Park House is a historic house museum, located in

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was built in 1796 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, but moved to Amherstburg in 1799. It has had many owners, the best-known being the Park family who owned it 102 years. In 1972 it was purchased by the Rotary Club of Amherstburg, becoming a local history museum and being renovated to portray life in the 1850s.

History

Park House was constructed in

near the Rouge River in 1796 by a British loyalist. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

the owner moved to Malden, the new British fort across the river. Disassembled and moved by canoe in 1798, the house was rebuilt in

on Lot 17, First Street (presently Dalhousie Street), where it stood for 173 years.Amherstburg 1796–1996, 282. The first image of Park House Museum is in the painting ''A View of Amherstburg, 1813'' by

Margaret Reynolds Margaret Reynolds (; born 19 July 1941) served as an Australian Labor Party Senator for Queensland from 1983 to 1999. Reynolds had two ministerial appointments during her time in the Senate, serving as Minister for Local Government from Sep ...

. The lots on First Street were awarded through a draw. Lot 17 was first given to a mercantile firm, Leith, Shepherd and Duff. The Commanding officer of

Fort Malden Fort Malden, formally known as Fort Amherstburg, is a defence fortification located in Amherstburg, Ontario. It was built in 1795 by Great Britain in order to ensure the security of British North America against any potential threat of American i ...

, Captain

Hector McLean Hector McLean (1864 – January 1888) was an Australian-born rower who rowed in the Boat Race and won Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta. McLean was the son of John Donald McLean, colonial treasurer of Queensland, Australia. He went to E ...

, decided to give it to the schooner '' Nancy'' instead. Thus it was held by her owners: her Captain, William Mills, and the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

firm Forsyth, Richardson and Company. Alexander Mackintosh bought the property in 1817. However, Mackintosh only held the house until 1823, when Jean Baptiste Macon purchased it. Macon was a well-known merchant in Amherstburg when he bought the property, venturing into his own forwarding business. He hired as clerks the Park brothers, the later namesakes of the house. Thomas F. Park purchased the house on September 23, 1839. Thomas lent the property to his youngest brother Theodore Jones Park who ran a general merchandising and forwarding business with his brother John R. Park.Amherstburg 1796–1996, 283. Theodore bought the house in 1866, two years after his brother Thomas died. Theodore's son, Dr. Theodore James Park, owned the house next. In 1880 he used the house as the town’s medical office. His sister Lizzie Park gained the house after his death. Having no relatives, she gave the property to Helen Donovan, Spinster of New York State upon her death in 1941. Donovan gave the land to Geraldine S. Sterns from

that same year. Sterns then sold the property to the Lalondes in 1945. The Lalondes created an antique store named Park House Antiques. This store lasted 25 years before they sold the property to Zarko and Bessie Vucinic, the owners of

Duffy's Tavern ''Duffy's Tavern'' is an American radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks (CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast. The program often featured ...

. The Vucinics wanted to expand their business to the riverfront. They approached

Greenfield Village The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...

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to preserve Park House.Amherstburg 1796–1996, 284. Hazen Price, the head of a committee of the Amherstburg Rotary Club suggested buying Park House and preserving it so it would need not be moved or demolished. The club approved this and the house was moved to Waterworks Park (presently Amherstburg Navy Yard) where Park House Museum still stands. In July 1973, Amherstburg Historical Sites Association was created to furnish and maintain the museum. After more than a year of restoring and furnishing the house to portray the time of the Park family and businesses, the Museum officially opened December 9, 1973 with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Mayor H. Murray Smith. The Park House Tinsmiths, a volunteer association created in 1978, makes reproduction tinware to help finance the Museum. Although displayed as far as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and sold to places like

and Fort George, it could not sustain the Museum. On February 19, 2006 a $46,000 grant given by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, resulted in a grand re-opening. The museum now educates the public, including school children from

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

using such resources as a hand press donated by the

Amherstburg Echo The ''Amherstburg Echo'' was a newspaper which served Amherstburg, Ontario from 1874 to 2012. History The Amherstburg Echo was founded in November 1874 by William D. Balfour and John A. Auld. The first home of the ''Amherstburg Echo'' was in a ...

, used to print its first edition in 1874. It displays an early French framed, log-styled home with an original 1850s fireplace. The museum currently features displays of 1850s daily life, while the second floor houses exhibits of pioneer and recent artifacts. The Park House was named a National Historic Site by the federal government on October 4, 2018.Government of Canada Announces New National Historic Designations
Parks Canada news release, October 4, 2018 Park House Museum, Amherstburg Ontario

References

External links

The Park House Museum website

Park House, Amherstburg, Ontario
Parks Canada backgrounder, October 3, 2018 {{Coord, 42.103682, N, 83.113453, W, display=title Houses completed in 1796 Museums established in 1973 Historic house museums in Ontario Houses in Ontario Houses in Detroit Museums in Essex County, Ontario History of Essex County, Ontario Amherstburg, Ontario 1973 establishments in Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario