Industrial Development at the Mouths of Garrison and Taddle Creeks: Landscape Adaptation, Transformation, and Disappearance on Toronto’s Waterfront
The railways and growing industries began altering Toronto’s waterfront on a large scale in the mid-nineteenth century, 40 to 50 years after the founding of the Town of York (Toronto). Garrison Creek, at the entrance to the harbour west of the early town, and Taddle Creek, which emptied into the bay at the east edge […]
“Stop Spadina!”: Women-Led Advocacy in Toronto’s Annex Neighbourhood
The Annex neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario has a long-held reputation for being a home for the upper echelon, a view perpetuated through the turn-of-the-century mansions that anchor its leafy streetscapes. Spadina Road, which runs through the centre of the Annex, has served as the site of several female-led initiatives within the past 50 years that […]
Teaching Curation: Using Collections to Foster Disciplinary Reflection and Research Opportunities among Undergraduates
Despite decades-long acknowledgment of a curation crisis, undergraduate education in archaeology continues to emphasize excavation as central to the discipline and to our understanding of the past. Moreover, lab classes that emphasize analytical skills are more common than those that teach curation procedures. Whether consciously of it or not, this conveys to our students that […]
Large Landscape Conservation: Policy Approaches for Managing a Sense of Place
Assessing Cultural Heritage Landscapes in the City of Toronto: Out of the Black Creek Watershed and into the Hydro Corridor
To Save a Butterfly, Must One Kill It? The Historic Places Initiative in a Rural Context
This paper examines the findings of the Rideau Heritage Initiative (RHI), a 2006 Ontario provincial summer pilot project, conducted in the predominantly rural municipalities of the Rideau Canal Corridor that was designed to advance the heritage conservation goals of the Historic Places Initiative (HPI). It seeks to show that rather than freezing places in time, […]
Regional Borders and Cultural Heritage Landscapes in Ontario
Cultural heritage landscapes in Ontario reflect historic settlement patterns, archaeological resources, cultural influences, architectural styles, and historic events. They are perhaps best understood as geographies that retain cultural and/or historical value to communities, narrowly or broadly conceived. However, these resources are preserved using legislation created by the Ontario Government and exercised by municipalities operating within […]
The Niagara Escarpment: Exploring Bioregional Approaches to Cultural Heritage Landscape Management
Ontario’s 2005 and 2014 Provincial Policy Statements (PPS) mandate that “significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved.” This, however, has not led to great advancement in strategic heritage planning, nor has policy compliance improved substantially since 2005. This presentation will explore whether Ontario’s PPS and its associated definitions for cultural heritage landscapes should be supported […]
Archaeology and the Commemoration of the Irish Famine: A Report from Kingston
Across eastern Canada, Irish Famine commemoration sites remind us that geopolitical tensions are not a modern phenomenon, and they can have horrific consequences. The oldest memorial was erected in 1859, within living memory of the Famine, by railway workers to commemorate the thousands who died in fever sheds at Point St. Charles, Québec. In Kingston, […]
Sentimental Jewelry in Colonial Canada: Conservation of a Sealed Locket from Stanley Barracks
A poster presentation showing the conservation treatments of a locket found at the Stanley Barracks site. The corrosion on this sentimental jewelry piece functioned to seal the edges of the locket, creating a possibility that a photo or lock of hair might be preserved inside. A treatment of mechanical removal combined with swabbing with diluted […]