Museum Closure & Program Cancellation

Dear valued friends of the Goulbourn Museum:

Due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), and in the abundance of caution, we have decided to close the Museum during March Break. This includes the cancellation of our March Break Craft Camp, Yap & Yarn this Sunday, March 15, and the Family Craft Day (Too Slow Gotta Go!) on March 29th.

Further updates will be posted regularly.

For more detailed information about, and general precautions regarding COVID-19, please visit the Public Health Agency of Canada.

We also recommend the following helpful video from Vera Etches, Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health.

Thank you for your understanding.
~ Goulbourn Museum Staff & Board of Directors

The Museum will be closed today, Thursday, January 27, 2020,  due to inclement weather. We apologize for the inconvenience but the safety of our staff and patrons is the number one priority. Thank you.

Board Members will be elected at the Museum’s Annual General Meeting on April 21, 2020.

Contact Information:
2064 Huntley Road, Stittsville K2S 1B8
info@goulbournmuseum.ca
(613) 831-2393

This Sunday, February 23, the Goulbourn Museum’s Village General Store will be transformed into a vet clinic for a fun Family Craft Day entitled “Trust Me I’m a Dog’ter.” Children will make these fish tanks and sock doggos as well as other pet friends. Come dressed as your favourite animal or as a veterinarian!

Family Craft Days take place in the Museum from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Activities are geared to children ages 4-11. Adult accompaniment and registration is required. Cost is $5 per child or $4 for Kits’ Club members (payable at the event). To register call 613-831-2393 or email register@goulbournmuseum.ca

The Goulbourn Museum is looking to fill the position of Education Officer for the delivery and development of Museum programs, educational programming, workshops, special events, and daily operations.

Candidates require excellent English language skills and computer competency. Preference will be given to candidates with a degree or certificate in museum studies, education or a related field such as public history or history. Alternatively they will have a minimum of four years experience working in a similar position. French is an asset.

This is a contract position with potential to become permanent. The duration of the contract runs from March 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 the hourly wage is $20.00 per hour for 30 hours per week. Work includes weekends and statutory holidays. There is no public transportation to the Museum site.

Applications accepted by email until 11:59 p.m. February 2, 2020: tracey@goulbournmuseum.ca

Please review the full job description and application details HERE before submitting.

Looking for the perfect gift for someone who grew up in Goulbourn? We’ve got you covered! These are just a few examples of how you can shop locally at Goulbourn Museum Museum.

Village Pins: Our Village Pins make great stocking stuffers and at just $1 a piece you can afford to get them for the whole family! We have pins for Ashton, Hazeldean, Munster, Richmond and Stittsville as well as a commemorative 1818 pin for Richmond.

Local Honey: We sell jars of honey (as well as lip balm and hand cream) made right here in Stittsville by Simply Honey. If you suffer from pollen allergies, did you know that when you eat local honey you’re thought to be ingesting local pollen? As a result you may become less sensitive to the allergens in your geographic area! At just $10 per 500 gm jar, our honey is cheaper (and less painful) than allergy shots! Definitely a sweet deal!

Goulbourn Tree Ornaments: These wooden tree ornaments resemble tiny cabins that early settlers might have lived in. Each one is engraved with the name Goulbourn and, just like a settler, you build it yourself! The ornaments sell for $14.00.

Heart Maps: Do you know someone who left their heart in Goulbourn Township? These hand embroidered maps by Sadie & June are uniquely hand stitched and framed – made to be a reminder of the places, people, and adventures you hold dear. The Museum carries maps of Ashton, Goulbourn, Munster, Richmond, Stanley’s Corners, and Stittsville. Maps are $25.

John Curry’s New Book: John Curry’s long-awaited book Richmond’s Got Spirit! is the perfect gift for anyone with ties to Richmond. The local historian delves beyond the annual fall fair and now departed Richmond Bakery to celebrate this remarkable 200-year-old village. As an added bonus, John Curry will be at the Museum signing copies of his book on Sunday, December 15 from 1-4 p.m.

The Museum’s gift shop is open Wednesday – Sunday from 1-4 p.m. and accepts Visa, MasterCard, cash and cheques.

We are thrilled to welcome Sugar Tarts Bakery back to the Goulbourn Museum’s Outdoor Artisan Market.

Starr is the proud force behind the bakery. Based out of her home, Starr takes pride in using the finest of ingredients to create delicious homemade desserts for you, your guests and everyone in between. Treats like her gourmet cookies or gooey butter tarts never disappoint. Sugar Tarts has a wide variety of menu items including bars, squares, truffles, mini pies, scones and loaves! They also offer some Gluten Free choices. Everything is great to take home or give as gifts and freezes well, if it lasts that long!

You can stock up on Sugar Tarts’ decadent baked goods at the Museum on Sunday, November 17th between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. 

This is Manifesto Crafts‘ first year participating in the Goulbourn Museum’s Outdoor Artisan Market. Turning antique silverware into wearable art, Manifesto believes in creating beautiful works of art while being good to the planet. The materials they use come from a time of true craftsmanship and they see themselves as a bridge to bringing back the historic beauty of the old to our modern lives.

Be sure to check out their amazing creations at the Museum on Sunday, November 17th between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The Goulbourn Museum is partnering with 3D Virtual Crafting on a project application with the Virtual Museums of Canada. Our team’s goal is to submit a proposal for the development of a digital storytelling experience (online game) that explores the personal stories of early Canadian settlers in the former Goulbourn Township.

To help our team develop a successful proposal we need your support.  Two questionnaires have been developed by our team, one for educators and one for students (Grades 4-8). The goal of these questionnaires is to gather information so that we can create a product that incorporates the feedback and interest of our community and beyond.

• TEACHERS:  If you are a teacher, please take a few minutes to complete this short questionnaire HERE
  .
• STUDENTS: If you are a student in Grades 4-8, please take a few minutes to fill out this short questionnaire HERE.

If your household cannot complete a survey, please share this with friends and family who can help. 

Thank you. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Isabella Pratt Allen, who was born on the ninth line of Goulbourn Township in March of 1837, is quoted on this newly installed exhibit panel at the Goulbourn Museum.

The great grandson of Goulbourn settler Isabella Pratt Allen is hoping to connect with other descendants and gather for the unveiling of a new exhibit at the Goulbourn Museum on Saturday, August 17.

Robin Ritchie, an Ottawa lawyer, estimates that descendants of his great grandmother must number well over 200. “Many of her descendants are still in the Ottawa area but many have moved away and we’d like to get the word out to all of them about this event,” he said. Descendants can reach out to Mr. Ritchie via email (rritchie@perlaw.ca) to share the details of their family connection.

The outdoor exhibition shines a spotlight on Stanley’s Corners, the area surrounding the Museum. Isabella, who was born on the ninth line of Goulbourn Township in March of 1837, is quoted on one of the exhibit panels. Her quote, originally published in The Evening Citizen in 1936 when she was in her 100th year, recalls the harrowing times of the early settler in the Ottawa Valley. “We seemed hemmed right in with bush. We could only see a short distance from any point,” she said. “The constant fear of all the settlers was that a fire might start in the bush and that they would be caught in it.”

At the event to launch this permanent outdoor exhibit, Mr. Ritchie will also be donating a portrait of Isabella that dates to the late 1800s. The Museum’s brand new heritage garden will also be unveiled.

“The exhibit highlights old businesses and people’s memories of Stanley’s Corners,” said Tracey Donaldson, Manager and Exhibitions Curator at the Goulbourn Museum. Each outdoor panel will feature details about a specific heritage plant to incorporate the new garden. “We want to teach the community about the importance of gardens and how they would have been depended on in Goulbourn’s early years,” she explains. “Plants would have been used for everything from food, medication and dye.”

Living off the land was something Isabella would have grown up doing. Raising 11 children while her husband was often away for the winter months in the logging camps of the Ottawa Valley meant Isabella had to be strong, industrious and energetic. She thought nothing of walking three miles to Richmond, and back, for groceries and supplies. She was known never to take an afternoon nap in her entire life, not once. There were just too many things to get done on the Twin Elm farm.

“She was a remarkable woman by any standard,” said Mr. Ritchie of his great grandmother who passed away quietly in 1942 at the age of 105.

To celebrate the launch of the exhibit and garden, the public is invited to the Goulbourn Museum for a Corn Roast on Saturday, August 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Relatives and descendants of Isabella Pratt Allan are encouraged to attend. The event will feature musical entertainment, games and activities and of course, fresh corn donated by Fallowfield Tree Farm. Families can bring a blanket and enjoy an afternoon feast while reveling in some old-fashioned fun on the Museum grounds. Cost is by donation.