Seeing the community come together to build and maintain the skating rink in Virgil had us thinking of when rinks were created in Simcoe Park or along Lake Ontario and, in some locations, on

This is an interesting landscape watercolour of the “Fog Bell,” below Mississauga Point, showing the wooden “groyne” (breakwater) on the right that was constructed to prevent erosion. The painting features a nice contrast of rocky cliffs

The NOTL Museum has a wonderful art collection depicting the community of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Here is a watercolour of the Queenston Heights landscape and a view down the Niagara River by Philip John Bainbrigge

Being stuck at home during the pandemic has motivated many of us to renovate our living spaces. Several decades ago, many would have visited the Harrison & Sons Hardware Store and Lumberyard for

Many of us enjoy the Christmas shows that the Shaw Festival is back presenting this year. The Courthouse Players, the forerunner to our beloved Shaw Festival, started in 1962 and featured a Christmas show

This engraving of Queenston Heights was completed by J.C. Armitage from an 1838 W. H. Bartlett sketch. It is a beautiful view of Queenston Heights, looking south from the Hamilton estate, which we

Many of you are still trying to fit in a few more rounds of tennis or golf before the snow starts to really fall. Here’s a photo of an intense tennis match being

Hostilities of the First World War ended on Nov. 11, 1918, at the 11th hour. A war that was thought to only take months to conclude lasted more than four years. When the word spread here

This Second World War photograph shows soldiers training at Niagara Camp’s rifle range. The grounds were located along Lakeshore Road, just west of Shakespeare Avenue. Today the land is still fenced off with

This photograph is similar to the one you saw last week. However, this one is farther back and is possibly taken from the 75-foot chimney that once existed at the pumphouse farther up the

Recognize this spot? This photograph is looking from the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club property toward Melville Street (the street running along the middle of the photo). If you were to look at this perspective today

October 13 is the 209th anniversary of the War of 1812’s Battle of Queenston Heights. This 1871 photograph shows war veterans, with young family members, posed in front of Brock’s Monument at their annual

This circa 1915 photograph shows the Niagara River, looking north toward Lake Ontario, with the village of Queenston just left of centre. The suspension bridge can be seen spanning the gorge and the Canada Steamship

This circa 1900 photograph of the Oates House (or Captain's House) on Front Street (across from Queen's Royal Park) shows three children and a donkey in the foreground and a mother or maid in

This interesting photo illustrates how much our community has grown over the years. This Virgil photo is looking east down Field Road. The home at the end was known as the Field House

This watercolour depicts the ship called the Chief Justice Robinson. It was built in 1842 as a wooden side-wheel steamboat by the Niagara Harbour and Dock Company and sailed the Toronto-Niagara River route. In August

Here’s a photograph, c.1900, of the Evans Ice Cream and Candy Store. The people at the front are most likely, from left, Mrs. Clara Parker, Lillian (Parker) Greaves and Mrs. Mathews. The Mathews family ran

Recognize this building? It was previously the Niagara-on-the-Lake Post Office during the early 1900s. The man standing outside is likely the postmaster, Joseph Healey, who took on that role from 1904 to 1930.

Further to last week’s photo on the Niagara Assembly establishing a Chautauqua movement in Niagara-on-the-Lake, here is an image of the three-storey Chautauqua Hotel. The Chautauqua program offered religious and educational courses for guests of