The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation, a not-for-profit charity established in 1971, held their annual fund-raising Founders’ Dinner last night, and I was honoured to be invited to represent the Ontario Historical Society.
As a bonus, it gave me the chance to have a look inside the museum, which is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust.
Alice McClintock, a historical interpreter at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse (and also at Colborne Lodge) explains the significance of the school.
I’d known of the Schoolhouse as a popular wedding venue, but until last night I had no idea of the building’s many uses in the past. From the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation’s website:
Until the 1960s it was a Sunday school and Parish hall for nearby Little Trinity Church which, in 1869, added the West Hall.
It became a Boer War recruitment centre in 1899, a serviceman’s home away from home during two World Wars, a soup kitchen serving 1500 people a week in the”Dirty Thirties”, a Little Trinity Church Neighbourhood youth clubhouse in the 1950s and a temporary meeting place after the church’s fire.
In the 1960s, it was home to concerts, community youth programs and performing and visual arts events. Then, in a sad state of disrepair, the building was in danger of being torn down.
Enter architect Eric Arthur and local citizens who lovingly saved and restored it for Governor General Roland Michener to open as an historic site and museum in 1972.
Now one of the oldest, continuously operated buildings in Toronto, Mr. Turner’s schoolhouse remains a unique architectural and historical treasure.
The Foundation does important work, educating hundreds of Gr. 3 student visitors every year, and supporting the conservation, interpretation, and public enjoyment of the Schoolhouse.
And they sure know how to throw a good party!
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is museum no. 93 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).