A nomadic beginning eventually led to a majestic building. Barrie’s first library began as a group. It started out in 1844 as a Mechanics’ Institute, a subscription and fee-based organization created for workingmen and mechanics for improvement and development. Although the institute received donations of books from influential people in the community and membership dues were used to buy more books, as a place of intended public instruction, in 1848, the library was still seldom [...]
"If you build it, they will come." - Field of Dreams, 1989 In 1989, Ed Membery purchased 215 acres of property from the Ross family of Cookstown. The year before, the Membery family had sold the Harbour View Country Club and now they looking for a suitable site to build another one. Ed's dream was to create a quality golf course that would meet the growing demand for a high-end facility in the area. 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 [...]