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The Ontario Historical Society is a non-profit organization centred on the preservation of Ontario’s history. It is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors, and its members include individuals as well as historical institutions from across the province of Ontario. It also publishes ''Ontario History'', a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal. From 1899 to 1947, the journal was called ''Papers and Records''. The Ontario Historical Society headquarters are located at the John McKenzie House in the Willowdale neighbourhood of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.


History

The Ontario Historical Society, originally called the Pioneer and Historical Association of Ontario, was established on September 4, 1888 largely through the efforts of Reverend Henry Scadding. It initially operated as a federation of local groups and was primarily concerned with the promotion of British-Canadian nationalism through the study of history. Reorganized in 1898 and incorporated with an expanded mandate the following year, the Society became increasingly involved in the movement to preserve archival records and historic sites. It also assumed more scholarly pursuits, including a publication program, in addition to encouraging and coordinating the activities of local historical associations and museums. Today the Society continues to preserve, interpret and publicize Ontario's heritage.


Affiliated Societies

The Ontario Historical Society is the only non-profit organization in North America with the ability to incorporate other non-profit organizations. It was given this power in 1899. Since then, the Society has incorporated hundreds of smaller historical institutions.


John McKenzie House

The John McKenzie House, a three-storey brick structure, located north of
Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...
, just east of
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
, was constructed in 1913 as the second Willowdale home of a pioneer family. The house is located on lot 18, concession 1, East Yonge Street, on property deeded to Jacob Cummer in 1801. In 1884, a portion of the original property was sold to Philip McKenzie (John's father) who was an English immigrant trained as a carpenter and casket maker. Philip and his wife, Sarah Thompson, of Whitchurch Township, moved originally into the old Cummer farmhouse, a -storey brick Georgian style dwelling. This house, built about 1840, was located between Parkview and Norton Avenues and faced west to Yonge Street. When Philip McKenzie died, John ran the farm and specialized in Holstein cattle until the local economy for farmers began to deteriorate. John then decided to subdivide the farm, and in 1912, registered the "Empress Subdivision" that was to become the heart of modern east Willowdale as the area was transformed from a rural village to a suburban community. In 1913, John and his wife, Eva, chose a large lot on the rise of land just east of Yonge Street on Parkview Avenue as the site for their new home. Built in a style which has been described as Queen Anne Revival,
Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
, and
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
, this red brick house contains 12 rooms and 3 bathrooms. The front of the house is profiled by a grand L-shaped, wrap-around verandah with stylized Doric columns. A large attached coach house was converted to accommodate automobiles and has a recreation room above. Significant interior features include the centre hall plan, a vestibule door and sidelights with bevelled leaded glass, a large leaded art glass window which lights the landing of the main staircase, two sunrooms, panelled doors and wainscotting, strip hardwood flooring and radiators. From their farm, the McKenzies retained the 1907 brick milk house, and built a stable in 1915 and a coach house in 1918."Special 100th Anniversary Insert – 1913 to 2013 The Historic John McKenzie House"
July 2013. The Ontario Historical Society.
By the 1990s, the house had fallen into disrepair and was slated to be demolished. Following an extensive fundraising campaign, The Ontario Historical Society restored all four buildings, and obtained protection for the house as a designated heritage site under the ''
Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...
''. It is now the headquarters of The Ontario Historical Society. A research-reference library can also be found above the coach-house, containing thousands of books pertinent to Ontario’s history.


Notable members

*
Henry Scadding Henry Scadding (July 29, 1813 – May 6, 1901) was a Canadian writer and Anglican clergyman. Life and career Scadding was born at Dunkeswell in Devon, England, and he immigrated to York, Upper Canada (now Toronto, Ontario) in 1821 with his p ...
* Ernest Alexander Cruikshank *
Fred Landon Fred Landon (November 5, 1880 – August 1, 1969) was a Canadian journalist, historian, librarian, teacher, administrator and specialist in Ontario history. Biography He was born in London, Ontario in 1880 and died there in 1969. He marri ...
* J.M.S. Careless * David Boyle *
James Henry Coyne James Henry Coyne, (October 3, 1849 – January 5, 1942) was a Canadian lawyer and historian. Born in St. Thomas, Canada West (now Ontario), the second son of William Coyne and Christina Patterson, Coyne graduated from University College, ...
*
Ian E. Wilson Ian E. Wilson (born April 1943) is a former chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Appointed in 2004, he had previously (as of July 1999) been National Archivist of Canada. With Roch Carrier, the then National Librarian, he developed and led ...


References

{{Authority control Historic preservation organizations in Canada Historical societies of Ontario