A Closer Look at the Museums, Art Galleries & Historic Sites of Kingston
KAM and its member sites sit on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee & Anishinaabek peoples.
I love looking at vintage photographs in Kingston and area museums, especially scenes with horse-drawn wagons and carriages. While the scenes look peaceful, anyone who knows horses knows the potential for chaos to be unleashed. In the 1850s when Kingston’s streets were filled with horse-drawn wagons, an unexpected noise could spook a horse. If this... Continue Reading →
As a city slicker, I can’t carry on much of a conversation about farming, but after a recent visit to the South Frontenac Museum, I now know what a farmerette is. I’ve also learned something about educational toys, wartime nurses and Sunday dinners. These seemingly diverse topics all make sense once you know that the... Continue Reading →
When I visited the Murney Tower before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was only vaguely aware of its Mediterranean connection. Recently, I’ve looked into the details. It’s tied to the Republic of Genoa, which was a maritime republic from the 11th century to the late 18th century, based in what is now the northwestern coast of... Continue Reading →
Why might the Himalayan mountains be featured in a geology museum in Kingston? At the Miller Museum of Geology at 36 Union Street, you’ll learn about an ancient mountain range in eastern Canada that was once the same scale as the current Himalayas. The Grenville Mountains were formed a billion years ago but were eroded... Continue Reading →
On each side of Fort Henry lies a bay: Deadman’s Bay to the east and Navy Bay to the west. These two bays have stories to tell, about 100 years apart. One is a story of tragedy, the other of ingenuity. Both are about hard work and determination. With the spring weather now here, you... Continue Reading →
The ability to have influence in two distinct cultures is a rare gift. It is a skill prized by diplomats today, but would it have been appreciated 250 years ago if the person engaged in negotiation and diplomacy was an Indigenous woman? I happily discovered that, in the case of Molly Brant, the answer is... Continue Reading →
Had there been Twitter in the summer of 1860, tweets in Kingston would have been about the upcoming visit of Queen Victoria’s son, the 18-year-old Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII. Kingston was one of several planned stops on the Prince’s tour of Canada and the United States. He and his entourage... Continue Reading →
I liked it. I liked the alliteration. It drew me to the PumpHouse to see what their special exhibit was all about. Did they ever make beer at the PumpHouse? What about bread? I had visited the PumpHouse when I was a university student at Queen’s many years ago, but I don’t recall anything about... Continue Reading →
With the sun shining brightly, I set off with photographer Sean McEvoy to explore the grounds of the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston. Having visited before, I knew that this was really two trips in one. The first trip was taking us to the site of the Royal Naval Dockyard, significant for its role... Continue Reading →
By Elizabeth Cashman The Miller Museum of Geology is named after Willet Green Miller, a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and metallurgy 1898-1923 and President 1908-09. Provincial Geologist for Ontario 1902-25. Learn more about him in a Kingston Whig-Standard article by Susanna McLeod here. It is with pleasure that I am taking up the... Continue Reading →
A Closer Look at the Museums, Art Galleries & Historic Sites of Kingston 