Welcome to The Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society

Meetings

The Society holds regular meetings on the third Friday of each month, September through November and January through May in the Coach House at Dundurn Castle (unless otherwise specified).

Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. All regular meetings are open to members of the public at a nominal charge.

Speaker's Schedule

• Oct 20, 2023 – Tim Fletcher, retired Captain from The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and regimental historian: Topic: The Battle of Ridgeway (1866)
• Nov 17, 2023 -- Jonathan Vance, History Professor, University of Western Ontario -- Topic: “Hamilton at War in 50 Objects, or however many I can fit into 45 minutes.”
• Dec 2023 -- No meeting in December.
• Jan 19, 2024 -- John Allan, local historian: Topic: The history of Grimsby Beach.
• Feb 16, 2024 – Trivia Night (*prizes, extra food and treats*)
• March 22, 2024 -– Dennis Hill, local historian: Topic: The History of Transportation in Hamilton.
• April 19, 2024 — Karen Richardson, Curator of the Haldimand Museum & Archives (at Cayuga), on the topic of Adelaide Hoodless & the History of Domestic Science (to be confirmed).
• May 17, 2024 — “Studio Babette” revive and discuss their puppet show about Sophia MacNab and her life at Dundurn Castle.

Outreach

In fulfilling its motto, "Explore, Preserve, Relate", the Society has been involved in many local activities. Guest speakers at monthly meetings have addressed a broad range of topics about Hamilton and its environs. Many of these past talks have been published in the Society's journal, Wentworth Bygones.

Over the years, the Society has attempted to collect and preserve historical photographs of the area. This activity led to the publication of two popular volumes of local history: Around and About Hamilton, 1785-1985, and Hamilton: Panorama of Our Past. As well, the Society has sponsored several historical plaques, including one on the site of the King's Head Inn, Memorial School (Memorial Hall) and the T H & B (James Street South and Hunter St.) to commemorate important people and events in the Hamilton area.

In 1990 a Society-initiated project saw the historic 1890 City Hall clock and bell incorporated into the Hamilton Eaton Centre development. The Society's next project was even more ambitious: the restoration of the Gore Park Fountain. Society members and residents of the community-at-large joined together, under the auspices of the Fountain Foundation, an offshoot of the Society, to raise over $500,000. This enabled the Scoiety to rebuild the fountain, which was a centrepiece of Gore Park and a kind of focal point for civic life in Hamilton until it was dismantled in 1959. The newly-restored fountain was turned on in October 1996, one of the major events in the city's sesquicentennial celebrations of that year.

ALSO, From its formation in 1944, members of The Head-of—the-Lake Historical Society frequently undertook “outings” to historical sites. One of the earliest of these ventures was a visit to Hamilton Cemetery. Through until the late 1990s numerous “June Outings” took place - many of them by chartered bus. Related information can be found in the Society’s Minute Books & possibly via other records within the Society’s Archives at the library.

Interested individuals are encouraged to become involved in the Society's activities. These include:

• working on future Society publications
• volunteering at the Society's booktable at community festivals. (A great way to meet people and promote local history at the same time!)
• serving on various committees (e.g., plaquing, publicity)
• working on special projects that the Society may undertake from time to time