Lang Pioneer Village Museum facts for kids

Lang Pioneer Village Museum Logo

Lang Pioneer Village Museum is a special place where you can experience history firsthand! It's located in Lang, Ontario, in Peterborough County. The County of Peterborough started it in 1967. This museum sits right by the historic Indian River. It's like an outdoor museum with over 30 old buildings that have been carefully fixed up and filled with furniture. Many of these buildings were given to the museum from nearby towns.

These buildings were built between 1820 and 1910. People dressed in old-fashioned clothes show you what life was like for pioneers in the 1800s. Since 2014, the museum has also had the Aabnaabin Encampment. This area shows what a Michi Saagiig camp looked like before European settlers arrived. Indigenous guides share stories about the history and culture of the First Nations people in the area. The County of Peterborough owns and runs Lang Pioneer Village Museum.

Historic Buildings at Lang Pioneer Village

Lang Pioneer Village has many old buildings that show how people lived and worked long ago.

Pioneer Homes

David Fife Cabin: A Settler's First Home

The David Fife Cabin is a log cabin from the 1820s. It shows what a settler's first one-room log home was like. David Fife, an immigrant from Scotland, built it. The cabin is now at the village, just a few miles from where it originally stood. David Fife was famous for bringing Red Fife Wheat to Canada. This wheat was grown nearby and ground into flour at the Lang Grist Mill.

Ayotte Homestead: A Home with a Summer Kitchen

The Ayotte Homestead was built before 1841. It was moved from its first spot on Clear Lake in Smith Township. In the summer, the wood stove was moved to a separate "summer kitchen." This kept the main house from getting too hot. In winter, the stove went back inside, and the summer kitchen was used for cold storage.

Fitzpatrick House: A Second, Bigger Home

The Fitzpatrick House was built in the 1840s. It shows what a settler's second home might have looked like. It's a log home with one and a half stories. It has a large stone fireplace, six feet wide, used for both heating and cooking. The main living area included the parents' bedroom and a sitting room. Upstairs, there were two more bedrooms and a big utility area that also served as a sleeping space.

Milburn House: A More Luxurious Life

The Milburn House shows a more comfortable lifestyle that some settlers had. Built in the 1850s, this house has been restored to look like it did in 1877. It features many of the comforts and luxuries from the 1870s.

Businesses and Trades

Hastie Carpenter Shop: Crafting with Wood

The Hastie Carpenter Shop is a careful copy of a local carpenter shop from the 1880s. During the summer, carpenters show how settlers used to work with wood. They create handmade objects using old techniques.

The historic Grist Mill at Lang Pioneer Village

Tinsmith Shop: Making Metalware

The Tinsmith Shop is a rebuilt 19th-century shop. Here, you can see the skilled craft of tinsmithing. Tinsmiths made useful items from tin. By the late 1800s, tinware was found in almost every home and farm.

Lang Grist Mill: Grinding Grain

The Lang Grist Mill is a working three-story mill. Thomas Short built it in 1846. Even today, over 160 years later, visitors can still watch wheat being ground into flour at the mill during the summer.

Shingle Mill: Making Roof Tiles

Before the Shingle Mill, early settlers had to make their own roof shingles. They split cedar wood with a tool called a froe. Then they shaved it to the right thickness with a drawknife. With the Shingle Mill, hundreds of shingles could be made in just one hour. Some of the cedar shingles on buildings in the Village were made by this very mill.

Keene Hotel: A Place to Stay

The Keene Hotel was first built in the 1830s (the front part) and the 1940s (the back wing). It has been restored to look like a country inn from the 1870s. In the 1840s, the best bedroom at the Hotel cost 75 cents a night. A straw bed in the "flop room" cost 10 cents a night.

Cheese Factory: Making Cheese

The Cheese Factory was moved from Mathers Corners in Otonabee Township. It was built in 1876. The equipment inside the building came from Warkworth. A cheesemaker could turn 400 pounds of milk into 40 pounds of cheese curd here.

Blacksmith Shop: Metalworking Hub

The Blacksmith Shop was very important to any 19th-century community. Built in 1859, it has been restored to look like it did in 1880. The blacksmith would put shoes on horses and "iron" sleighs and wagons. They also made tools, metal parts for buildings, and did repairs. They could even make most of their own tools. The watering trough outside the shop used to belong to Campbell's Dairy in Peterborough.

Register Print Shop: Spreading the News

The Print Shop was built in the 1840s. It was used to print flyers for sales, public notices for elections, community event announcements, and the weekly newspaper. The printer was one of the few well-educated people in the village. The Register Print Shop at Lang Pioneer Village has been restored to show what a print shop looked like in the 1880s.

S. W. Lowry Weaver Shop & Jacquard Loom Centre

The S. W. Lowry Weaver Shop is a copy of a 19th-century weaver's shop. It has a restored 19th-century Jacquard loom and a working copy of one. There's also an exhibit area that shows how sheep's wool becomes woven fabric, step by step.

Community Services

Douro Township Hall: Local Government

The Douro Township Hall was built in 1871 for $365. It has been restored to look like it did in 1897. This was when council members started being elected by secret ballot instead of by a public "show of hands."

South Lake School: Learning in the Past

The South Lake School was the first building moved to the Lang Pioneer Village site. Built in 1886, the inside of the schoolhouse shows a lot about rural school life. It has double-desks, slates, an abacus, and a wood stove for heating.

Glen Alda Church: A Place of Worship

The church played a big part in settlers' lives. The Glen Alda Church was built in 1898 and moved from Chandos Township. At the front of the church is a beautiful Doherty pump organ, made 100 years ago. The driveshed next to the church is where horses and buggies would have been kept safe during services.

Menie General Store & Post Office: Shopping and Mail

The Menie General Store was first built in 1858. It has been restored to look like it did in 1899. Almost anything could be bought from this store. Farmers often traded their produce for goods from the store.

Food Preservation

Cider Barn: Making Apple Juice

After the apple harvest, farmers from the area would come to the Cider Barn. Here, a wooden machine with nails would grind apples into a pulp. Then, the juice would be pressed out of the pulp.

Smoke House: Preserving Meat

To make sure meat lasted through winter and summer, it was salted, pickled, and then smoked in the Smoke House for about six weeks. The Smoke House at Lang Pioneer Village is a copy of one from the 1850s.

Ice House: Keeping Things Cold

In the coldest winter weather, ice blocks were cut using a special ice saw. The blocks had to be perfectly square to make them easy to load and move. Sawdust was used in the Ice House as an insulator. The sawdust worked so well that ice harvested in cold weather and packed properly could last for several years. The Ice House at Lang Pioneer Village is a copy of one from the 1850s.

Sources of Power in Pioneer Times

• Wind: By the late 1800s, many farmers used wind power for different tasks. The windmill at Lang Pioneer Village was originally on the Manson Cathcart farm in Peterborough.
• Water: Water flowing from the Indian River powers the machines at the Lang Grist Mill.
• Steam: Steam power made many jobs easier and faster for settlers. At Lang Pioneer Village, you can see steam power used for the Shingle Mill, which is run by Lang's own Sawyer-Massey Steam Engine. Steam power was also used for threshing grain. The Sawyer-Massey Steam Engine was made in 1921. Lang Pioneer Village has owned and operated it since 1985.
• Animal: By the 1860s, horse power was very efficient. Most farmers owned at least one horse. Horse-drawn farm tools can be seen in Lang's Agricultural Barn. Horse-drawn vehicles are in Lang's Transportation Barn.

Display Buildings

The Peterborough County Agricultural Heritage Building looks like barns from the turn of the century. This building was a community project. It was designed to show the history of farming in the area. Built in 2017, this building is home to the Peterborough County Agricultural Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame honors important people and families who have greatly helped the farming community in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. The building has many old farm tools, including the museum's Peter Hamilton collection. It also has a workshop for fixing things and a conservation lab with windows where you can watch the work.

Educational Programs

Lang Pioneer Village Museum offers many educational programs. These programs match what students learn in the Ontario school curriculum.

Special Events

Lang Pioneer Village hosts these special events every year:

• Annual Father's Day Smoke & Steam Show
• Transportation Day Car & Motorcycle Show
• Anniversary Weekend Celebration (the theme changes each year)
• Applefest
• Historic All Hallow's Eve
• Christmas by Candlelight

Besides these yearly events, there are also other special displays, workshops, activities, and musical events from time to time.

Visiting Information

Lang Pioneer Village Museum is located 10 kilometers east of Peterborough. The address is 104 Lang Road, just off County Road 34 (Heritage Line) in Otonabee-South Monaghan Township. Lang Pioneer Village is usually open to visitors from mid-May until Labour Day. It also opens seasonally for special events and workshops.