This black-and-white photograph shows the back and side of a building that was formerly our courthouse as well as the former Our Western Home school. It was the second courthouse that was built after the first was burned in the War of 1812. It was active before the current courthouse on Queen Street was built. This courthouse was where the Moseby riot, which protected an escaped slave in the 1830s, happened.
Maria Rye, a social reformer from London, England arrived in Niagara in October 1869 with a group of 75 girls. She had purchased the abandoned second courthouse and converted it into an institution called Our Western Home. Her aim was to gather British girls, usually aged five to 12, either from workhouses or those abandoned in the streets, transport them to Canada, teach them domestic skills, and then place them with families either as foster children or apprentices. It is believed that 4,000 girls passed through Our Western Home under the tutelage of Miss Rye. However, her program came under criticism as she did not continue to follow the girls after they left the home and some were found to have been placed in adverse situations. Following Miss Rye’s retirement in 1896, the home was taken over by the Church of England’s Waifs and Strays Society — it continued to operate until 1913.
The building no longer exists, but residents can visit the site which is now known as Rye Heritage Park.