This is an archived event from Culture Days 2025.
Images
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1929 Rumley comes for a visit -
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making a new skipping rope -
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Blacksmaith at work -
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Mabel the cow!
Life on a Palermo Farm in the Early 20th Century
In-person
Agriculture History & heritage Museum TourDate and time
Location
Old Palermo Schoolhouse
2431 Dundas Street West
Oakville, ON
Directions: The old Palermo School house is located on the North side of Dundas east of Bronte Road. NOTE, traffic control barriers in the centre of Dundas only allow for access for west bound traffic into the schoolhouse! This is fine if you are travelling west, however eastbound visitors will have to turn around at the next traffic light at Palermo Park and come back west. Sorry but the price of growth... Parking is beside the schoolhouse.
Access
Free.
Offered in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Has gender-neutral washrooms and wheelchair accessible.
About
In the early 20th century, family life on the farm was a mix of hard work and simple pleasures. Each day began at dawn, with every family member playing a vital role. Fathers and sons worked the fields, while mothers and daughters managed the household and tended gardens. Despite the chores, there was plenty of fun to be had.
• A 1929 Rumely Tractor that worked the fields in early Palermo
• Watch the Blacksmith in his shop
• See the early horse drawn Dairy wagon
• Try your hand(s) and milking the training cow Mabel!
• Watch how rope is made, and get your new skipping rope
Special occasions like weddings and barn raisings were grand events. Farm life was tough, but it was also rich with moments of joy and community. The bond of family and the shared experiences created memories that lasted a lifetime, teaching resilience, self-reliance, and the true meaning of togetherness.
Links
Organizer
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
All of the community that we know as Oakville, Ontario was once Trafalgar Township. The political boundaries of Trafalgar Township ceased to exist with the amalgamation of the Township, and Oakville in 1962.
The Trafalgar Township Historical Society was established in January 2006, founded on the work of the Trafalgar 2000 Committee, a group of citizens who organized an event to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Trafalgar Township.
Our home is now in the Heritage Palermo One Room Schoolhouse, and home to our Culture day’s Events at 2431 Dundas Street West.
Palermo was one of the earliest towns in Trafalgar Township!
It once boasted.
- A foundry that riveled Massey Ferguson
- A medical school,
- two schools, two hotels, two corner stores,
- A town hall, a temperance hall,
- two churches, and their cemeteries.
Palermo was the first town in Trafalgar to install sidewalks and had the first school library and music program.
The old schoolhouse is our home and location for the Culture Days Events
The society focuses on preserving heritage homes, and local history through research, hosting speakers, a monthly open house and maintaining an images site where we have scanned over 2,000 local photos and documents that are fully accessible to the public.
Check out our online archives here; https://tths.ca/our-images
You can also visit us at www.tths.ca or email [email protected] to join us.
This event is part of a hub:
Preserving the Agricultural History of North Oakville
Trafalgar Township Historical Society Oakville, ONExperience; - The Old Palermo Country Store, Goods from now and the old days! - The Old Schoolhouse the 1 room schoolhouse, chalkboards, wooden desks, spellers, the teacher, - Life on the Farm displays of early farming life see rope windi...