Athens and Area Heritage Museum
12 Wellington St. East K0E 1B0 Athens, ON, Canada

Valentine's Day is in the air and here are some special couples from the past. Names are posted in the comment posts.

These photos cannot be identified and some archival items need to have proper recorded histories. Lots of us have some time during this winter and distancing to go through our memorabilia. Just a reminder to take the time to put names, place, date, etc. in soft pencil at the back of photos so that identifications can be made for family members and for Athens Museum if they were to be scanned for our archives or donated. This goes for any archival items which you may even decide to donate as we strive to follow through with our mandate of preserving and promoting local history.

January 27, 1904 Athens reporter Such was the line-up for the big game here on Saturday afternoon last and the score was two to one in Athens favour. A glance at the lineup will show it was indeed a surprise as Newboro went on the ice strengthened by the addition of W. Pearson of the Arnprior team and H. Pearson of Montreal and were confident of victory. Athens with a weakened team looked to the result with doubting hearts but went on the ice determined to do their best. The...y won thanks to the impregnable defense and speedy forwards. The first half of the game was more of a trial of staying power than anything else and no tallies were made on either side although Newboro claimed to have scored after Referee Preston had signaled an off-side play. This was not allowed. The play was pretty much to the centre of the ice although defense men on both sides had some determined rushes to stop. The Newboro forwards had their combination down but didn’t much avail against the Athens defense while individual work by Barber and Hagerman kept our visitors guessing. In the last half the teams struggled with a dash and vim which cheered to the echo. Time and time again Newboro got the puck for a rush which went to pieces when it reached Athens defense. After seventeen minutes Newboro secured a goal from an offside faceoff in front of the Athens net. Six minutes later Athens tied the score and thus remained until 15 seconds before the expiration of the time limit when Athens tallied. The goal was disputed by Newboro and Umpire Lawson contended it broke the setting and passed through. Newboro left in a sulky mood and gave out the results as two to one in their favour. Such unsportsmanlike behavior is contemptible and a team that can’t take defeat like men should make no profession at playing hockey. ATHENS What have we done? \ What have we done? Defeated Newboro Two to one. Referee Preston did well in the first part of the game but became too anxious for his team to win to make a good effort. He was evidently subjected to influences after having lost or he would not have tried to change Umpire Lawson’s decisions which according to the QHA rule book must be final. Athens, Westport and Newboro are tied for first place. Newboro plays Portland next week. Following this are two letters one from Referee Lawson and one from Referee Preston. A letter, the newspaper writer states, was received from Preston on Monday detailing his hog Latin reasoning that Newboro won the game 2 to 1. Then Lawson demanded an apology accusing Preston of using language unworthy of a sport less a gentleman and demanded a retraction. As you can see, hockey provided a great deal of rivalry and entertainment between our local villages. See more

Every winter there was a costumed skating party on the Carson City Rink (behind what is now Main St. Pizza). Maude Addison, known for her guitar, speaking, confectionary and more, would perform. She held her audiences spellbound as she skated on the Rink as part of the event. Her identity was always given away when the audience witnessed her excellent skating ability! Gina Brady depicted Maude, who appears on the Main St. mural, during one of the Museum's walking tours.

When will COVID end and when will spring begin? Groundhog Day may "conjure up" thoughts about why some have consulted mediums to help forecast the future. Mother Barnes was one of our best known fortune tellers but someone who has been overlooked is Fred Coon who lived on Elgin St. in the 1950s and later on Oak Leaf Road. He lived with his dog and his boys. "Many spent hours at his home listening to fascinating tales of his life's adventures," notes Edna's Scrapbook. Born in ...1883, he was a WWI veteran. He played his fine piano and guitar which he used to entertain on the streets of Athens and was also a gifted painter. His main talent was fortune telling and reading tea leaves. His fame grew and many came from miles around to find out about their future. There were days when cars were lined up in front of his house awaiting their turn. He never charged, but accepted donations which he gave to charity. It seems that he never told if fortune related that the visitor would soon pass away and this happened on occasion. He died in 1967 and because there were no known relatives the Legion provided a military funeral. See more

While Feb. 2nd seems to be a celebration of the ground hog and his "ability to predict" when spring will come, ground hogs were not the friends of area farmers as the holes they dug often caved in with the pressure of a horse or cow's hoof often causing injuries.

Speaking of Remembrance, What about the Diplomatic Corps, John Cobbing, and those who serve today and have served, Bob and Dr. Doug Wight, and the work of the Women's Institute who did the work of the Red Cross during the war. the many British Home Children who served to honour their homeland. Lest We Forget!

Stop by to see our Remembrance display in the former Stedmans store on Main St. or stop by with COVID protocol to see our tribute to local veterans and more in the Museum any Saturday morning. Lest We Forget...

Hope you enjoyed our Ghostly Mystery History tour...

Lest We Forget...Charles Kinkaid, Gerald Coon, Starling Morris, Basil Connerty, Dr. B. Cornell, and Douglas Johnston.

Our Mystery History Walk is coming to an end with several unsolved Athens mysteries. They include the Dynamite case about the front of a house that was blown up and the mystery of who burned down the toll gate and which one was it?

Concluding Remembrance Week with some more of our remarkable local veterans.

Our History Mystery week is winding down and today is a second part to some medical heritage. Who could forget the nighttime walk in Athens that led to the cemetery. A figure came from the darkness in the "person of Arza Sherman" who was famous for his "healing waters from Athens Mineral Springs...

Remembrance week continues..ADHS grad Carolyn LaRose, The Heroine of Charleston, was a nurse in WWI and was a Lieutenant, very rare for a woman at that time. Athens Police Chief Scottie McLean also served in WWII. Students at Athens High School were trained in identifying German aircraft so that they could report any in our air space as it was feared that the Germans may invade Canada. Many locals still recall the time of Nazi occupation in Holland. Sir Henry Stevens was one of those Liberators. Lest we Forget.

Roscoe DeWolfe of Athens was an outstanding hockey player (centre) and played in the Athens Band. DeWolfe enlisted to be a bugler but died in a fox hole in France. The bugle that Mr. Palmer played each year at the Athens cenotaph is similar to what Ross would have played. A tree is planted in his memory and there is a monument in the Athens cemetery honouring him.

https://www.facebook.com/BrockvilleMus/videos/348274813070001

Lest We Forget: Some interesting items about the 156th in Athens and as they leave from the train station. Also a tribute to Gerald Botsford and

We continue with this week's Mystery History walk with post relating to Grave Robbers...Medical students used to have a ghoulish reputation, earned by decades of grave robbing. Students needed human bodies to learn anatomy and even when there was a legal means of acquiring them the cemetery was often where they went. In the 19th century, stories appeared quite regularly in Canadian newspapers about midnight digging, footprints in the snow, vaults pried open, and sorrowing relatives demanding answers. Perhaps because our area was not far from Queen’s Medical School, there were stories of suspicious activities relating to the Athens cemetery vault and more.

And so our History Mystery tour continues and today we consider Mother Barnes who has been referred to as the Witch of Plum Hollow...The Ottawa Journal By Harry J. Walker, 1963 Far off the beaten way of men runs the road of Plum Hollow, a forgotten pioneer village. The old road is now a concession line. But in a vanished age of crinolines and homespun the road to Plum Hollow was a well travelled turnpike. On Sundays particularly, it conveyed a continuous traffic of troubled h...Continue reading

A lone figure in cape and bonnet holds a lantern to light the way to a neighbour's home where a woman is in labour. Aunt Sarah Wiltse was that Quaker midwife who delivered babies and prepared the bodies of the dead for burial She also helped operate a hospital along with Dr. Cornell in her large brick home on Sarah Street. Her Quaker bonnet is on display at the Athens Museum.

Our plans for a History Walk have not moved forward due to COVID issues, so we have decided to do a "Athens Museum Spirit Walk" on-line and will be posting throughout the week, beginning today with some memories of a nighttime tour that took place years ago.

Special visitors to Athens Main Street last weekend! Memories of days gone by...Thanks Derek V!

Today, we celebrate Persons Day, a historic day when Canada officially changed its legal definition of persons to include women in 1929. Prior to 1929, women were not legally considered persons in Canada. Many still continue to work for for gender equity in Canada. Louise McKinney, born near Lake Eloida, is one of the Group of Five that fought for women to be declared persons to have a right to vote. Athens' Dr. Leonora Howard King could not go to Medical School or practice in Canada so spent most of her life in China. Jennie Lamb was a noted photographer and assisted at Athens' Lamb's Pharmacy. Caroline LaRose rose from impoverished beginnings to become an honoured nursing supervisor, WWI Officer, and philanthropist.

In tribute to Thanksgiving: Turkey Fair Day was one of the most important business days in the early life of Athens. Held the first week of December, snow covered roads made it easier for sleighs to travel from as far away as Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. The freezing temperatures would keep the dressed turkeys, ducks, geese and chickens from spoiling. The sleighs would line every side of Main St. Dealers, who often came on the B&W, would inspect the fowls and the farmer would wait for the best offer to make a sale. The Fair was known for the many prizes that were awarded. Lots of business was also brought into Athens on Turkey Fair Day!

Check out the newest display on Main Street. Thank you Mr. Loshaw! Autumn in Farmersville was a time for hard work in preparing for winter with much pressure to harvest crops in time. Canning, drying and harvesting items like potatoes, and root vegetables were important. Firewood was chopped with early tools. Items could be purchased, but much food for themselves and their livestock, came from the land. Hunting, fishing and trapping were important for food and also for hides and furs for clothing. Many settlers had little farming experience. Life was difficult, but neighbours often supported each other. There was a true spirit of thankfulness for their many blessings!