St. Marys Museum

The old

St. Marys Museum as it looked in 1902.

The Castle in the Bush

The community museum for the Town of St. Marys is located in a lovely old home sitting on a hilltop in a park at 177 Church Street South. It was constructed from locally quarried limestone in 1854. When George Tracy, an early settler to St. Marys, built it for his family, it was by far the largest home in the small village of log shanties. Almost immediately, it was nicknamed the Castle in the Bush. It has been the location of the St. Marys Museum since 1959.

Visitors interested in 19th-century construction are welcome to visit at any time throughout the year. They will see exhibits and materials on local history and can also explore the interior of the house itself. Although it has not been restored to any fixed historic period, it contains a great number of original features from 1854: pine flooring, four fireplaces, plaster crown moldings, high ceilings and strange sets of small rooms off larger chambers.

The new

Community archives opened in 2006.

Local history research

A popular feature of the St. Marys Museum is the area for research into local history. A new wing for this community archives was opened in June 2006. The addition to the north of the original building is completely accessible and is well used by researchers throughout the year.

As well as municipal records, census indexes, listings for area cemeteries, local marriage, birth and death records, maps, photographs, family and community histories, this archives features St. Marys newspapers dating back to 1857. The newspaper archival materials were officially donated to the Museum in March 2007 by their last private owner. In recognition, the research area has been named: R. Lorne Eedy Archives.

Exhibit commemorates
life lost in Titanic disaster

April 2012 marks 100 years since the sinking of RMS Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Newfoundland. This famous tragedy has a St. Marys connection; one of the victims was a local son.

Born on a farm in Blanshard Township, George Graham moved with his family to St. Marys when he was about 12 years old and lived in the town until he was 21. As a young man, he worked as a store clerk, eventually finding employment with a family friend, Timothy Eaton, of the prosperous T. Eaton retail empire in Toronto. Graham advanced in the organization and was appointed to a position of responsibility in the Winnipeg store.

In 1912, at the end of a buying trip to Europe on behalf of Eaton’s, he was anxious to return to Canada as quickly as possible because his wife, Edith, was unwell. He booked passage on the maiden voyage of the wonderful new White Star steam liner, the Titanic, which promised to reach New York within six days.

Graham was one of the 1,517 victims when the Titanic struck an iceberg, April 14, sinking in the early hours of April 15. His body was among the few recovered and identified. George Graham is buried in the St. Marys Cemetery.

The St. Marys Museum is commemorating the link to the Titanic disaster with an exhibit opening April 13, 2012 that will remain in place throughout the summer.

Show your support for the St. Marys Museum. Buy a membership during your next visit to the Museum or download a membership form.

To prepare for the upcoming exhibit, Museum staff were given access to archival records stored in the original office building, shown above, at the St. Marys Cement plant.

New exhibit

• Foundation in Stone: 100 years of St. Marys Cement – A major exhibit traces the history of the cement plant and celebrates this milestone for the company and for the community. Opens Friday, June 1, with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. Remains in place throughout the summer.