Peterborough Museum & Archives facts for kids

Peterborough Museum & Archives

Established	1897 (current location: since 1967)
Location	300 Hunter Street East Peterborough, Ontario K9J 6Y5
Visitors	~32,000 per year

The museum's reception area

The Peterborough Museum & Archives is a cool place in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, where you can learn about history. It used to be called the Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives (PCMA). This museum is very old, with a history going back over a century!

It's home to one of the oldest historical collections in Ontario. The museum keeps more than 33,000 historical items and many old documents. Because there's so much, only a small part of the collection can be shown at one time.

History of the Museum

The Museum's Location

The museum is built on a special hill called Armour Hill. This spot offers amazing views of the area around it. The land for the museum was given to the City of Peterborough. There's a plaque on the hill that says it was donated to remember the men from Peterborough who fought in World War I.

Close by, you can find the Heritage Pavilion. This building is made from old white pine wood that is 150 years old! It used to be a meeting house in downtown Peterborough back in the 1840s.

How the Museum Started

Peterborough's very first museum opened on October 31, 1898. It was called the Victoria Museum, named after Queen Victoria. This first museum was near Inverlea Park.

Later, in April 1912, the collection moved to a new public library. By the late 1950s, the collection had grown so much that a new, bigger home was needed. The current museum building officially opened on October 28, 1967. It was a special project to celebrate Canada's 100th birthday! The museum also started collecting historical documents in the mid-1970s.

Over the years, the museum's collection kept growing. In July 2004, Peterborough had a big flood. Some items at the museum were damaged, but work has been done to fix them.

How the Museum Works

The City of Peterborough manages the museum. Many people, families, and businesses donate items to help the museum grow its collection.

The museum also works with colleges and universities like Fleming College and Trent University. It helps students learn about how to manage museums and take care of historical items.

The Archives Collection

The museum's archives are like a giant library of historical documents. They let people look at old papers, maps, photos, and even videos that tell the story of Peterborough and the areas nearby.

Some of the cool things you can find in the archives include:

• Items from Catharine Parr Traill, a pioneer writer and botanist. She even made a pressed-flower album!
• Original papers from Peter Robinson. These documents tell the story of Irish settlers who came to Ontario, Canada, in 1823.
• The Balsillie collection of Roy Studio images. This is a huge collection of over 300,000 old photos, some dating back to 1896!

If you want to visit the archives, you usually need to make an appointment because there's limited space.

What You Can See at the Museum

Inside the museum, showing some exhibits

A display of old technology at the museum

The Peterborough Museum & Archives focuses on the history of Peterborough and its surrounding areas. However, it has a wide variety of interesting items!

Here are some of the types of collections you can explore:

• Archaeology: Old tools and items from ancient times.
• Ethnography: Objects that show the cultures of different groups of people.
• Furniture: Old chairs, tables, and other pieces that tell stories of the past.
• Military collections: Items related to soldiers and wars.
• Natural history: Things from nature, like plants and animals.
• Recreational: Fun items like old toys, dolls, and sports equipment.
• Technology: Old machines and gadgets.
• Textiles: Fabrics, clothing, and other woven materials.