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Hugh Holland gave us the History of Muskoka Heritage Place and how Huntsville Rotary Club has been involved since the beginning.

The ROTARY CLUB and MUSKOKA HERITAGE PLACE

With vision, leadership, creative financing, and physical work, the Rotary Club of Huntsville played a key role in the creation and development of the Muskoka Pioneer Village and Muskoka Heritage Place.

1957 – A committee of Rotary consisting of Ken Johnston, Preston Gerhart, Frank Hubbel, Arthur Hutcheson, Jim Jordon, H.E. Rice, and William Litchfield was formed to plan to create the town’s first historical display in a former public school building.

1958 – The Muskoka Museum was officially opened on July 26,1958

1960 – Town Council officially recognized the project and appointed the Rotary Club to be the operating committee. The committee started to consider a larger pioneer village.

1961 Jim Jordan was Rotary president and the Rotary Committee purchased 31 acres at the current village site. The Charles Watson family agreed to reduce their price by half to fit Rotary’s budget. Rotary borrowed $2200 from the bank, to be repaid the following year by a Parks Ontario grant, and purchased the land for $5000.

1964 to 1978 – Rotary lead the planning and arranged a Parks Ontario grant to acquire and relocate 14 heritage buildings to create the Muskoka Pioneer Village.

1966 – Rotary built the new main museum building for $12,800. Rotary arranged for the townships of Franklin and Chaffey to donate their Centennial Project grants of $6440 to the project, and Rotary donated the balance of $6360.

1978 – Rotary passed control of the Pioneer Village to the Town. Since then an additional 17 acres and 2 buildings were acquired.

1997 – Another major project was undertaken to fulfill the 1961 dream of moving the Portage Railway to the site, complete with an engine house and station. Rotary played a catalyst role by being making the first major commitment of $100,000 ($70,000 cash and $30,000 of in-kind labour) to this $1,600,000 project. The station was named “Rotary Pioneer Village Station” and the overall site was renamed “Muskoka Heritage Place.”

1998 – Rotary was asked to vacate the “Rotary House” on the Panolam property and then proposed to fund an second floor meeting room and a heating and air-conditioning system in the station building, conditional on Rotary assuming a 20-year lease on the meeting room which was to be named “the Huntsville Rotary Center”.

2004 – Muskoka Heritage Place is the largest and longest continuously operating cultural tourism holding in Muskoka, and one of ten living history facilities in Ontario. It serves to acquire and preserve a valuable collection of the area’s historical artifacts and documents, and to present them in an educational and entertaining manner to the citizens of Huntsville, and to our visitors from around the world.