Cold Wednesday mornings at home in February are the perfect setting to learn more about some of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s most important heritage properties.
Coinciding with their current physical exhibit on preserving heritage homes, the NOTL Museum is hosting a series of free virtual lectures featuring local experts every Wednesday next month.
“Our online series is something we continue to carry over from COVID,” explains the museum’s CEO and curator Sarah Kaufman. “A lot of people expressed interest in these lectures during the winter months. They want to be able to engage with the museum without having to step outside into the cold.”
The series starts with Linda Fritz discussing Queenston’s Glencairn Hall, located at 14795 Niagara River Parkway, on Feb. 5.
“She’s one of our board members, a historian from Queenston,” Kaufman says. “She’s done walking tours of Queenston for us in the past. Glencairn is a house of interest for many people not just in Queenston. We’re excited to have her talk about it.”
Fritz is the University of Saskatchewan’s librarian emerita. In 2010, she was invited to oversee the Queenston contribution to the book From the Mouth of the Lower Niagara River, the story of 200 years of peace after the War of 1812 in NOTL’s Old Town, Queenston, Lewiston and Youngstown, New York.
Glencairn Hall is a grand, two-storey estate that overlooks the Niagara River. The original 2,500-square-foot Classic (Greek) Revival house was designed by John Latshaw in 1832 and was built for John Hamilton, a prominent boatbuilder and member of the Upper Canada Legislative Assembly. He used it primarily as a summer home for his family.
Over the years, the property has been owned by several prominent community members, including William A. Thomson, the president of the Erie and Niagara Railway, John D. Larkin, owner of the Larkin Soap Company in Buffalo, and Si Wai and Jimmy Lai, the owners of Vintage Hotels. It was during the Thomson era that the property became known as Glencairn.
For more on the history of Glencairn, click here.
Kaufman expects great interest in the second lecture in the series. The subject on February 12 is the Rand Estate on John Street East in Old Town, with historian, author and past president of the Niagara Historical Society and Museum David Hemmings leading the discussion.
“Rand has been in the news over the last several years,” says Kaufman. “It’s a beautiful estate and there are some very interesting plans for the location. With all the community interest we feel our museum should provide information on its history.”
The Rand Estate has been the source of controversy since developer Benny Marotta’s Solmar Developments purchased the property a few years ago. Solmar’s plans for a subdivision and hotel there have met opposition from citizen group SORE (Save Our Rand Estate) and were the subject of a lengthy hearing at the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2024.
Known as “Randwood”, it was the summer home of the Rand family over multiple generations between 1910 and 2016. The estate holds a vital place in the community’s history and identity, and its impressive landscape is a significant example of the work of the pioneering Canadian landscape architects Howard and Lorrie Dunnington-Grubb.
The following Wednesday architecture columnist Brian Marshall delivers an online lecture about three historical sites - the former Plumb House on King Street and the Peter Secord and David Secord Houses in St. Davids.
The Plumb House stood on the property that in1943 became the site of Parliament Oak School. The significant home had 10 fireplaces and four staircases. Following its demolition, materials from the house were sold and incorporated into many homes around town.
The home’s original owner Josiah Plumb had been a successful banker and railway entrepreneur in the United States before retiring and settling in Niagara after the American Civil War. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald encouraged Plumb to run for a seat in the House of Commons and he won by-elections in 1874 and 1879. Following his defeat three years later Macdonald nominated him for appointment to the Senate and appointed him as house speaker in 1887.
The Peter Secord Inn is located on Four Mile Creek Rd. in St. David's. It was built in 1782 and was home to Peter Secord and his family. Peter was an uncle to James Secord, husband of the legendary Laura Secord.
The David Secord House, also known as the Paxton House, is located at 46 Paxton Lane. It was built in 1799 by David Secord, a major in the local militia, who lived there until he died in 1844. Oral history says that Laura Secord rested at the house on her 30-mile journey to Beaver Dams to warn British Lt. James FitzGibbon of the planned American attack on his outpost.
The house survived the American attack on the village in 1814. Marshall addressed town council last October, saying that this “extraordinary piece of Canadian history” in its current state is “a textbook case of demolition by neglect.” It is currently owned by a numbered Toronto company with president Simon Yakubowicz and secretary Jay Vanmali listed as principles.
Author, historian and Niagara Foundation board member Dr. Richard Merritt will host the final instalment of the free virtual lecture series on Feb. 26.
That Wednesday morning’s topic will be The Wilderness, a nearly five-acre parcel of land located at 407 King Street, opposite The Commons, with One Mile Creek cutting across the property.
Mistaken by many as an overgrown, deteriorating streetscape on either King or Regent Streets, it is a site of important local and national significance, rooted as it is in the natural, Indigenous, military, political and horticultural history that makes NOTL unique and distinctive.
“That property has also changed hands recently to the Niagara Foundation,” Kaufman points out. “It’s exciting. It’s a massive piece of property right in the heart of the Old Town area. The community needs to understand its history.”
Kaufman also reminds history buffs that there is much more on display in the NOTL Museum’s current exhibit, dubbed The Prettiest Town: Beyond the Bricks & Mortar, on until April 6. And admission to the museum is free during the month of February.
All four virtual lectures will be conducted using the Zoom platform. They are free to attend but registration is required. Each lecture will be recorded and subsequently posted on the museum’s YouTube channel.