Hespeler Heritage Centre
11 Tannery St. East N3C 2C1 Cambridge, ON, Canada

1954. Some familiar faces here, we're sure of it.

Our latest project has been in the works for more than a year, although some would say it's been 75 years in the making. We're introducing a new concept in historical storytelling and here's a video that explains a bit more about the project. Created by Marty Lachance with help from Lary Turner, Dominion Woollens photographer, Frank Johnston and the many employees who worked at the mill. This project was funded by the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation and the Hespeler Heritage Centre. Launching May 1, 2021.

For those of you who missed The Mill Girls documentary on CBC yesterday, you are able to read & listen to it online. We were thrilled to see this come to life. We're proud of everyone involved, but mostly we're proud of all the Mill Girls who graced our small community. https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/the-mill-girls

If you're available Friday April 2 at 5pm or Monday April 5 at Noon, we recommend you tune in to CBC Radio 1. FM 89.1 in Kitchener. With the help of Lary Turner, Marty Lachance and the Hespeler Heritage Centre, the CBC has produced a show on the Mill Girls of Dominion Woollens. Interviewed are Daisy Nichols former Mill Girl and Valerie Spring who wrote her thesis on the Mill Girls in the 1980's at U of Waterloo. Nicole Smith from Cambridge and Bernardine Stapleton from St. ...John's, Newfoundland are currently producing a play on the story of the Mill Girls and will also discuss the connection between Newfoundland and Hespeler. Lots of great new things coming out on the mill in the next few months.

This is a Dominion Woollens picnic...c. 1946. No names on the photo.

Can you identify this once well-known forest? The first 3 correct guesses will get put in the top hat for a chance to win! The chosen name will receive a certified Hespeler window cling.

Kathleen "Mickey" Davis inspecting cloth in Hespeler. October 1942

Honour Flight 1 will be doing fly overs on Remembrance Day! More information on the Waterloo Warbirds page.

Gingrich's Garage over the years. Queen Street West. 1919 - 1950s

It’s Carbon Monoxide Week in Ontario. A great reminder to have working CO detectors in your home. The recommendation is to place them outside of where you sleep and where you can hear them in the event of a CO leak. It’s a great time to look back at some of changes of the Hespeler Fire Department over the years. More photos and stories at the Hespeler Heritage Centre.

The 3 o'clock shift punching in. c. 1950

Remembering our young sports teams. Hespeler minor softball from the 80's and way back to 1971 Hespeler girls Figure Skating.

These images are all sections of the same photo. Most of the images we have from Frank Johnston seem to indicate he stopped shooting in the early 1950s. However this photo at the rear of the mill shows that he was likely shooting for several more years (he worked at the mill for 70 years!) Upon closer look, we see a 1960s Mercury pickup truck and the branding (Dominion Woollens & Worsteds) has been painted over on the water tower. This was quite likely the early days of Silknit. This was a construction project to run a large pipe from the dyehouse to holding tanks and onwards to the river. Thanks Frank!

Listen to this podcast in your car, before bed, while making dinner. There are some preliminary scenes from "Girls From Away" as well at the Valerie Spring interview that starts around 24 minutes in. 80 years later...the big mill in Hespeler is getting a lot of attention in Newfoundland again. Congrats to all involved.

Our very own Marty Lachance recorded this interview with Valerie Spring at the Hespeler Mill this summer. Newfoundland based Kitchen Party Theatre Festival has now produced a podcast from it. Were excited to listen in. Well post the full podcast here tomorrow.

September 26, 2020. Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the fire at the big mill. A significant loss to the Hespeler community as the original building was destroyed. Built by Lewis Kribs in 1874 and used by all tenants over the years until 1995. 1000 people gathered to watch the fire. Maybe you were one of them? Read more on our website.

It was a big day today at the Hespeler Heritage Centre. We celebrated Jack Kruegers 90th birthday! What a life in Hespeler he has had. If you have memories of Jack / his butcher shop or otherwise, please reply in the comments - wed love to hear them.

A Hespeler scene (c.1880). This is the rear of what became Silknit / Dominion Woollens & Worsteds / The R. Forbes Co. For some perspective... Between the factory buildings and far tree line is the Speed River. What looks like a road leading up to a building is actually the race tail that ran under the buildings. Thanks to Robert Falle for allowing us scan and repair this portion of a fascinating pen and ink drawing.

Well he did it again this year. Lary Turner celebrated another birthday. Great job Lary, we knew you could do it. The big day was last Saturday, but only today did the cake get delivered safely and social distancely (yes that's our word). Hope you had a good one Lary. Thanks for all that you do.

We have modified hours for the upcoming Labour Day Weekend!

As we continue to build out our website (the best historical website in the Region!), we have created an easy way for you to contribute your digital memories to the Hespeler Heritage Centre archives. Lets continue to capture the memories that created our great community. If you have family photos, sports teams, parades photos or something you think shows the unique character of Hespeler, you can now easily submit them from the comfort of your home. Follow the link below. Simply give us the details and then attach the file.

It was a big day today at the Hespeler Heritage Centre. We celebrated Jack Krueger's 90th birthday! What a life in Hespeler he has had. If you have memories of Jack / his butcher shop or otherwise, please reply in the comments - we'd love to hear them.

This photo makes us happy. Were sure youll recognize some of these "almost-pro" Simplicity 1973 softball players.

There is something heartbreaking about this staff photo at the R. Forbes Company almost 100 years ago. Parts of the image look like a class photo. The economy was good in 1927, Canada was producing (possibly over-producing) many goods. The temptation was to get family members out in the work force to get ahead. Many sacrificed education for income. The look on some of the small faces says it all. The work was difficult, dirty and dangerous. There were many injuries and news ...reports of children losing their lives to the unforgiving machines. In only three short years, Canada would see 30% of the labour force out of work and 1/5 of the population dependent upon Government assistance. Dominion Woollens and Worsteds bought the R.Forbes company one year later (1928) and persevered during the tumultuous 1930s.

The winner of prestigious Hespeler window cling was announced in the original post regarding the lower dam sluice. Here are a series of 1940s photos when the sluice was fully opened for repairs to the dam.

Its been a while since we offered up a contest. There is a structure on the far side of DWW/Silknit at the lower dam...shown here. If you can tell us what it was from, why it was built and approximately when...Well you can win an authentic Hespeler window cling. A very popular item at the HHC. Use them at home, work or in your motor car. There is no better way to show people that...well...youre better than they are. :-) The most accurate answer will win. Contest closes Wednesday Aug. 19, 6pm. In the event of a tie, names will be put in Alex Forbes old top hat and drawn to determine an official winner. Good luck.

We have digital guy on our Board now and hes on a mission to get our vast photo repository up on our website. We have over 20,000 images! It will be a big job, but we have to start somewhere. All photos will be watermarked. Full-sized images (some professionally restored) will be available for purchase. If you like what you see, why not support our great organization and our effort to keep showing & telling the stories of Hespeler. Some of these photos are world-class and will make great art for home, business or as a gift for your favourite Hespelerite. Use the contact form on our website to get all the details.

This photo makes us happy. We're sure you'll recognize some of these "almost-pro" Simplicity 1973 softball players.

Times have changed. 1901 - 2020

Hespelerite, Frank Johnston ventured into colour photography for a while starting in the mid-1940s. A great photo of some local ladies getting their hair set. We cant help but wonder if they were getting a beehive.

Hanging out at the wading pool in Forbes Park. These kids are 80+ years old today.

1942 Hespeler, Population just slightly over 3,500 with 1,200 working at Dominion Wollens.

Someone will know this well-worn path from the 1940s.

Hespeler 1947. Population 3,335.

Do you have a hard time finding your car in the parking lot...or maybe even in your own driveway. We have a solution! An aerial antenna Bee to tell you two things. 1) This is certainly my car; 2) Im am one proud Hespelerite. Were selling these for $5 at the Hespeler Heritage Centre. Supplies are limited. For those who drive a modern car (1987+) and dont have an antenna, fret not, #2 will still apply and uses for this little guy are endless.

Dominion Woollens Fire Brigade c. 1945. The buildings on the left remain. The stone building on the far right was the original mill and the oldest on the campus - it was destroyed by fire in 1995. The mill race flowed directly behind the bicycle shed and under some of the buildings before it met back with the Speed River. The tall stone elevator tower that remains standing was completed in 1900. It connected the Building 1 extension and the original Building 2. (more to come on building structures/dates in the future).

After finally reopening under the Provincial Stage 2 Regulations, the Hespeler Heritage Centre has had to close due to a City building maintenance issue. We will reopen Saturday July 18th from 8am to noon and hopefully regular hours from then on.

"Does the Hespeler Heritage Centre have books for sale?" Its a question we are often asked. The answer is yes - and now we have a web page dedicated to our current inventory. Learn some great details about Hespeler - impress your friends and family. Give as a gift to your favourite Hespelerite or introduce a newcomer to the great history of our community. More information on our website. https://hespelerheritagecentre.ca/books-for-sale/

Almost 75 years ago, on June 14, 1946, George Hipel presented his drawings for a local arena to the town of Hespeler. They included two sheets of ice for curling. Perhaps it was budget or lack of demand, but for one reason or another, curling didnt get approved in the final design.

The young ladies from Dominion Woollens travel to Galt to try to notch a win. Played at Victoria Park (Galt) with quite a crowd of spectators. Who recognizes the team in white uniforms?

Sometimes we get lucky when we post photos like these. Maybe someone knows the story of Johnnie, a Wireless Aircraft Gunner in the RCAF.

One of Frank Johnstons models from Dominion Woollens. The beautiful Eileen Demuyck. c.1943

A couple of hard working Dominion Woollens lads. Jim Nisbet and John Coulton feeding the worsted carding machine, Feb. 1942. #watchyourfingers

We have "The Turner Tales", now also a new historical series by Marty Lachance, "Hmm, before you forget..." The series aims to shine a light on the micro-history of our community. In this presentation, youll learn about some of the newly discovered details on the early days of New Hope (Hespeler).

In accordance with the Ontario Governments Stage 2 reopening of the economy; The HHC will reopen on Friday, June 12th with health and safety measures in place.

A new Turner Tales...remembering the Hespeler Textile Festival.

You too could be a rich Hespelerite (well...). This pre-powerpoint graph was used for a Dominion Woollens recruitment presentation in 1951.

Lary! Lary... The latest Turner Tales.

This building from this angle is a photographic rarity. The building held a lot of history in Hespeler. Once a Woollen Mill, The Universal Lightning Rod Company, The Canadian Skewer Company, Hespeler Fuel Co. to name a few. At one time held a dynamo that generated power that lit downtown Hespeler streets. Hespeler was a bit ahead of its time and the operation was shut down until people figured out who owned the rights to make electricity. Photo provided to show where it once stood in the downtown core (colonnade parking lot).

Rest in Peace Fred, you left your mark and countless lives and the Hespeler community. If you have stories to share, please leave them on our blog post, wed love to hear them.

Anyone know where these new homes are?