Laird Township Museum
4915 highway 17 East P0S1C0 Echo Bay, ON, Canada

Hey guys! We are sadly down to less than a week for the museum being opened. I will be at the Laird Fair one and off through this weekend in one of the barns with a display for the museum so if you are there this weekend please come say hello. Also don't forget about the tea and scavenger hunt at the museum on August 17th.

Knox Presbyterian Church By Olivia Cedolia As I have mentioned before in previous articles Laird Township has a lot of history. One building that stands out in my mind is the Knox Presbyterian church located between Lake George Rd. and Bar River Rd. on Government Rd. The church was finished in 1892. The initial building of the church started in 1891. A carpenter was hired because winter was approaching and the members of the church were busy getting their farms re...ady before the snow. A man named Malcolm MacNeil was hired as the carpenter. All the lumber, shingles, and finishing materials were donated by church members. An interesting fact is that Mr.Hollingsworth (the man who’s property the church was on) collected $52 from commercial travellers that came to his store. He collected the money to buy new door and window frames from a supplier in Collingwood. The bill came to an exact total of $52.00. Originally, the seating in the church consisted of wooden planks and blocks. Later, chairs were purchased at $0.25 apiece. The pews that are in there now were put in by Fred Brown. When the church was complete, services began in the spring of 1892. Collection ranged from $2-$3 and the first minister was Rev. J.P. McGinnis. Over the years the church was given a new pulpit by the R.D. Curry family, a new electric organ in memory of a few different people and families, new hymn books were donated by the Robt Wilson family and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Headrick gave a Baptismal Chalice and new Bibles in memory of their son, Peter. The woman of the church were responsible for a lot of the fundraising and keeping funds flowing. When the Algoma Presbytery sold land on Pumpkin Point that they used for summer camp, the Knox Presbyterian Church was given land for part of the proceeds. This piece of land became Centennial Park in 1967 on Point Dr. Church attendance eventually dwindled for various reasons and the last service was held on November 8, 1987. This was a sad day for the community. One of the agreements on the church closing was that the church should be turned over to the township as a historic site and made available for special occasions. The wishes were granted. Right now as I write this the church is being repainted on the outside and further attempts to clean the church and maintain it are being talked about. The Township and members of the Laird Heritage Committee are in the process of getting this church restored and looking into registering it as a Heritage Site. (All historical information taken from Laird Chronicles)

Hello everyone! the museum will only be open for two more weeks! I want to invite everyone to a come and go tea and scavenger hunt at the museum on August 17th from 1:00-4:00. The admission is free and there will be desserts and the scavenger hunt is for the kids so feel free to bring them along as well. There will be prizes. Hope to see you then!

Hey guys! We are sadly down to less than a week for the museum being opened. I will be at the Laird Fair one and off through this weekend in one of the barns with a display for the museum so if you are there this weekend please come say hello. Also don't forget about the tea and scavenger hunt at the museum on August 17th.

Hey everyone! On Monday, August 17th we are having a come and go tea at the museum. So please feel free to come out and there is also a scavenger house for the kids so feel free to bring them along as well. There will be prizes for them. Hope to see you there. feel free to comment here for more info or directions!

Knox Presbyterian Church By Olivia Cedolia As I have mentioned before in previous articles Laird Township has a lot of history. One building that stands out in my mind is the Knox Presbyterian church located between Lake George Rd. and Bar River Rd. on Government Rd. The church was finished in 1892. The initial building of the church started in 1891. A carpenter was hired because winter was approaching and the members of the church were busy getting their farms re...ady before the snow. A man named Malcolm MacNeil was hired as the carpenter. All the lumber, shingles, and finishing materials were donated by church members. An interesting fact is that Mr.Hollingsworth (the man who’s property the church was on) collected $52 from commercial travellers that came to his store. He collected the money to buy new door and window frames from a supplier in Collingwood. The bill came to an exact total of $52.00. Originally, the seating in the church consisted of wooden planks and blocks. Later, chairs were purchased at $0.25 apiece. The pews that are in there now were put in by Fred Brown. When the church was complete, services began in the spring of 1892. Collection ranged from $2-$3 and the first minister was Rev. J.P. McGinnis. Over the years the church was given a new pulpit by the R.D. Curry family, a new electric organ in memory of a few different people and families, new hymn books were donated by the Robt Wilson family and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Headrick gave a Baptismal Chalice and new Bibles in memory of their son, Peter. The woman of the church were responsible for a lot of the fundraising and keeping funds flowing. When the Algoma Presbytery sold land on Pumpkin Point that they used for summer camp, the Knox Presbyterian Church was given land for part of the proceeds. This piece of land became Centennial Park in 1967 on Point Dr. Church attendance eventually dwindled for various reasons and the last service was held on November 8, 1987. This was a sad day for the community. One of the agreements on the church closing was that the church should be turned over to the township as a historic site and made available for special occasions. The wishes were granted. Right now as I write this the church is being repainted on the outside and further attempts to clean the church and maintain it are being talked about. The Township and members of the Laird Heritage Committee are in the process of getting this church restored and looking into registering it as a Heritage Site. (All historical information taken from Laird Chronicles)

Hello everyone! the museum will only be open for two more weeks! I want to invite everyone to a come and go tea and scavenger hunt at the museum on August 17th from 1:00-4:00. The admission is free and there will be desserts and the scavenger hunt is for the kids so feel free to bring them along as well. There will be prizes. Hope to see you then!

I got to visit the Knox Presbyterian church this week with some long time members of the Laird community. I'm going to write an article about the church and hopefully put it in the North Shore Sentinel so look out for that before the summer is out. :)

Hey everyone! On Monday, August 17th we are having a come and go tea at the museum. So please feel free to come out and there is also a scavenger house for the kids so feel free to bring them along as well. There will be prizes for them. Hope to see you there. feel free to comment here for more info or directions!

The museum is now open for regular hours! If you are looking for something educational to do with the kids or grandkids this is a good idea because we run free of charge. We have lots of family histories so if you want to learn more about your heritage or the early pioneers we have lots of that. Come for a visit this summer and look forward to seeing you!

Laird Township Heritage Center Located at 4915 Hwy. 17 east just prior to the turnoff for Pumpkin Point Rd. Open from July 13-August 18... hours Monday 10-4 Tuesday CLOSED Wednesday 10-5 Thursday-Friday 11-3:00 Saturday-Sunday closed unless by appointment only. *museum hours are subject to change, including closing date. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. We have lots of artifacts and historical information of the surrounding area. There is also a fun game for the kids to do while you browse. Look forward to seeing you this summer!

Hello! The museum will be officially opened on July 2nd. The regular hours are not finalized yet but feel free to stop in from 11-3 on Thursday and Friday and 12-3 on Saturday. Hope to see you there.

Hello! my name is Olivia and I am working at the Laird Township museum this year. I will keep you all posted for hours and events. Keep checking back for more info and I hope you all will come checkout the museum this summer.

Good Saturday morning everyone! If you haven't made it to the museum yet you have just one week left! Our last day will be Friday the 15! If you still wanted to chat about Laird and it's fabulous history after that I will be tramping around at the Fair next weekend! Hope to see you around!

Alright folks, we've got a little bit of a research assignment on our hands! A gentleman came in today and informed me that this belt, which I hadn't thought to look at much closer than a glance, was actually a German Nazi belt (which you can clearly see in the photo). Now, it is one incredible thing to have an artifact that belonged to one of our boys in the museum, one that he wore overseas and then was later donated. It is something else entirely to have an artifact, and p...articularly a piece of clothing from an enemy soldier who I'm sure would not give it over willingly lest his pants fall down. I am very interested in the history of this belt; where it came from and how it was acquired, but there is no place card and as far as I can tell no ascension record. If anyone has any information on who donated and originally acquired this belt I would be very interested in hearing about it. Comment, message or email me! See more