Celebrate 100 years at the Sharon Temple National Historic Site and Museum in East Gwillimbury

A lot has happened since the York Pioneer and Historical Society purchased the grounds in 1917 and opened the museum a year later

Yorkregion.com
July 16, 2018
Laura Finney

It has been a century since the Sharon Temple National Historic Site officially became a museum.

This milestone represents a lot of local and Canadian history, but it also has Elizabeth Evans, the museum’s facility and collections manager, looking forward.

“It is wonderful and it is exciting. I have spent a lot of time looking in the past 100 years, and this makes me think what the next 100 years holds for us,” she said. “All the different events that we continually plan … I have exhibits planned until 2021.”

One of the current exhibits is Making a Museum, which tracks the museum’s history. A lot has happened since the York Pioneer and Historical Society purchased the grounds in 1917 and opened the museum a year later.

The exhibit features a number of artifacts and displays, including a wall dedicated to the history of the heritage buildings on site.

The temple is the only structure that remains in its original location. All the others, including the Doan House and David Wilson’s Study, have been moved.

“At one point, it was just the temple on these grounds,” said Evans.

Despite the changes on the site, there are a number of things that have remained the same.

“It’s always been a place for people to gather,” said Evans.

From its early days as a site for Children of the Peace, the temple grounds were also a park, said Evans, with a baseball diamond, tennis courts and a swing set.
The site is also home to a number of events including the recent Canada Day celebrations and the annual Illumination event.

Evans said she thinks David Wilson, the founder of Children of the Peace, would be happy with what the temple has become.

“I think David Wilson was about bringing people together,” she said.

While there is a lot of history preserved in the museum and on site, not everything could be saved.

Some of the buildings were dismantled before the site became a museum, including the two Children of Peace meeting houses, although some pieces are preserved in the community.

“The wood was sold off to build houses in this area,” said Evans.

And the money was used to help maintain the temple and Sharon Burying Ground.

There is a model of the second meeting house in the museum, along with a few materials from the original structure, so visitors can still get an idea of what it looked like.

Some of the current highlights of the exhibit include the museum’s first artifact--a bed warming pan, Indigenous artifacts, documentation of past repatriation and rebellion boxes. 

It is important to have museums like this so history is not lost, explained Evans.

“Every little town has its own story, its own history and its own people. If you don’t work to preserve it quickly, you run the risk of losing it,” she said.

The official anniversary is Sept. 7, the same day as Illumination this year.

The Sharon Temple is located at 18974 Leslie St. For more information, call 905-409-6816 or visit sharontemple.ca.