Exhibits and Collections

Digital exhibits

New Digital Exhibit Now Available Online

The Arnprior and District Museum is proud to announce the launch of “Unravelling the Yarn - The Textile Industry in Arnprior”. We invite you to share in Arnprior's legacy and witness the growth of a town with the launch of a new virtual exhibit developed with funding from the Digital Museums Canada investment program.

Unravelling the Yarn: The Textile Industry in Arnprior (communitystories.ca)

Défaire les nœuds de l'histoire : l'industrie textile à Arnprior (histoiresdecheznous.ca) 

More Digital Exhibits 

Explore Arnprior through the eyes of a tourist's postcard through the Digital Museum of Canada.

Many of you will recognize blacksmith Tony Walsh who has visited the museum on Canada Day. Watch Tony making a spud with the tools of his trade.

Do you enjoy trivia? What is this artefact? Is a weekly trivia game on the Arnprior Museum Facebook page. Questions are posted most Mondays and the answers on Thursdays. It's always fun to see what others answer too!

Travelling exhibits

The Arnprior and District Museum seeks out and hosts frequent travelling exhibits to round out its own exhibits and programs. Travelling exhibits are currently on pause due to COVID-19. We have had many shows over the past few years, including:

• Unmasking Influenza about the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 (Canadian Geographic, Ingenium)
• Freemasonry: a history hidden in plain sight (Bruce County Museum)
• Holodomor national awareness
• My story, my tattoo (Wellington County Museum and Archives)
• Canada at play brought historical Canadian games and toys (Royal Ontario Museum)
• Energy House helped us appreciate where our energy comes from and how to conserve it. (Science and Tech)
• Iroquois beadwork (Royal Ontario Museum)
• Monarchs and birds (Museum of Nature)
• Northern owls (Museum of Nature)

Permanent exhibits – ground floor

Trains played a vital role in Arnprior's history and you will find the 1895 Marshall's Bay flag stop and Arnprior and area railroad history on the main floor. Everyone loves the diorama of historic life near Arnprior's two railroad stations. Other artefacts include Thomas G. Fuller architecture, the community's first telephone booth, fashions, and the Arnprior dollar. 

Timber!

The Timber room features the history of the lumber industry in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior was built on the timber trade. Situated at the confluence of both the Ottawa and Madawaska and close to the Bonnechere and Mississippi these vast rivers were used to transport timber rafts downstream to sawmills as far as Quebec City. Logging tools, artefacts and photographs evoke the spirit of life in the lumber camps and highlights the importance of logging to the area. A cast of a Gillies Grove white pine tree (from the Canadian Museum of History) stands sentry at the entrance to the exhibit where several weddings have taken place at the museum. 

Osborne's General Store

General store with textiles on display all indicative of the early 20^th century including lace, buttons, hats, hairpieces, gloves, fans, fabric and notions. Osborne's was located on John St. in Arnprior. 

Permanent exhibits – second floor

Arnprior on the World Stage (bilingual)

Tangible proof of Arnprior's involvement in the two World Wars and other conflicts has been part of family lore, archives and dark corners of the museum. This exhibit brings to life the collection of artefacts and uniforms along with highlighting the untold stories of the local people to both World Wars including video interviews. This permanent exhibit was funded through the World War Commemorations Community Fund. For those unable to climb stairs, a video is available on the ground floor. 

Arnprior ‘til now

A step back through time, this exhibit shows Arnprior from the time when the Champlain Sea covered the area through to the 20^th century. A sampling of collections featured include: 

• Fossils, geology and the Champlain Sea
• Algonquin First Nations
• Laird Archibald McNab and early settlement
• Prince of Wales visit of 1860
• Industries such as Kenwood Mills, Canadian Public Booth company, M. Sullivan and Son and the Arnprior marble industry
• Arnprior post office
• Arnprior airport and Canadian Civil Defense College
• Daily life, including fashions, Farmer Brothers shoes, fire department, medical care, sports, schools, travel and transportation
• And much more!