Thanks to the Woodstock Museum, NHS for providing the information for this post.
The Oxford Historical Society is very pleased to hear that the Woodstock Museum, NHS has re-opened as of today, Tuesday, July 7, 2020!
Information about how the Museum is handling COVID-19 safety concerns can be found on their website or by calling them at 519-537-8411.
The Museum has started an email subscription list. To keep yourself informed about Museum activities follow this link to join their mailing list. Or you can send an email to museum@cityofwoodstock.ca and request to join their mailing list.
This information is taken from Longley Auctions FB page: D.W. Karn piano and organ company, formed in 1867, the year of Canada’s Confederation. It operated in Woodstock, Ontario and was owned by D.W. Karn, who was also the mayor and ran for Parliament twice. The first factory was located at Dundas and Reeve Street, later moving to larger facilities at Dundas and Wellington. This factory burned down twice and was later relocated to Dundas and Wilson.
Longley Auctions is a dealer in postal history and they came across this advertising cover for D.W. Karn & Co., and kindly sent it onto the Oxford Historical Society. The cover shown has a 3c Jubilee tied by a Woodstock postmark (1897) and shows the enormous factory. The cover is a front only (the back is missing). The item is available for purchase from Longley Auctions for $35.00, please contact them for more information.
More information and a display of some of the organs and pianos manufactured by the D.W. Karn Organ and Piano Co, can be found by visiting the Woodstock Museum NHS; or from the website Woodstock Newsgroup by Paul Roberts.
Correction notice: There was an error in the video contained in the post dated June 8, 2020 – Oxford County Library Local History. The Oxford County Branch Ontario Ancestors was mistakenly referred to as the Woodstock Branch of Ontario Ancestors (slide 13). The corrected video is located on the Society’s homepage.
If you have an article concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca.
Hello Everyone, The Ingersoll and Tillsonburg branches of Oxford County Libraries had planned a Local History week event; but then Covid-19 came along and the events were cancelled. Not to be deterred the Society still decided to create a video for the event. Our video will also be posted on the Oxford County Library Facebook page.
With the good weather comes a chance to go and explore parts of Woodstock. One of the best areas to visit is Victoria Park, one of the oldest parks in the city where you can have a picnic on the lawn.
In 1845 Victoria Park was the County Fairgrounds for the District of Brock. We became Oxford County in 1849. In 1872 the fairgrounds were relocated to an area close to the Thames River and the land was given to Woodstock for use as a park. On May 24, 1896 it was named Victoria Park in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, to celebrate her 60 years on the throne.
At one time there was a bandshell where bands would come to entertain park goes on summer days. The bandshell used to be located to the right of the Cenotaph but was later moved to the west corner across from the entrance to the jail.
The Cenotaph was erected in 1925 to commemorate the soldiers who perished in the Great War. It is located on the southeast corner of the park. It now includes memorials for WWII soldiers and those of later wars. On April 11, 2015 a memorial for soldiers who died in Afghanistan was placed next to the Cenotaph. Every year on November 11, Remembrance Day ceremonies take place at the Cenotaph.
For many years the park has served as the sports field for the students of WCI. It was the location for the military marches and reviews conducted every spring. Students were required to participate as part of the school program.
On the northwest corner of Victoria Park are two of the four cannons that were gifted to the City of Woodstock in 1900. The other two are located in front of the Court House. The cannons were originally manufactured in England in the 1840’s and were shipped here to Canada to aid in our defense, in case the Americans attacked. These cannons were never fired in anger and overtime they became obsolete and were placed in various Canadian cities.
Today Victoria Park has two baseball diamonds and has recently become home to the Art in Victoria Park festival held in July.
If you are looking for something to do on these long days – why not enjoy a visit to Victoria Park?
Article, pictures and postcards are property of the Oxford Historical Society.
If you have an article concerning the history of Oxford County that you would like published on the Society’s blog please email us at info@oxhs.ca.
this next post was written by Megan Lockhart, Archives Technician at the Oxford County Archives
Patterson Family of Eastwood, part of the Spring Garden Party with the Archives
With the provincial and federal stay home orders underway, archives staff have been working from home for six weeks. This has been an adjustment for not only us but for our patrons as well. Just like many other archives, libraries, galleries, and museums we have had to tap into our creativity to develop innovative ways to stay connected with the community we serve. We have continued to respond to research requests through email but some of our other services are not so easily adapted. Through inspiration from other organizations and institutions and brainstorming between staff we have created a variety of exciting projects including new online activities, virtual programming, and the collection of community stories.
Online Activities
People are looking for ways to entertain themselves and their children at home. Upon seeing the York University Archives’ online puzzles, we were eager to create our own. This led to our “archival puzzles” initiative. Thirty-five free online puzzles all featuring historical photographs and postcards from the archives are now available online at: jigsawplanet.com/OxfordCountyArchives. Not only do these puzzles provide people with some fun while stuck at home, it also opens a new avenue of interactivity between our community and our archival collections.
Along with the puzzle project new Oxford County themed colouring pages are also now available on our website. We are encouraging people to colour the pages and send their masterpieces to us so we can share them on social media. Adults and children are both welcome to submit! Send your completed pages to archives@oxfordcounty.ca.
We are also in the process of developing an online exhibit featuring food and recipes from the era of the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu pandemic. Recipes from this time will be featured online in a restaurant menu format. We hope that people will enjoy the exhibit as both educational and interactive if they choose to make the featured recipes at home.
Virtual Programming
One of our most popular programs, Memories from the Vault, has been put on hold temporarily due to COVID-19. As our program coordinator, I applied myself to finding a way to bring the program to our community remotely. I am thankful for our social media platforms as this has allowed me to create virtual video versions of the program which we will be sharing on Instagram during the month of May. The theme is “Spring Garden Party with the Archives”. I will be discussing certain historical springtime trends such as food, fashion, recreation, and leisure. Pictured on the right are two embroidered handkerchiefs from the Archive’s collection. Developing these virtual programs have provided its own challenges, having to film myself speaking, writing a script, and learning the ins and outs of video editing. I am excited to share the videos with everyone online weekly beginning May 12.
Collecting Community Stories
The Oxford County Archives has entered an exciting partnership with the Woodstock Museum NHS in collecting community stories and records related to COVID-19. We are asking for submissions of photographs, letters, journals, video, audio, artwork or digital text to be sent to museum@cityofwoodstock.ca. These records will be a significant resource for future generations of students, researchers, archivists, and historians. The material will be stored at the museum but the archives will be provided access and a collaborative exhibit will likely be developed in future. To correspond with this project we have established a new educational programme at the archives: “Students Living History”. We are asking local students to submit journal entries and photos outlining their personal pandemic experiences; we would also like to use this material in a future exhibit.
These past few weeks have put things into perspective for us at the archives. It has made us appreciate the internet, and social media which has allowed us to stay connected with our patrons and community partners. It has brought us closer to colleagues in other heritage/cultural institutions. “We are all in this together” is a saying that has really applied to us in recent times. We have been compelled to think outside the box when it comes to how we provide our services. Most importantly, we have realized just how important community connections are and keeping our archival collections visible, relevant, and accessible is a goal we will continue to strive toward even after we return to the archives. Click on Oxford County Archives to go to their web page.
