Huron County Museum

Huron County Museum

• Musée

The Huron County Archival collection was started in 1964 by the Huron County Historical Society. In 1988 the Reading Room and environmentally controlled document storage were added to the Huron County Museum. At this time, materials from the University of Western Ontario's Regional Archives Collection and School Records from the Ontario Archives were transferred to the new facility.

The Archives at the Huron County Museum acquires the archival records of the County and the private archives of individuals and organizations that complement the history of Huron County.

The mandate of the Huron County Archives is:

• To act as the official repository for inactive public and private records created by the Corporation County of Huron and its current and former municipalities
• To acquire, preserve, and make accessible non-government records
• To provide assistance to local historical and archival organizations
• To share knowledge through online resources, public programs and publications
• To uphold trust and confidentiality

The current areas of acquisition and development include but are not limited to the following: area history, economic history, family history, government (county and municipal), industrial history (agriculture, pianos and organs, marine, logging and milling, salt, etc.), military history (33rd Battalion, 161st Battalion, British Commonwealth Air Training Plan), natural history, social history. The Archives will respect the collecting mandates of, and work with, partner institutions. In general, every effort is made to avoid accepting collections where the donor has begun depositing at another archival institution. Archival Records
The donor of a collection may directly contact the Archives. No decision for acceptance can be made before the archivist has had an opportunity to assess the materials.

Potential donations to the collection will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• It is supportive of the Archives mandate.
• Collection will support the Areas of Acquisition
• The Archives has the physical capacity and staff resources to house and maintain it properly
• There are no special conditions set by the donor on how the donation is to be housed, maintained, serviced and/or accessed.

Retrospective appraisal of acquisitions may lead to the subsequent de-accessing of collections which no longer fit with the collections mandate of the Archives. De-accessioning may be done if alternative repositories can be found for the collections.

Items in the Archives at the Huron County Museum include assessment and return of inhabitants, tax collectors and assessment rolls, coroner's inquests, voters lists, land registry copy books and abstract indices, chattel mortgages, court records, school records, Women's Institute Tweedsmuir histories, photographs, diaries, family histories, correspondence, scrapbooks, Huron County Council Minutes, Huron County Gaol records, and maps.

World War II British Commonwealth Air Training Plan photograph collection: http://digital.huroncounty.ca/

Tuesday - Friday, 10am-4:30pm. Appointments required.

A day pass for $5.00 plus HST per person. An annual pass for the Reading Room is $25.00 plus HST per person. All visitors must sign the register. No food or drink permitted in the Reading Room. The use of personal scanners is prohibited. Records and photographs are subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Copyright Act.

The Archives at the Huron County Museum is fully accessible.

Archives staff will undertake research for those unable to access the Archives in person for $30.00 (plus HST) per hour, subject to staff availability. The Reading Room has a light table, magnifiers, finding aids, and local history books. Researchers are allowed to bring laptops and cameras (no tripods).

Photocopies - $0.50 per page (plus HST)
Photo Reproduction - $10.00 handling fee, 2nd+ same order $5.00 handling fee above cost (plus HST)
Digital Copies - $10.00 handling fee, 2nd+ same order $5.00 handling fee above cost (plus HST)

• Agriculture (Thematic area)
• Arts et culture (Thematic area)
• Vie privée (Thematic area)
• Généalogique (Thematic area)
• Industries, fabrication, et commerce (Thematic area)
• Politique et gouvernement (Thematic area)
• Ontario (Geographic subregion)