grandchildren, I'd like better. 

I'd really like for them to know 

about hand-me down clothes and homemade ice cream 

and leftover meatloaf sandwiches. I really would. 

My cherished grandson and grandaughter

I hope you learn humility

by being humiliated,

and that you learn honesty by being cheated. 

I hope you learn to make your bed

and mow the lawn and wash the car.

And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car

when you are sixteen. I hope you have a job by then. 

It will be good if at least one time

you can see a baby calf born

and your old dog put to sleep. 

I hope you get a black eye fighting

for something you believe in. 

I hope you have to share a bedroom 

with your younger brother or sister.

And it's all right if you have to draw a line

down the middle of the room,

but when one of them wants to crawl under the covers

with you because they are scared, I hope you let them.

When you want to see a Disney movie

and your little brother or sister wants to tag along,

I hope you'll let them. 

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends

and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride

I hope your driver doesn't have to drop you two blocks away

so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your mom. 

If you want a slingshot, I hope your dad teaches

you how to make one instead of buying one. 

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use those newfangled computers,

I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. 

I hope you get razzed by your friends 

when you have your first crush on a girl or boy 

and when you talk back to your mother 

that you learn what Ivory soap tastes like. 

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain,

burn your hand on the stove and 

stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. 

I hope you get sick when someone

blows cigar smoke in your face.

I don't care if you try beer once,

but I hope you don't like it.

And if a friend offers you dope or a joint,

I hope you realize they are not your friend. 

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch 

with your grandpa and go fishing with your uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and the joy of holidays. 

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw

a baseball through a neighbor's window

and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time

when you give her a plaster of Paris mold of your hand. 

These things I wish for you...

tough times and disappointment,

hard work and happiness. 

These things I wish for each of you. 

~Paul Harvey~