Canadiana Village facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Canadiana Village

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Established	1946 (1946)
Location	Rawdon, Quebec, Canada
Type	heritage park

Canadiana Village is a special heritage park located north of Montreal, close to Rawdon, Quebec. It's like stepping back in time to the 1800s! About 15% of the park shows what a 19th-century western town and a rural Quebec village looked like. The rest of the area is beautiful forest, with streams, a river, and a mountain.

Canadiana Village was created to show how people lived in pioneer settlements in Quebec during the 1800s. There are over 40 historical buildings here. More than 38 of these buildings are original and over 100 years old! The Copping family's old home was built right where the village now stands. The buildings include a church, a general store, a mill, a cemetery, a saloon, and 22 houses. You can also see old tractors and threshing machines. The village was open to the public until 1996.

The Story of Canadiana Village

How the Village Began

Canadiana Village, created by Earle Moore, was one of the first outdoor museums in Canada. It started as a fun hobby! In 1946, Earle and his wife Nora moved just one old building to the site. Over time, they added more and more buildings. They wanted to show what life was like in rural Quebec before big industries arrived. The Moores bought or were given these buildings to save them from being torn down. They collected everything themselves, without help from the government.

The Founders: Earle and Nora Moore

Earle Moore (born in 1907, died in 1990) and his wife Nora Geraldine Lehane Moore (born in 1910, died in 1988) were the amazing people who started Canadiana Village. They collected old buildings, family homes, and furniture from the 1940s until 1990. By 1962, they had gathered a 90-year-old farmhouse, a school, a church, and a blacksmith shop.

In 1963, they even collected early medical books and tools from Dr. Norman Smiley. He was a doctor in the Rawdon area from 1893 to 1943. Their collections also included items from old veterinarian, pharmacy, and dental offices.

Sharing the Village with Others

Earle Moore was a businessman who owned Moore Brothers Machinery in Montreal. He was also an international commissioner for the Boy Scouts in 1962. Many buildings in the village were old family homes moved from different parts of Quebec. This included a log cabin from 1842 where Earle Moore's grandmother was born!

From 1946 to 1971, the Moores could only show the village to groups by appointment. By 1971, it had become a family project. Their son, daughter, and five grandchildren all helped out. From the 1970s until 1996, Canadiana Village was open to everyone. In the 1970s, it was a very popular place for school field trips. About 30,000 tourists visited each year!

Guides dressed in old-fashioned clothes would show visitors how to:

• spin and dye wool
• weave fabric on homemade looms
• bake bread
• churn milk and make ice cream

By 1985, Earle Moore's Canadiana Village had 12 restored buildings. These buildings came from different villages in Quebec. They were filled with old Canadian furniture and equipment.

Later Years and Closure

Earle Moore's Canadiana Village Inc. became a registered company in 1987. Some buildings in the village are not original. They were built later for movie sets. By 1989, the collection had grown to 28 buildings, including Rowan's water mill. It had become Earle Moore's retirement project.

Later, the Moores' daughter, Geraldine Moore McDonald, and her husband, John McDonald, took over the village. They tried to get government money to help the museum, but they were not successful.

Today, Canadiana Village is not open for public visits. However, it still hosts special events at certain times of the year. You can find more information on their website.

Canadiana Village in Movies

A Popular Filming Location

Canadiana Village has been used as a place to film movies and TV shows since 1986. It's a perfect spot because it looks so much like the past!

In 1986, a TV movie called "Barnum" was filmed there. It starred Burt Lancaster. Canadiana Village was used to show a 19th-century circus parade scene.

The village has been featured in over 110 films! Some of these include "Cordelia" and "Les Folks de Liberty". It has also appeared in TV shows like Radio-Canada's "Pays d'en haut". The village was also used for "I'm Not There," a movie about the musician Bob Dylan.

In August 1999, the Canadian TV movie "Ichabod, A Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was filmed at Canadiana Village. The Quebec film "Chasse-galerie, La legend," released in 2016, was also shot there.

Buildings at Canadiana Village

Homes and Shops from the Past

Most of the buildings at Canadiana Village were moved there over many years. They are located in the beautiful Laurentian Mountains. The buildings include homes of wealthy landowners and simple houses of workers. They were carefully moved from their original spots. Then, they were fixed up and filled with real old items. You can see old cribs, toys, and children's clothes inside! In 1971, a grist mill, a barber shop, a shoemaker shop, and a doctor's office were added.

Here are some of the interesting buildings you can find:

• The Blacksmith shop and the settler's cabin were both built in 1842 in Mille Isles, Quebec. Earle Moore's grandmother was born in that cabin! These buildings were moved to Canadiana Village in 1962-1963.
• The oldest building is a settler's cabin built in 1815. It is fully furnished with things like apple dryers and candle molds. It even has a trundle bed with its original bedding and some of the first owner's clothes.
• The Rowan's water grist Mill was moved to the village in 1971.
• The Covered Edward Bridge was built in 1888 in Coaticook, Quebec. It was rebuilt in 1972 over the small river flowing through the village. Local people helped out in a big "raising bee" event!
• You can also find a Cemetery Vault and a Cemetery that was used in the film "Les fils de la liberté".
• There's a Sugar Shack, the Delorme House, and a Gift Shop.
• The Indians Log House, Brooks and river, and a Gazebo are also part of the village.
• Rawdon's original presbytery (a house for a priest) from St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church was the very first house moved to Canadiana Village.
• The former Farm House, built in 1823, was moved in 1952. This was the home of the Moores, who founded the village. It has old ovens for baking bread, wheels for spinning wool, and vats for storing wine.
• There's a Buggy Display with an Irish hunting cart.
• The log Schoolhouse was built in Lakefield, Quebec in 1835 by Earle Moore's grandfather. It even had a place for the teacher to live upstairs. The classroom has desks with carved initials and a wood stove. Earle Moore bought the schoolhouse for $50 and moved it for $5000 in 1962.
• The Rourke House is a log house built in the 1850s.
• The General Store was built in Saint-Anicet, Valleyfield, in 1884. It sold foods, shoes, books, and building tools. It also has the original Rawdon post office and a collection of wooden cradles. It was moved to the village in 1962.
• Other shops include The Wheelright Shop and Carriage Maker, and the Barber Shop and Hat Shop (moved in 1971).
• The Shoemakers Shop, where a cobbler lived and worked, was also moved in 1971.
• The Westgate Homestead shows how people cooked on an iron stove and spun yarn.
• The Milkhouse has cream churns and separators for making butter.
• You can see Henri's House, Barn, and chicken coop, a Music House, and The Inn.
• The Print Shop has equipment for printing a community paper.
• The Western Saloon was built for the film "Red River".
• There's an Outdoor Bake Oven and Grandma's Log House.
• Other buildings include a Veterinary office, The Notary's office, and The Prison.
• The log chapel, built in 1849, has a confessional. It was reproduced for the film "Les fils de la liberté" and has the original altar from St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Rawdon.
• The Jones/School Master's House and a Tinsmith shop are also there.
• The Doctor's House, moved in 1971, has a dentist chair, an infirmary, and nurses' quarters.
• The Dressmaker's House and The Western Section complete the village.

The Graveyard at Canadiana Village

Old Tombstones Preserved

Officials from the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Rawdon decided that some old tombstones would be removed. These were tombstones that families were no longer paying to keep up. Earle Moore of Canadiana Village offered to save them! He placed these old tombstones next to the replica of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in the village.

Here are some of the names and dates on these old tombstones:

• John Daly, son of Luke Daly, died June 9, 1856, at 19 years old.
• John Sheilds died June 2, 1882, at 82 years old. He was from County Down. His wife was Mary Wood.
• John Woods died August 6, 1904, at 75 years old. His wife Ann Sheilds died September 17, 1908.
• Bridget Deahan, wife of Patrick Monohan, died September 19, 1886, at 88 years old. Patrick Monohan died December 14, 1888, also at 88 years old.
• Michael McCarvill died August 17, 1893, at 97 years old. His wife Norah Finnerty died September 5, 1899.
• Hugh Daly died November 2, 1861, at 50 years old.
• Thomas Corcoran died April 17, 1865, at 71 years old.