Some places describe the past.

Black Creek Pioneer Village brings it to life.

Before we had electricity, moving water was the engine that turned the mill wheels of rural Canada, grinding grain into flour and providing a focal point for Ontario’s early communities.

With the mill perched at the side of the stream, it wasn’t long until stores, a tavern, and a blacksmith shop were built nearby. Houses, churches and a school quickly followed.

Over the past 150 years, most families have moved away from the land and into cities, leaving behind a way of life that defined early Ontario.

But four decades ago, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority created a small agricultural community at Toronto’s northern edge that honors the ways of our early settlers... more

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