Take a trip down Memory Lane without getting off your couch.
Finding new and safe ways to explore the world is becoming front and centre these days and exploring Barrie’s past — and perhaps your neighbourhood — is just a few clicks away.
The Barrie Historical Archive (BHA) is a free, online museum of Barrie’s rich history.
“It’s open 24/7, 365 days a year and it’s virus free,” archive curator and vice-president Deb Exel says of the online museum and virtual organization. “So we are just chugging along.”
Hunkering down at home is the new norm and a great time to learn more about the roots of your community online, she says.
“Because people are spending more time than ever on their phone or computer, we’re seeing more traffic and interest as people browse our site and engage with us on social media," says Exel, who also pens a popular history column on Sundays for BarrieToday.
People are still contributing materials to the organization, Exel adds, via email, drop box, snail mail and safe porch pick-ups.
“We have loads of new (old!) images to be added to the archive. It’s growing every day,” she says.
The Barrie archive digitally preserves photos, videos, documents and recordings then makes them available online. The items are then returned to the owners, or if they have transferred ownership to the BHA, they are archived into storage after being preserved.
Photos and memorabilia come from everywhere and also include documents or videos to be preserved for the education and enjoyment of future generations
“We want people to get in touch with us if they have photos of Barrie that we can include in the archive. It could be people who are — or whose parents are — downsizing and they don’t want to discard or destroy mementos of Barrie’s history, as they recognize the value to our heritage and want them saved,” Exel says, adding the archive is still contributing to City of Barrie projects, such as the Waterfront Heritage Trail and traffic box art.
“Unfortunately, our in-person events have been impacted, such as Green Skies (a collaborative event with Theatre by the Bay), our historic webinar series which involved in-person interviews and our new historic walking tour for Doors Open,” she adds. “We’ve made the Grand Hotels walking tour video and brochure for Digital Doors Open as an alternative to our in-person led walking tour.
“Other than being prevented from participating in live events with our partners, because we are a virtual organization we are very fortunate to have maintained and grown the Barrie archive during the COVD-19 pandemic,” Exel says.
Contributions of all sorts to the Barrie Historical Archive is what makes the website click, says president Billy Courtice.
“This city never ceases to reveal its awesome stories to us through the magic of historic photos, videos and documents,” he says. “Every day I am in awe at the way with which some parts of our city have evolved year after year, decade after decade, while some remain relatively unchanged.”
Courtice says he’s also impressed with the volunteers who have been committed to the project since “Day 1,” which was four years ago.
“Anyone with even the slightest itch of nostalgia or desire to resurrect some lost point in Barrie's history would be grateful for volunteers’ work over the past four years.
