Dundas Ontario:
Come play in Yesterday!
Dundas Ontario, the historic valley town
Ever wondered what life was like in a small Ontario town 50 or even 100 years ago? Wished you had a time machine so you could go back and see? Well, stop wishing, and just take a drive to Dundas Ontario. That's what I do when the nostalgia bug hits me. Dundas is only a few minutes away from Hamilton Ontario, or just 70 km southwest of Toronto. That makes it an easy daytrip from pretty much anywhere in Southern Ontario. Dundas' population is roughly 25,000 and its "downtown" consists of about ten blocks of King Street and a couple of side streets here and there. You could walk the whole area in about 10 minutes and even take in some of the surrounding residential district with its gorgeous old Victorian mansions. But you'll want to spend much more time here to enjoy your journey. Plan at least half a day to explore the neat boutiques, great old architecture, gourmet food stores, the old town museum, the art gallery and, if you still have time, the great natural surroundings on the borders of what is still called The Valley Town. On the town's main drag, King Street, you'll find an elegant row of brick buildings, many dating back to the 1840s. In some cases there are awful gaps where new (unfortunate) additions have been made, but if you turn your head as you pass these ghastly modernizations, you'll soon come back to handsome old brick structures with painted wood gingerbread ornamentation around the windows, doors and rooflines.
The heritage landmarks include:
-an historic town hall
-one of Ontario’s oldest hotels (The Collins)
-a Doctor's office with scary antique surgical equipment (built in 1848) – on the grounds of the Dundas Historical Museum
-DeLuxe Restaurant, a “time capsule restaurant” that closed in 1979 and still looks the same as the day its doors were locked; it's used for period film shoots today
-an old factory that has been converted into an art school
-a handsome old post office with its iconic clock tower
If you like history, don't miss the Dundas Historical Museum. One of my favourite objects in the museum is the Domville Dollhouse, built in 1899. The dollhouse is a near-replica of a real house that still exists in Hamilton today. It's an exquisite and rare example of a Canadian dollhouse from this period and what makes it special is that the little girl who owned the dollhouse grew up and kept it as a sort of keepsake of her childhood. The house is a kind of 3D scrapbook, with furnishings and artwork reflecting the family's personal history.
return from Dundas Ontario to Ontario Travel Secrets home page
|
