It would seem fitting that on Canada's 150th Birthday I finally let out a secret I've been keeping for 150 days: I'm moving to Florida in August! Many of you know my educational background and calling is in music ministry. I am elated to announce that I have accepted a full time position as Associate Pastor of Music and Leadership Development at Harvest Bible Chapel in Naples, Florida to work alongside Senior Pastor, John Secrest. Leaving [...]
Prior to his passing in April 2016, Brian Baker was a well-known personality within the historical community of Barrie. With multiple cameras around his neck at any given moment, he was Simcoe County’s unofficial photographer and a regular historical columnist for the Barrie Examiner for decades. Brian’s late wife, Margaret (Goodfellow) was a well-liked school teacher who begun her carrier at 13A Innisfil aka Huronia Public School before moving to Warnica Public School when [...]
Happy new year! 2016 was an incredible year for the City of Barrie. Never before has Barrie been able to boast of a state of the art digital, free online museum until now. The Barrie Historical Archive (BHA) launched on September 21st with a one night only spectacular night called Mayors’ Seat. This evening, which united nearly every former City Mayor, was an unprecedented historical event that was used as the catalyst to open the virtual [...]
September 21, 2016 will go down in Barrie’s history as an unprecedented evening that will not soon be forgotten. The launch of the Barrie Historical Archive at the “Mayors’ Seat” event during Barrie Historical Week was a watershed moment for the City of Barrie, which up until this point has not had a dedicated, online municipal museum. The uniqueness of the BHA is that it is online, free, accessible to all 24/7 from anywhere in [...]
A bird's eye view of Barrie over the past 70 years He may not be able to "read your mind" as the old Alan Parsons Project hit suggests, but Herman Koeslag, owner of Eye in the Sky Photography is still the leader of aerial photography in Southern Ontario and arguably, much of Canada. That's why we have been so thrilled to partner with him and his talents to build and enrich the contemporary photography represented in the Barrie Historical Archive. A born [...]
Barrie is more than 170 years old and has been without a museum – until now. On September 21st the Barrie Historical Archive (BHA) will launch an online museum with the “Mayors’ Seat” event at City Hall. But why should Barrie have a museum? After all, we have a county museum up the road in Midhurst. Aren’t museums antiquated depositories for things that are already collecting dust in our homes? Perhaps – but their value [...]
Midwayby Dr. Travis Doucette Long before Bayfield Street was developed, Bradford Street was Barrie’s original Golden Mile and served as a busy commercial throughway that connected old Allandale with Downtown Barrie. Today, little remains of this once business-laden street. Some may contend that the area has changed do to business relocation as the city expanded. Bradford Street was once home to nearly every car dealer in town. Many dealers dispersed to Bayfield Street and the [...]
Barrie does not have a museum. This is the need the Barrie Historical Archive is responding to. With a city full of rich history and a community of people whose stories are worth telling, Barrie is ready for a free museum, accessible to all people at all times through the power of the Internet. Up until now there has not been anywhere online where Barrie’s history has been centralized and celebrated. All of this will [...]