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Cornell House with Hough Carriage Works to the left
Cornell House with Hough Carriage Works to the left

Scarborough Museum

I’ve decided to make it a priority to visit the ten City of Toronto Museums as part of my 100 Museums Challenge this year, if at all possible.

One that I’ve never been to, due to its being far out of my regular paths, is the Scarborough Museum. Kudos and warm thanks to the knowledgeable costumed interpreters, staff, and volunteers for making me feel so welcome right from the moment I set foot on the property.

The Scarborough Museum consists of four buildings (with links here to information on the website of the Scarborough Historical Society, which established the museum in 1962):

  • McCowan Log Cabin, constructed in the 1830s and restored to illustrate rural life in the 1850s
  • Hough Carriage Works, containing a fascinating collection of artisans’ tools and equipment, including a working forge, and my favourite building on the site. Extra thanks to Evan for putting up with my enthusiasm over every single darn artifact (ooh, a two-person drill!). I’d visited the carriage works at Black Creek Pioneer Village the weekend before, so had a bit of a special interest going on.
Hough Carriage Works
Hough Carriage Works
  • Kennedy Gallery, a former outbuilding and now a museum program activity space and exhibit gallery (featuring panels celebrating Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday in 2019)
  • Cornell House, a clapboard farmhouse constructed in 1858 and furnished to c. 1914, serving delicious cherry cobbler when I was there for Treats Friday

Cornell House

I’m impressed with the variety of programming going on at the museum – check out their Twitter and Facebook feeds. Go team!

Scarborough Museum is museum no. 36 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).