OxHS Presents Ingersoll Rural Cemetery Walking Tour!

Hello Everyone,

Please join Scott Gillies on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 10am for a walking tour of the Ingersoll Rural Cemetery!

Learn about some local families and interesting individuals who helped to shape Ingersoll!

Please share this poster – OxHS Presents Ingersoll Rural Cemetery Walk – and invite your friends to join you on a wonderful walking tour!


If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

Ingersoll Library: Book Launch Saturday, July 27, 2024 @ 1pm!

Hello Everyone,

Please see this guest post from the Ingersoll Library:

Ingersoll Library is pleased to host a local history book launch & author visit with UWO Professor Emeritus, George Emery, in support of his new publication, ‘Blacks in a White Place: Ingersoll, Canada West and Ontario, 1850-1921’

Join us at Ingersoll Library Saturday, July 27, 2024 at 1pm

Feel free to spread the word about this special event via social media or by printing and displaying the attached posts: Blacks in a White Place: Ingersoll, Canada West & Ontario, 1850-192

The Ingersoll Library can be reached at:
The Town Centre, 130 Oxford Street Ingersoll ON N5C 2V5
Email: ingersolllibrary@ocl.net
Phone: 519-485-2505


If you have an event, pictures and articles concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca

Oxford Local History Day – Saturday, April 22, 2023!

Hello Everyone,

This guest post is provided by Oxford County Library:

Oxford County Library is proud to host the 3rd annual Oxford Local History Day!

Join us at Ingersoll Library on Saturday, April 22nd from 11AM – 3PM

Discover engaging presentations that will bring to light the story of Oxford.

Visitors to Oxford Local History Day will experience collections, exhibits & featured stories from archives, museums & heritage groups from around Oxford County. 

Experience an Exhibit with History Experts:  

Oxford County Library will feature: The Stone Houses of Zorra project – delve into the stories behind rural edifices of Oxford.

Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum, Oxford Historical Society, Beachville Museum, Oxford Ancestors, Ingersoll Pipe Band, Heroes of Zorra, Plattsville & District Heritage, Zorra Heritage Committee, Tavistock & District Historical Society

Snap a ‘Step Back in Time Selfie’ in the Ingersoll Historical Photo Booth.   

Grab a prop, smile & transport yourself to the streets of 1900s Ingersoll, courtesy of our green screen photo booth.  Bring the family!

Take in a Presentation:

11AM: The Lost Architecture of Ingersoll:
Join Ingersoll Museum curator, Scott Gillies, as he explores the buildings which once graced our neighborhoods and are now lost to the mists of time!

NOON: A Community 10,000 Years in the Making:
Join UWO Associate History Professor, Cody Groat as he delves into:  “The lands that we know as Oxford County have been occupied for over 10,000 years. This presentation will give a brief history of Indigenous settlement to the present day, as well as cultural change over time.”

1PM: Heroes Past but Always Present:
130 years after five Zorra farmers won the Tug-of-War World Championship at the Chicago World Fair, the small community of Embro still remembers them. This is the story of Zorra’s “Men of Might that Feared the Lord”.  Presented by the Zorra Heritage Committee

1:30PM: Bob Hayward: Farm to Fame:
Zorra Township native Bob Hayward, became a Canadian hero and international celebrity by driving the hydroplane, Miss Supertest III, to the pinnacle of powerboat racing. Presented by the Zorra Heritage Committee

2PM: The Oxford Militia in the War of 1812:
Join local historian, Bob Rennie, as he explores how the citizens of Oxford County had many significant decisions to make during the War of 1812 & the profound impact it had on their lives.

For more event information visit Oxford County Library at Oxford Local History Day 2023
or call 519 485-2505.

Oxford County.  We’ve made history!

Ingersoll Library: Black History Month Event!

Hello Everyone,

Please see this guest post from the Ingersoll Library:

Curious about the new Underground Railroad Sculpture in Ingersoll?
Join us at Ingersoll Library Saturday, February 18, 2023 from 1-3PM

Meet local artist Duane Kumala-Thomas and discover the vision behind an Ingersoll art installation recognizing significant dates in town history.

Join local historian, Heather Rennalls and explorer her knowledge of Ingersoll’s Black history.

Ingersoll Town Councillor, Khadijah Haliru, will speak about her story from Nigeria to Brampton to Ingersoll.

Special Guests including: Town Councillor, Mike Bowman, Oxford Caribbean Canadian Association and more.


“Using the familiar theme of the underground railroad as a focal point, the sculpture aims to represent Ingersoll’s involvement in accepting, aiding and growing amongst a new and increasing black population in the 1800’s and beyond. The visual of train tracks breaking through the soil and springing up into the Ingersoll air will present viewers with the emphatic feeling of a journey to this place, where travellers came up for air, settled and planted new roots”.

Duane Kumala-Thomas

Feel free to spread the word about this special event via social media or by printing and displaying the attached posts: Ingersoll Library Event Duane Kumala-Thomas

The Ingersoll Library can be reached at:
The Town Centre, 130 Oxford Street Ingersoll ON N5C 2V5
Email: ingersolllibrary@ocl.net
Phone: 519-485-2505

King Henry Five – In Ingersoll’s Centennial Park!

Hello Everyone,

Information for this post is provided by Scott Gillies, from the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum:

Driftwood Theatre is returning to Ingersoll this Saturday night with their performance of HENRY V.

Show begins at 7:30pm in Centennial Park. Bring your own blankets, bug spray and lawn chairs. Pay what you can afford admission.

For more information, call the Ingersoll Museum at 519-485-5510.

Scott Gillies, Curator
Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum
290 Harris Street, Ingersoll ON
519-485-5510
Twitter: @IngersollMuse1     Facebook: IngersollCheeseMuseum