Our Projects

The Georgian Bay Township Historical Society is small in numbers but mighty in results. Recent projects have been significant undertakings with very visible results. Beyond just highlighting our historic past, these accomplishments are adding to the identity of our small community.

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Bressette Homestead Project

The Historic Bressette house, a Victorian, Gothic style farmhouse is still playing a vital role in the history and development of Port Severn. Built in the late 1800’s on a rise overlooking Georgian Bay by Edmund Bressette, patriarch of one of our areas founding families, it stood as a visible symbol of our rich history.

Threatened by demolition, the Georgian Bay Township Historical Society moved the house and barn to a new site where the house was restored and is now home to the Historical Society, Chamber of Commerce and the focal point of the Bressette Homestead Heritage Park, a public gathering place for the community.

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There have been many changes over the years to the facilities building at Port Severn’s Lock 45. The present structure is modern, and spacious, and clean - setup as we would expect for a component of one of “Parks Canada” major attractions – the Trent-Severn Waterway.

That was not always the case.

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Lockmaster's Office

The Ship - City Of Dover

This large propeller is proudly mounted in our heritage park in Port Severn as the only remaining component of a historic Great Lakes steamer. One might wonder, why this ship is memorialized 300 kilometers from her name sake.

The City of Dover had an interesting life mostly navigating local waters of Georgian Bay, and somehow coming to a final resting place inland at a nearby beach.

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Most of us knew very little about the artist who was said to have lived in our local woods during the Great Depression years of the last century.

The Historical Society became very interested when the original remote cabin of David Milne was made available to them. A vision of what to do, and the logistics of how to do it, became a major challenge to the group.

Today, that very cabin has been relocated to our Bressette Homestead Heritage Park, and fully restored and outfitted to mirror the artist’s original, secluded home.

Check it out

David Milne Legacy Project

100 Years for Lock 45

The final lock in the historic Trent-Severn waterway celebrated 100 years in operation in 2015. The Historical Society coordinated and executed many of the area's activities.

The team realized that we have collected hundreds of photos and needed a repository to store them, a mechanism to organize them, and a way to share them with the public - thus this current project.

Our Projects

Bressette Homestead Project

Lockmaster's Office

The Ship - City Of Dover

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This large propeller is proudly mounted in our heritage park in Port Severn as the only remaining component of a historic Great Lakes steamer. One might wonder, why this ship is memorialized 300 kilometers from her name sake.

The City of Dover had an interesting life mostly navigating local waters of Georgian Bay, and somehow coming to a final resting place inland at a nearby beach.

David Milne Legacy Project

100 Years for Lock 45

The final lock in the historic Trent-Severn waterway celebrated 100 years in operation in 2015. The Historical Society coordinated and executed many of the area's activities.

The team realized that we have collected hundreds of photos and needed a repository to store them, a mechanism to organize them, and a way to share them with the public - thus this current project.

GBTHS Website Refresh