Georgian Bay Township
Historical Society
Our Park
The Georgian Bay Township Historical Society is proud to show our
Bressette Homestead Heritage Park.
The park is named for the Edmund Bressette family, as one of the founding pioneer families of the area. The name is sometimes spelled "Bresette".
Our mission for the park is to celebrate local history, with the community, and for those passing through the busy approach to cottage country. There is a picnic area available, and during part of the summer, a farmer's market stand is often on the grounds. On occasions, the park is used for community events and the relocated Bressette farmhouse is used for SegBay Chamber of Commerce, and Historical Society meetings, as well as for other community club gatherings.
We are at 45 Lone Pine Road in Port Severn Ontario.
Access to the park is from Lone Pine Road just off the highway 400 exit at Port Severn. It is immediately to the north of the Petro Canada mall and beside the GBT municipal buildings.
There is a small parking area on the park property, but even better, it is only steps from the gas bar and food court, either via the quiet road or the new "Pathway to the Past" mini trail. And why not make charging your EV a "walk in the park".
Please feel free to browse the entire website to find more about who we are as a Historical Society, and peruse our growing picture archive.
Take A Tour
Below are images of the exibits in our park.
Our "Projects" pages provide more details on what each asset is, efforts made to bring them onboard, and their historical significance to the community.
Click an image to read the corresponding "Projects" narratives.
Bressette House
Actual home of Edmund Bressette, built in the late 1800's and moved from the family homestead property to this site in 1991 by community volunteers.
Bressette Barn - Russell's Store Exhibit
The barn was likely erected roughly the same time as the family house - in the late 1800's. It was brought to this site in conjunction with the house move in the early 1990’s.
The building is now used by our historical society for display purposes of various themes - currently, the "Russell's Store".
Lockmaster's Office
Building used for Trent Severn Waterways lock business in the early days of the system. Originally located adjacent to Lock 45 in Port Severn, just down the road. The building went through multiple moves and purposes before ending up here in 1990.
Milne Cabin
Famous Canadian, modernist artist, David Milne, built this isolated, wilderness cabin on Six Mile Lake in the mid 1930's. The building was gently moved to this site in 2018, and replicated to the original state.
Various signage around the building describes the man and his home.
City of Dover
This boat prop is the only remaining piece from this early 1900’s steamship that travelled these local waters.