The Travels of the Agnew Family

I'm not sure where "Doors Open" originated but I heard about it a couple of years ago when we were visiting Ed's sister in Toronto. The three of us were walking down a street and an exclusive club had a sign out front that said "Doors Open", so in we went and has a tour of the building. It was fun wandering through a building that you normally wouldn't be able to get inside. So, I was happy to see that Walkerton and area were participating in the Doors Open event this year. Ed and I didn't manage to get to all of the buildings and places of historical significance on the list but we managed to get to a large percentage of them. Some of the places on this list included Walkerton Clean Water Center, Victoria Jubilee Hall, Hartley House, Cargill House, several homes of historical significance, the Greenock Swap and the Brant Bridge. Being newcomers to the town it was a very interesting way to learn some of the history of Walkerton and area.


Schmidt Lake Lookout on the Greenock Swap. This swap comprises 20,000 acres and "is known for it's unique flora including orchids and mosses. Once it was also known for it's vast stands of white pine which were used to build ships for the British Navy." Cargill House was built for the D.W. Cargill whose father cut down the white pine.


The original bridge built in this spot in 1903 was destroyed by an ice shove in 1948. The current structure was finished in 1949. It was recycle from two bridges that were no longer in use. The photo doesn't show it well but each end of the bridge has it's own unique structure.