Traveler

Pickering Museum Village

5th of July. Hot summer day, nice for visiting an outdoor museum... The place is located 3 km east of Brock Rd. on Hwy. 7 (http://www.cityofpickering.com/standard/lifestyle/museum/main.html). The museum was inaugurated in 1967 but had to be moved and this new location was inaugurated in 1979. There are 16 heritage buildings; most of them can be visited inside. Friendly people dressed in nice costumes from the 19th century are ready to explain about the life in Pickering in that time. Actually the time frame goes from 1830 up to 1910: one of the buildings have electricity, others have oil lanterns and the oldest have just candles. You can see a blacksmith/woodworking shop, a log barn, a log house, several other houses, a schoolhouse, two church buildings, a hotel, a general store... There are a lot of artifacts, tools, furniture, china, items you usually find in a general store, in a house or shop.
I tried to find out about the history of Pickering Township: it was established in 1971 but was incorporated as municipality in 1811 (Wikipedia). It was interesting to find out about the munition plant in Pickering in The Second World War and the separation of Ajax in 1950.
Near the entry of the museum is the trail that takes you alongside the Duffin Creek between Hwy 7 and 5th Concession Rd. going through Greenwood Conservation Area.