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Originally opened in 1971, the Museum has grown from a single building to a multi-purpose facility that features five heritage buildings and a community centre.
Experience the local lifestyle of the 19th Century through tours of the Museum's heritage buildings during regular operating hours. With exciting programming, exhibitions and a permanent collection of over 18,000 artifacts, there are many things to see and do!
See a 360 view of the Museum!
View Photos of the buildings and Community Centre spaces.
Community Centre
In 2012, the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum welcomed the addition of a Community Centre that blends the old with the new. The new facility includes a Research Room, a dedicated Exhibition Gallery, a Discovery Room, a modern catering kitchen and two Rental Spaces.
Bogarttown Schoolhouse
The Bogarttown School was built in 1857 on a site located between present day Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue. The School is the oldest red brick schoolhouse in Ontario outside Toronto. In 1969 the School was converted into a Museum and in 1971 the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum officially opened. The construction of Highway 404 resulted in the relocation of the Museum to its present site.
Vandorf Public School
The only building original to the Museum and Community Centre site, the Vandorf Public School was erected in 1871. It features frame construction, board and batten cladding and two separate entrances- one for girls and one for boys. When a new school was opened in Vandorf in 1956, the old schoolhouse was repurposed as an office for the Ontario Provincial Police. In 1979, the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum moved into the building. Future plans for the Vandorf Public School include renovations to the interior to accommodate a permanent exhibit on the Town's history.
Log Cabin
The log cabin, constructed in the mid-19th Century, represents an early settler's house. It was discovered in Ballantrae, clad in insulbrick, and was donated to the Museum. It was moved to this site in 1982 where it was restored and furnished with artifacts from the Museum collection. The interior represents a pioneer home of the 1870's.
Victorian Farmhouse
This red brick house was constructed in the 1850's by James Brown on his family's homestead, and is a typical example of rural Ontario architecture. His father, William Brown, originally settled in the Stouffville area in 1819. Descendants of the Brown family lived on the same property until the 1950's. In 1984, the building was donated to the Museum by a developer who had purchased the lands. This house has been restored to represent a prosperous farmhouse of the 1880's.
Barn
This 19th Century barn was originally located in Wexford (Scarborough) and, in 1957, was dismantled and moved to Lot 14, Concession 7, in Whitchurch Township to make way for urbanization. It was dismantled once again by Museum volunteers and, in September of 1983, it was re-erected on the Museum grounds at an old-time barn-raising. The framework was constructed in one day, and the work was followed by a homemade feast and a dance. The barn houses the Museum's collection of farm equipment and transportation artifacts.
Outhouse
The white outhouse is a two-seater!