Mission

Our mission is to promote awareness and understanding of all aspects of the County of Norfolk's heritage and history and to develop commitment to the preservation of artifacts and archives.

The Norfolk Historical Society Board of Directors (2011):

Museum Staff

A Brief History of the Norfolk Historical Society - 1900 to 1950

In February 1897, Hal B. Donly, editor of the Simcoe Reformer urged the formation of a historical society in Norfolk County. The actual charter meeting was held in Judge Robb's chambers on February 9, 2023 with Judge Robb being named President.

In October of that year, the Society decided to properly mark the place near Port Dover where two French missionaries, Father Dollier de Casson and Father de Gallinee had spent the winter of 1669-1670. In 1915 the Society purchased a site on Black Creek to erect a monument to the two priests. In the early years a good deal of time was required to complete various transactions and according to longtime Society secretary Bruce M. Pearce "it was an uphill fight."

In 1920 half a dozen historic sites were marked by the society and in cooperation with the Dominion Historic Sites and Monuments Board, permanent cairns were erected on them. In 1922 the Ontario Historical Society held its annual meeting in Simcoe and that same year the cross on Brant Hill in Port Dover was unveiled and a memorial was placed at Turkey Point to mark the location of old Fort Norfolk.

The first steps towards establishing a permanent museum began in 1927 when the basement of the library was obtained, but this did not prove to be a suitable location. In 1928 Mrs. Eva Brook Donly suggested that she would leave her home to the Society to be used as a museum. In 1929, the society acquired the old "Chadwick Academy" near Vittoria, which was considered the oldest school in Ontario. Several historical society meetings were held there until it was disposed of by the Society.

When the town of Simcoe celebrated its centennial, a cairn commemorated the event in Lynn Park. That same year, a descendant of Abigail Becker, heroine of Long Point, donated a portrait, the family Bible, and gold medal given to her ancestor - which are all now prominently displayed in the Norfolk Room at the Museum.

The next few years were busy with various plaques and historic markers being erected including the General Brock cairn at Powell Park in Port Dover, the Van Norman tablet in Normandale and one to Egerton Ryerson.

In 1941, following the death of Eva Brook Donly, her residence was left to the Town of Simcoe so that it could be turned into a Museum of Art and Antiquities. The Town approached the Norfolk Historical Society, asking it to run the Museum...and the rest, as they say, is history! The museum was formally opened the following year when the Ontario Historical Society once again held its annual meeting in Simcoe.

The Norfolk Historical Society continues to be the guardian of the Eva Brook Donly Museum and Archives which reside within the building. A Board of Directors made up of members of the Norfolk Historical Society oversees the governance and daily operation of the Museum and Archives through direct participation as well as via monthly Board Meetings held on the first Thursday of every month.

Historical Society at Fort Monroe 1900

The creation of this website has been funded in part by the Government of Canada's New Horizons for Seniors program, and a grant from the Norfolk District Business Development Corporation Southwest Community Adjustment Fund.