Grimsby Heritage Week

Celebrate Heritage Week this February!

Each February, Ontarians participate in Heritage Week to celebrate heritage in all forms. This year Heritage Week takes place on February 17th to 23rd, 2025.

From the first indigenous peoples that forged, gathered and inhabited our lands, to the European settles that brought with them their beautiful architectural styles, technology, and innovation and to all the people that have come and continue to come to our beautiful community, sharing with us their traditions and culture. Our Town is proud of our rich history and we strive to be front runners in the preservation of our stories, our traditions and our buildings.

Special thank you to our volunteers, our curators, our archivers, our heritage property owners and all those that contribute to the preservation of our tangible and intangible history.

We invite you to join us as we celebrate the ways Grimsby’s heritage is preserved and commemorated, and how exploring our past can inspire a brighter future.

Stay tuned to our the Town's social media accounts as together we celebrate Heritage Week in partnership with the Grimsby Historical Society and Nelles Manor Museum.

Town of Grimsby Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TownofGrimsby/

Town of Grimsby Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/town.of.grimsby/

Collect your Heritage Post Card today!

Visit one of the following participating locations to pick up your free heritage post cards (while supplies last):

Town Hall (160 Livingston Avenue)
Art Gallery & Library (18 Carnegie Lane)
Museum (6 Murray Street)

Explore Grimsby's Heritage Sites

This map was put together by the Grimsby Heritage Advisory Committee in partnership with Nelles Manor Museum, the Grimsby Museum and the Heritage Planning team. The mapping project will continue to be updated in the coming months as more information is uploaded to the virtual map.

To learn more about the historic sites in Grimsby, please click here.

50 Years of Collecting at Grimsby Public Art Gallery

For five decades, Grimsby Public Art Gallery(GPAG) has been a cornerstone of the region’s artistic and cultural identity. The remarkable journey of building GPAGs permanent collection, a testament to the vision and dedication of artists, directors, curators, donors, and volunteers who have all had a hand in shaping its legacy. From foundational acquisitions to recent treasures, the exhibition reflects on the shared efforts and enduring passion of building and preserving a renowned collection for the community it serves.

Since 1975, GPAG has amassed over 2,500 works of both contemporary and historic Canadian pieces with special focus on printmaking, works on paper, book arts and fine craft, and art that addresses human interactions with the environment.

Visit the Grimsby Public Art Gallery (18 Carnegie Lane) today to view the GPAGs 50^th anniversary exhibition, featuring key pieces from the permanent collection by over 70 artists.

Colouring at the Grimsby Art Gallery

Visit the Grimsby Public Art Gallery (18 Carnegie Lane) today and colour a historic site in Grimsby!

Heritage Corner at the Grimsby Public Library

Visit the Library and pick up a heritage themed book.

Restoring Pieces from the Town of Grimsby Museum Collection

To celebrate Heritage Week, Town Staff, along with Willowbank students, will once again be restoring notable artifacts from the Grimsby Museum collection at the campus of Willowbank School of Restoration Arts in Niagara on the Lake, which is a national historic site.

Staff Restoring an Original Grimsby Beach railing from Circa 1880 at Willowank School of Restoration Arts

About Willowbank:

The Willowbank School of Restoration Arts is an internationally acclaimed, not for profit, private career college in Queenston, Canada. The future of heritage is being shaped by our graduates. With an employment rate of 95%, their impact ripples outwards across a range of careers, from design to skilled trades to community development.  Willowbank has been on the vanguard of heritage conservation and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings since 2006. We are the Canadian headquarters of INTBAU, a global network promoting traditional building, architecture, and urbanism. The patron of Willowbank is HRH King Charles. www.willowbank.ca

Mark your Calendars! New Exhibition coming in April 2025!

This Heritage Week, the Grimsby Museum is thrilled to share the progress of our first permanent exhibition, Grimsby: Our Story. This multi-year project aims to address the community’s desire for a long-term display highlighting Grimsby’s diverse history. After conducting surveys and compiling your feedback, we identified four key themes: Ancestral Lands & Peoples, Forming Grimsby, Transforming Grimsby, and Made in Grimsby.

From a thriving Neutral Nation community to a vibrant modern town, we invite you to uncover stories of the land, people, and events that shape us. Coming in April 2025, stay tuned for more information!

Books

Maintaining and Repairing Old and Historic Buildings by John J. Cullinane

Ontario House Styles: The Distinctive Architecture of the Province's 18th and 19th Century Homes by Robert Mikel

A Heritage of Stone : Buildings of the Niagara Peninsula, Fergus and Elora, Guelph, Region of Waterloo, Cambridge, Paris, Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough, Hamilton and St. Marys by Nina Chapple

Cheap old houses : An Unconventional Guide to Loving and Restoring a Forgotten Home by Ethan Finkelstein

305 Lost Buildings of Canada by Raymond Biesinger

Annals of the Forty : Volumes 1-10 by Grimsby Historical Society

Greetings from Grimsby Park : The Chautauqua of Canada by Dorothy Turcotte

People and Places from Grimsby’s Past by Dorothy Turcotte