Past & Present
Peterborough Museum & Archives
The Peterborough Museum & Archives (PMA) has been located in Ashburnham Memorial Park, off Hunter Street East and atop Armour Hill, since 1967. However, this is not the community’s first museum, and some of its collection items can be traced to a previous incarnation.
The constitutions for both of Peterborough’s Mechanics’ Institutes (1843 and 1868) – forerunners of the Peterborough Public Library – contained clauses for the creation of a museum. Although it held an exhibit of objects in November 1868, the Institute did not result in a full-fledged museum; its main focus was on collecting books and other reading material for members’ use.
The impetus for a true museum in Peterborough came because of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. In December 1896, a group of prominent citizens formed the “Town and County of Peterborough Historical Society” with the goal of establishing a community museum. The Society collected artifacts and documents, raised funds, and opened the “Victoria Museum” in Inverlea House (a mansion in present-day Inverlea Park) on Jubilee Day, 22 June 1897. The museum remained here until 1912; it was moved to Peterborough’s new Carnegie Library (now part of City Hall) before Inverlea House was demolished.
In the 1950s, a resurrected Peterborough Historical Society began lobbying for a new museum. With the formation of the Peterborough District Historical and Art Museum Foundation in 1961 and the City and County Centennial Committee in 1962, fundraising and the search for a museum site commenced in earnest; after much consideration, Armour Hill was chosen. Architects Craig, Zeidler and Strong designed the building, and the firm Joore & Kraetzer constructed it. The artifact collection held in the library was transferred, and on 28 October 1967 the Peterborough Centennial Museum opened officially. Its first Director was Miss Anne Heideman, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Museum Board and a driving member of the Historical Society.
Today, the PMA holdings consist of nearly 50,000 objects and about 3,000 linear feet of archival material. Since May is “Museum Month” in Ontario, perhaps readers would wish to take this opportunity to visit the museum and see some of its collection – but you are welcome to visit us any month.
By: Don Willcock,
The Peterborough Museum & Archives,
300 Hunter St E, Peterborough, 705-743-5180
www.peterboroughmuseumandarchives.ca
