Canada 150 Open House
Hamilton Civic Museums are offering free admission to visitors on Saturday May 6 and Sunday May 7 from 12 to 4 p.m. as part of Hamilton’s Canada 150 celebrations.
The museums, owned and operated by the City of Hamilton, include Battlefield House Museum & Park, the Hamilton Children’s Museum, Dundurn National Historic Site, Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum, the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology, The Hamilton Military Museum and Whitehern Historic House & Garden. Visitors are also invited to visit the Auchmar Estate at Fennel and West 5th, and the Ancaster Old Town Hall. Battlefield House Museum & Park is challenging visitors to climb to the observation deck of the Battlefield Monument. The first 150 registered participants will be given an official “Canada 150” logo pin to mark their achievement. This activity may help you meet your “ParticipACTION 150” goals. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. on both May 6 and 7 at the Park. The Hamilton Children’s Museum is featuring interactive exhibits, The Summers Theatre Stage, Building Gallery and a Ship Gallery with above and below
deck activities including a galley kitchen, cargo boom and a musical ship whistle!
In addition to tours of the Castle and Kitchen Garden, Dundurn National Historic
Site is opening “Our Hamilton: Through Their Eyes”, an exhibit about Hamilton during the First World War. Follow the course of Hamilton’s involvement from the initial ‘call to arms’ to the postwar period through treasures from The Hamilton Military Museum collections including diaries, letters, photos and personal items owned by Hamiltonians.
At Fieldcote Memorial Park &
Museum, join the Farmer family as they journey through 150 years of life in Ancaster. Explore how their world changed between the years 1867 and 2017, and discover key points in our National history.
To honour Canada’s Sesquicentennial, the ‘Fieldcote Quilters’ are creating a special commemorative quilt. Members of the community are invited to submit quilt blocks based on the theme: “What Canada Means to Me” at Ancaster Old Town Hall on Saturday May 6.
The doors are open wide at the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology with a new Simple Machines activity area in the 1913 Electric Pump House. On Sunday, May 7, The Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers will be running miniature trains on the railway on site. Whitehern Historic House &
Garden, home of the McQuesten family, is offering visitors a chance to experience the stone mansion at their own pace with over 10,000 objects from one of Canada’s best intact collections on view.
Auchmar Estate was once the home of the Buchanan family and was later inhabited by the Hungarian Sisters of Social Services. Visitors are invited to discover the many changes to this grand mountain estate. For more information about Canada 150 Open House and the many other City of Hamilton events visit www. hamilton.ca/museums.