From the Archives:  stories featuring the Society from 1957 to the present

County of Hastings Museum opens in Bellevlle:  August 1961

The County of Hastings Museum was officially opened at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 9, 1961. County Warden Harleigh Hamilton cut the ribbon on the door of the old Land Registry Office on Church Street in Belleville and in his remarks paid tribute to the Society’s president at the time, Gerald E. Boyce (standing in doorway at the right). The City of Belleville’s Mayor at the time, MacLean Haig, termed the museum a "remarkable achievement” on the part of the dedicated members of the Hastings County Historical Society. (Image courtesty of the Society’s collection of photographs. Research by Katharine Mills)

Educational Outreach

Since its founding, the Society has worked with many students and school groups. Shown left, a student displays an exhibit on Marmora’s pioneering iron works at St. Theresa' Renaissance Society conference in 2006. Society volunteers have participated in the Renaissance Society's annual conference since its inception in 2006 and conversely, Renaissance Society members continue to participate in Society events. (Image from the Society’s collection of photographs. Research by Mary Jane Throop)

Buildings Research - Belleville’s Heritage

In 1977, I was one of a group of seven women from the Hastings Historical Society who decided to research all of the pre-1880 buildings in Belleville. Each of us took an area of Belleville to study and research. After many hours in the land registry office, in the vault at city hall with assessment rolls, and in the public library’s Canadiana Room, the booklet "Belleville’s Heritage” was ready in time for Belleville’s Centennial celebrations in 1978. Although we had all moved to Belleville as adults, by the time we had compiled our second booklet in 1983, we felt we had always been part of this beautiful city and have been very protective of its past and future. (Image from the Society’s collection of photographs. Story by Lois Foster)