Printing History Comes Alive in Queenston
More than 200 years ago Upper Canada's first press printed the province's first newspaper and began the development of the communications industry in Canada.
The Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle, Canada's fifth newspaper, was published April 17, 1793 in Newark (Ontario's original capital, now Niagara-on-the-Lake).
Thirty-one years later, editor and agitator for politcal reform William Lyon Mackenzie published the Colonial Advocate in nearby Queenston on May 18, 1824. For Mackenzie, publishing the paper began a career of public activism for the reformation of the government of Upper Canada which led to the ill-fated Upper Canada Rebellion at York (Toronto) in 1837.
These significant events in Canadian history, among others, are preserved in the Mackenzie Heritage Printery Museum, located in Queenston in the impressive limestone building in which the firebrand editor sowed the seeds of responsible government.
In 1936, The Niagara Parks Commission undertook the restoration of the Mackenzie House from ruin. The rebuilt home was was officially opened on June 18, 1938 by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Mackenzie's great grandson.
The original plan for the home was to house a printing museum. Unfortunately, those plans were put off and such heritage preservation and perpetuation did not take place until 1991.
After discussions between the Mackenzie Heritage Printery Committee and the Niagara Parks Commission, members of the volunteer committee assembled a collection of working heritage presses and an interpretive display on the history of printing. The museum opened in April 1991 for its inaugural season. Leadership and intitial funding was provided by Henry Burgoyne and Al Teather of the Burgoyne Newspaper Group in St. Catharines.
From these plans, formulated more then 10 years ago, the Mackenzie Heritage Printery Committee and The Niagara Parks Commission continue a successful operating partnership. The Commission owns and operates the museum, while the volunteer committee oversees and maintains the museum collection and secures necessary funding.
Each year the Mackenzie Heritage Printery Museum mounts an informative and educational exhibit that helps to illustrate the variety of ways printing touches our lives. Past special exhibits have included the history of playing cards, circus posters, lithography and commemoration of the 200th anniversary of The Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle. |
