Cumberland Heritage Village Museum celebrates 50 years as a ‘living history site’

On an autumn morning in 1976, a group of locals arrived at an empty, unused farmer’s field on Old Montreal Road in Cumberland, about 30 kilometres from Ottawa’s downtown core. 

They came with tractors, trailers, artifacts, and stories, and they began to build. They envisioned a place frozen in time, where buildings, artifacts, collections and stories from 50 years prior could become a living history and pass the stories along to future generations.

Their vision came to pass. They brought buildings, machinery, vehicles, artwork, furniture, and added more as time went on, and through the years, built the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, which is now marking 50 years since its founding.

Supported by local groups like the Cumberland Township, The Ottawa Valley Live Steamers, and the local historical society, the village is filled the field and now stands a testament to the history of the area — a 1920s and 1930s historical village, and a home for items and buildings that are now about a century old. 

First came the train station, which became the museum itself, and later the caboose to serve as an office. Soon, more buildings were added, including residential homes, a garage, carpentry shop, tinsmith, church, printshop, schoolhouse, sawmill and fire hall.

“We call it a living history site,” Tabitha Renauld, the museum administrator, told the Ottawa Lookout during a tour of the village. 

From May until October, workers dress in full costume and “live the life” of 1920s and 1930s rural villagers, from farmings and animal care to working trades to maintain the village. Building, gardening, cooking, you name it — it’s done on-site using authentic, historically accurate methods. 

Flyers for events are printed at the 1920s printshop, fenceposts and stairs are build at the carpentry shop with the help of the operating sawmill, and vehicles are maintained by on-staff millwrights at the mechanic’s garage using 1920s and 1930s methods.

Many Ottawa residents have paid a visit to Upper Canada Village, the 19th-century historical village in Morrisburg known for “pioneer”-period costumes, demonstrations and attractions. But few know there’s a living historical experience closer to home, and one that chose to honour a different time period that resonated with the founders of the village.

Many of the founders, as they are known in the village, had been holding onto artifacts, vehicles, and historical items that had been passed down through their family — the historical village gave it all a home, and it offers a unique glimpse into the past.

“We already have [pioneer villages]. Why don't we do something else?,” said Renauld. “Our village has cars that drive around. Our village has electricity. And now, ours has a telephone.

“They had access to these artifacts, from their family or the town, and wanted to preserve them,” she said. “So they brought them here.”

As part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations, the museum team inherited a 1920s telephone from a local family, including the descendents of one of the village’s founders. 

Through months of work and research, the village’s tradesmen and millwrights have refurbished and installed the telephone, installing telephone poles milled at the sawmill and recreating original pieces using machinery and materials at the museum.