Held annually in the early 1900s in August, the Gymkhana welcomed cyclists from all parts of America for some fun competition.

It is that time of year when the farmers bring their tasty peaches to the Old Town district to celebrate the peach harvest.

Until the 1920s, a horse and carriage was still the primary mode of transportation for many in Niagara. The Town of Niagara had a few livery stables such as Michael Greene (and later Jack Greene) on King Street and Daniel Waters on Prideaux.

To see the best tennis 125 years ago, you would have headed to the Queen’s Royal Hotel, now the site of Queen’s Royal Park off King Street in the Old Town district.

Built during the late 19th-century boom period, the pumphouse supplied the town with water from the Niagara River until 1983.

“Not only did we defend our borders from our neighbours to the south and distinguish ourselves from them, but we also demonstrated to Britain that the settlers here in the colony had true grit to defend our homes,” writes the NOTL Museum.

By the 1890s, warriors from Six Nations made up two companies of the 37th. This battalion attended Camp Niagara during the summer from time to time for training.

Janet didn’t just preserve history — she made it. Now, in 2025, the NOTL Museum is channelling the spirit of Janet and her iconic bun as it celebrates 130 years of getting things done.

Janet Carnochan was a local powerhouse of a woman who worked as a teacher for 45 years and became the Niagara Historical Society’s first president. Janet, along with her board, opened Memorial Hall on June 4, 1907.

People have been fishing Lake Ontario and the Niagara River for as long as humans have inhabited these shores. The river, lake and creeks once had an abundance of fish, which allowed humans to develop an important relationship with our waterfront.

This week’s photo shows the former lawn bowling green at the corner of Johnson and Regent streets in the Old Town district of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The lawn bowling club began in 1877 and moved from this location to its new home at the Community Centre in 2011.

This 1955 political cartoon highlights the issues that were top of mind for then Lord Mayor William Greaves Jr. during his tenure. It seems he was in a real “jam” that year.

Historians believe that the town and part of the township may have been briefly named after Charles Lennox, an important member of the British government at the time.

The Queenston-Chippawa Hydro-Electric Plant was the first true mega hydroelectric project and the largest hydroelectric power station of its kind in the world.

This grand, two-storey estate that overlooked the Niagara River was an important and rare example of a Classic (Greek) Revival house in a picturesque setting in Ontario. Built in 1832, it was only seven years shy of hitting its 200-year-old anniversary.

In the 1930s, there were a series of photographs taken of Queen Street for insurance purposes. The buildings in this photo still exist today, save for the original firehall, which burned down in November 2009.

During elections for the first parliament of the province of Canada, Edward C. Campbell won by one vote against Henry J. Boulton — Boulton appealed the election results, and the seat was turned over to him after a year.

It was around this time that the Niagara Parks Commission pushed tourists to visit Queenston Heights for the picturesque views rather than the site’s history. This “attraction” likely came about to encourage people to take home a souvenir as a reminder of their visit.

It wasn’t until 1964 that a “boom” was placed in the upper part of the river, near Lake Erie, to limit the flow of ice sheets that, when pushed by the wind, can create ice accumulation up to 12 feet thick.

Niagara-on-the-Lake has an interesting history in connection with Ireland. In fact, we had a whole section known as “Irish Town.” Many Irish immigrants settled here following their arrival in 1847 during the Irish Famine.

This one-and-a-half-storey clapboard house was built by John Wilson in 1816. It was part of the rebuilding that took place here following the burning of Niagara in December 1813.