On Tuesday, February 13th at 7pm we warmly welcome Doug Ferguson to speak on Bob Hayward. The talk will take place in the museum's Program Room at 7pm, followed by a question period and light refreshments provided by the Historical Society. This event is free to attend, but donations are appreciated to support our programming efforts. No registration necessary.

Join us in the museum's Program Room on Wednesday, January 31st from 6-8pm to mark the launch of our new online exhibit, "Bedrock of Beachville: The History of Our Limestone Quarries".

Attendees are invited to enjoy displays of artifacts related to the quarries, browse the online exhibit using our devices, and share their stories of quarry memories and experiences at an oral history station.

Light refreshments will be provided | Free attendance | No registration required

This online project was developed with the support of the Digital Museums Canada investment program. The Digital Museums Canada investment program helps build digital capacity in Canadian museums and heritage organizations and gives Canadians unique access to diverse stories and experiences.

Join the Zorra Heritage Committee at 7 p.m. for a guided tour of the Beachville District Museum public exhibits and artifact storage spaces. Learn about collections management initiatives, reference library resources, conservation projects, and upcoming events. 

🎅🌟 Kickstart the holiday season with us! 🎄🕯️

'Tis the season to jingle and mingle! Mark your calendars for December 1st at 6:30 p.m. (Lights will be switched on at 6:45 p.m.) at the Beachville District Museum. We're turning the museum grounds into a holiday wonderland, and you're invited to join in the festive fun!

Delight in festive treats, get on your holiday groove and enjoy the yuletide merriment.

This event is free, and everyone is welcome!

Join us on Tuesday, November 14 at 7 p.m. for your monthly dose of local history at our Speaker Series. This Speaker Series will feature Bob Rennie speaking on Henry Bostwick, Commander of the First Oxford Militia in the War of 1812.

The talk will be followed by a question period along with refreshments generously provided by Historical Society members. No registration is required for this event, and attendence is free, but donations to the Beachville District Museum are welcome.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Do you have historic documents, photos, or objects related to Zorra Township/Oxford County, local, or family histories? Join the Zorra Heritage Committee, in partnership with the Oxford County Archives, at the Beachville District Museum on Saturday, October 21st from 10am-2pm for their first Digitization Day. Community members are invited to bring up to 3 items to be digitized and returned to them along with copies of the digital files. Copies of the files will also be retained by the Oxford County Archives and Beachville District Museum as reference material. Digitization of local, historical materials will help to ensure that important pieces of our local heritage are preserved for future research and the enjoyment of the next generations. Advance registration is encouraged and can be completed here or by calling the museum at (519) 423-6497.

Did you know Beachville was the first named Post Office in Oxford County?

In light of that, we are really looking forward to discussing postal history and its importance as a means of communicating and exchanging information in Oxford County

Arthur McLelland will discuss the 22 post offices in South West Oxford (formerly Beachville and Oxford West Township) and in Zorra Township (formerly Embro, East Nissouri Township and West Zorra Township). 17 of these post offices are no longer in operation, and 5 of them still exist - Beachville, Embro, Ingeroll, Kintore, and Thamesford. 

McLelland will also provide a history of the rural postal service in Canada, promoted by George Wilcox of Springford, Ontario. 

About Arthur McLelland

Arthur McClelland has been a librarian at the London Public Library for 35 years and has been in charge of the Ivey Family London Room for 25 of those 35 years. Arthur was born in Woodstock and grew up in the community of Newark just west of Norwich. He graduated from Norwich and District High School, received his B.A. from the University of Windsor and has a Masters in Library Science from the University of Western Ontario.  Arthur acquired his interest in local history from his maternal grandmother whose family operated the Deller Brick and Tile Yard on Quaker Street for 60 years. He has written entries in several local history books on London and newspaper articles on genealogy and local history. He is the programme chair for the London and Middlesex Historical Society and the London Region Branch of the Architectural Conservancy Ontario. Arthur also sits on the Historic Sites Committee of the London Public Library Board. Arthur was recognized for his promotion of heritage in the city of London by being on the Mayor’s New Year’s Honour List in 2020.   

Come join us for a delicious beef roast dinner to wrap up the summer season. Purchase tickets for the whole family and enjoy a meal of local foods and live entertainment while taking in scenery of the museum grounds. The fundraiser supports projects of the Beachville District Historical Society. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for youth (6-11 years) and free for children under 6. Click here to purchase your tickets!

Drivers of showcase vehicles are welcome to drive onto the grounds and register their vehicles at the registration table. There is no cost to register, but donations to the museum (as a registered charity) are welcome. All drivers are entered to win a Door Prize at the time of registration. All guests, whether arriving with a car or just for a visit, are given the opportunity to cast their ballot for a People’s Choice award. The Beachville Legion will be cooking up a BBQ lunch. Be sure to grab a burger or hotdog and a cold beverage to support this great community organization. The ice cream truck, Heavenly Sweets, will also be offering sundaes, shakes and cones for those with a sweet tooth. Children can choose to participate in a hula hoop competition. Our 50/50 draw station will be set-up at the gazebo and music will be playing all afternoon from the front porch. Come out for a great afternoon on the grounds.

Bonnie Sitter and Shirleyan English will tell the story of the Ontario Farm Service Force that began in 1941 and ended after the summer of 1952. This was the time when girls aged 16,17 and 18 volunteered to become Farmerettes on market garden farms, orchards and vineyards. Learn how and why they were recruited, where they lived, what their work was and why many of them remember those summers as the best summers of their lives. The powerpoint presentation has many photos from Farmerettes who are now in their late 80s and 90s.

Bonnie and Shirelyan continues to collect their stories and photos and the book is being developed into a play for summer theatre in 2024. The push to have the Farmerettes recognized by Canada Post is looking very positive. They hoed, harvested and hitchhiked and aided in necessary food production during and after the war.

It is a story that was almost forgotten.

Books will be available for $49.00 (no tax) and cash, cheques and E-Transfers are accepted.

The talk will be followed by a question period, with refreshments and snacks served by the Historical Society members.

No registration required. Free to attend.

Save the date for the Vendor’s market on Saturday, May 6th, 2023. The market runs 10 am to 3 pm at Beachville District Museum. Support local and shop small. For vendor’s information call Nancy John 519-983-3394. The market is a fundraising project of Oxford District Women’s Institute supporting Oxford County projects directly.

Join us for a look back at this Oxford County community. Reading from her memoirs and sharing her childhood memories, Ruthann Rule talks about life in Foldens Corner. Foldens memorabilia from Beachville District Museum will also be on display. Audience participation is encouraged; come and share your memories!

The presentation will begin in the museum’s Program Room at 7 pm.
Refreshments served after the presentation and discussion period (approximately 8 pm).

Free admission (donations welcome). No registration required.

Happy Easter!

Join the Beachville Parks & Rec. committee for their annual Easter Egg Hunt on the grounds of the museum. Pick up coloured eggs on the west lawn and bring them up to the agricultural complex (barns) to claim your chocolately treat. Sit and complete a colouring page, check out items in the raffle or grab a hot beverage from the canteens. Once your hunt is complete you can also stick around to tour the museum or get a photo with our guests from the Beachville Fire Department.

Note that the barns are covered, in case of rainy weather.

Washroom facilities are located in the museum.

There are plenty of eggs for children to collect and different age groups are sent hunting for different numbers of different coloured eggs.

Join us for our February Speaker Series with Gail Lewis, Interpreter for the South Norwich Historical Society. She’ll be presenting the story of Otterville’s African Episcopal Cemetery. The talk will begin at 7:00pm in the Museum’s Program Room. A question period will follow the presentation. Refreshments and snacks served at 8:00pm. No registration is required to participate in the program. All are welcome.

On January 10th, 2023, Hannah Mantel of Western University’s Public History Program will bring to life the story of Doug Carr’s trip around the world on his bicycle from 1937 to 1939. Doug Carr was a resident of Ingersoll, Ontario. During his trip, he kept detailed travel diaries, took hundreds of photographs and collected travel brochures and souvenirs from the countries he visited. Mantel’s presentation will outline how Carr’s travel images from places like Cairo, Johannesburg, Tunisia, Jaipur, Japan and Vancouver can be mapped on a digital platform. Using the platform will allow attendees to follow the routes he took and locate the original places where some of his artifacts were collected. This talk will feature artifacts that are, today, housed at both Beachville District Museum and the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum. Whether you recall hearing of Carr’s travels, or remember visiting his store in Oxford County, we encourage you to put January 10th in your calendar. The talk will begin at 7:00pm in Beachville District Museum’s Program Room. Refreshments will be served after the talk. There is no cost to attend. All are welcome.  

Join us on the grounds for a holiday celebration! We’ll be playing holiday music, roasting hotdogs and marshmellows on the fire and drinking some hot, festive beverages. At 6:45pm, we’ll switch on the lights strung in our trees, around the museum facade and across the property. We even expect a special guest (Ho! Ho! Ho!). No registration required. All are welcome.