Merrickville and District Historical Society

The Merrickville and District Historical Society was organized as a registered charity in 1965 in response to the concerns of local citizens that the special heritage of the Village be maintained. They supported the efforts of Parks Canada to restore the Merrickville blockhouse constructed in 1832 by Lt. Col. John By of the Royal Engineers as a key military defense for the new Rideau Canal.

Original Society members appreciated the special character of Merrickville and sought opportunities for maintaining awareness of its history and heritage. Sharing the same concerns, Village of Merrickville arranged to organize and lease the Blockhouse building as a municipal museum to house local artifacts. One of the main functions of the Historical Society has been the operation of this museum in co-ordination with the Village of Merrickville and Parks Canada, which operates the Rideau Canal.

Mary Cook speaking at the Historical Society annual dinner, 2005

The Historical Society conducts many other activities aimed at increasing awareness of local history and heritage. One of these activities is to organize regular speakers meetings for the membership of the Historical Society and guests. Each speaker discusses various topics of local interest, with an historical or heritage perspective.

We have established annually for local schools an historical essay contest; news of current events and issues of historical relevance are presented in an Historical Society newsletter; a Merrickville Walking Tour brochure available free from the Museum or this web site supplements numerous publications available from the Museum. The annual Opening of the Blockhouse Museum in June has been a regular occasion that celebrates our local history.

The Merrickville and District Historical Society maintains extensive archival material related to founding families and Village enterprises. It undertook an Archive Restoration and Preservation project during the summer of 2005. This is the first stage of several and thus far more than 1000 images have been photographed. The documents and pictures will eventually comprise a searcheable database which will be accessible for research and duplication.

The Historical Society is a charitable corporation comprised entirely of volunteers. There are some 140 active members who support its projects.

Membership
Membership is available on an annual basis at $5 per person or $10 per family. LIFE memberships are available at a cost of $50 per person. While we are appreciative of all memberships paid, everyone is welcome at our regular meetings held in the Village of Merrickville.

To join, send a cheque payable to the Merrickville & District Historical Society, PO Box 294, Merrickville, Ontario, K0G 1N0 Canada

Volunteers playing pioneer at the Blockhouse opening

While the Historical Society relies on membership dues and volunteer efforts to conduct our activities, we are also very appreciative of the response to our appeals to:

the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Tourism
the Government of Canada through the Canadian Museum Association
the Ontario Trillium Foundation
the Minto Foundation
Heritage Merrickville Foundation
the Village of Merrickville-Wolford