Explore the Hills of Headwaters

Orangeville Heritage Sites

Alton Mill

• Alton Mill Artists are opening the doors and going outside - to draw and paint. We are also inviting any and all outside artists to set up their easels outside and explore the many creative opportunities to capture the historic beauty of the Alton Mill and surrounding property.
  Work at your leisure throughout the day from 10 - 5.  Price, display and sell your completed pieces at your discretion.
  We invite the general public to watch over your shoulder, ask questions about your work and process and purchase the completed artwork.

Melville White Church – Belfountain

• Guided historic tours will take place throughout the day

All Saints Anglican Church - Erin

• All Saints Anglican (81 Main Street) will feature Kersti Finnie on the pipe organ built in 1947 by Casavant Freres of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec — a historic firm that first came to international prominence in 1891 when they installed the organ in the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Montreal.
• All Saints will also feature Anna Marie Holtom and John Wright screening ‘Stars of the Town’, one of a collection of 85 black and white films depicting day-to-day life in small town Southwestern Ontario captured by the late Rev. Leroy (Roy) Massecar (1918-1986) between 1947 to 1949. To supplement his modest Church stipend, the Rev. Massecar filmed people from various small towns, including Erin, and returned to screen the films at town halls and community centres, invited the ‘stars’ to attend, and charged an admission fee.
• ‘Stars of the Town’ will be screened at All Saints throughout the day. Admission is (now) free.
• In celebration of the 140th anniversary of the Church in 2007, a garden was created outside the Lower Hall. The Garden is available to everyone, for prayer, contemplation, and to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Porcupine’s Quill – Erin

• Throughout the day maps will be available at The Porcupine’s Quill (68 Main Street) which will enable visitors to take self-guided walking tours of the downtown.
• Print a one page map of the town with numbered sites
• The Porcupine's Quill will also feature book signings by authors:
  10:00 to 12:00 - Richard Nevitt (A Caledon Sketchbook)
  12:00 to 2:00 - Shane Neilson (Complete Physical)
  2:00 to 4:00 - Jane Lind (Joyce Wieland)
• The garden by the millpond (a branch of the West Credit River) features an industrious pair of muskrats who are building a nest at the base of the remnants of a hundred-year-old Black Willow.

Downtown Erin – Walking tours depart from Porcupine’s Quill, 68 Main Street, Erin

• At 10:30am Bill Dinwoody will lead a walking tour, accompanied by Lisa Brusse of Credit Valley Conservation and local historian Steve Revell, from 68 Main Street (the Porcupine's Quill), past Mundell Lumber, up Mill Street to Woollen Mill Lane and then through the Conservation area to the site of the Woollen Mill (1840). An ample exemplar of the species Castor Canadensis has been sighted in the vicinity and dubbed ‘Danny’ in memory of Erin's first master builder of dams, Daniel McMillan. A (smaller) muskrat may also entertain on the Lower Pond (north of Charles Street dam).
• At 2:00pm Steve Revell will lead a more challenging walking tour from 68 Main Street, past the Charles Street dam and Devonshire House to March Street and then up the switchback to the water tower and across the top of the moraine for an overview of the village and the edge of the Escarpment in the distance.

Both of the guided walking tours (10:30am and 2:00pm) will assemble at The Porcupine’s Quill, 68 Main Street (opposite the Esso gas station).

Century Church Theatre

• Actors from Century Church Theatre in period costume will promenade the Main Street of Erin Village. Throughout the day.

Charles Street Dam – Erin

• Looking north (upsteam) from the bridge at Charles Street, it is not uncommon to see kingfishers trolling the millpond for chub.

Mundell Mill - Erin

• Download a PDF A Brief History of McMillan’s Mills
• Woodworker Brian Oates will offer instructive tours of Mundell Mill throughout the day ~ 10:00am to 4:00pm

Pioneer Cemetery – between Erin & Hillsburgh

• Join Alan Kirkwood (whose ancestry dates back to the 1820s in Erin) as he presents photos and geneological information about the headstones in the Pioneer Cemetery.  Throughout the day.

Orangeville Town Hall Opera House – Orangeville

• Historic displays presented by Heritage Orangeville
• Heritage walking tours of the historic downtown area, departing from Orangeville Town Hall at 10am, 12noon and 2pm
• Mask making activities presented by Theatre Orangeville

Downtown Orangeville

• Doors Open in the Hills celebrates the heritage of historic downtown Orangeville on Saturday, July 10th, as part of downtown Orangeville’s annual Founder’s Fair celebrations!

Orangeville Rail Yard and Train Station – Orangeville

• Historic displays presented by Heritage Orangeville