Power down the tablet and pop out the earbuds: you’ve got to check out old-style pioneer living at the recently renamed Oliver Paipoonge Heritage Park on Hwy 61, just south of Thunder Bay. The attraction is packed with an incredible array of artifacts, from vintage hats and pinball machines to antique tools, cameras, cars and a railway car, all housed in buildings painstakingly reproduced to match the originals.
Antique cars in the Founders' Museum Garage
The site is the result of the efforts of Fred Goodfellow, who purchased the property in the 1960s with the idea of creating “hands-on history.” “He would go around to local farms and homes and see if there were any old things people wanted to donate, and sometimes he bought items at sales,” says staff member Jean Mayo.
Goodfellow took special care when fashioning the buildings, which include a church, train station, mechanic, pioneer home, print shop, cobbler, blacksmith, tannery, carriage shop, schoolhouse, a village square with a milliner, photography studio and music store, and a general store with a pharmacy, butcher shop and bakery. “The train station, for example, is a replica of the 1905 Upsala station, made using the original plans filed in Ottawa,” notes curator Lois Garrity.
In 2023, The Founders Museum and Pioneer Village merged with the Duke Hunt Historical Museum and added Russ's Garage to create the Oliver Paipoonge Heritage Park.
Currently the site offers self-guided tours through numerous buildings. You may also happen to find local volunteers like a woodcarver at the carpentry shop, carving items by hand. There’s a small selection of hard candy and souvenirs available for sale at the general store. If you want to get a closer look at how Northwestern Ontario’s pioneer families lived, worked and played, the Oliver Paipoonge Heritage Park is definitely worth a visit.
General Store
The Oliver Paipoonge Heritage Park at 3190 Hwy 61 South, just past Loch Lomond, is open from May through September with the following hours:
May & June: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4:30 pm;
July - August: Thursday - Sunday, 12-4:30 pm;
September: Saturday & Sunday, 12-4:30 pm.
For more information call 807-475-7424. Admission is $5 per person with under 12 free.
