Our story

The things we make. The places we belong.

The history of making and exchange on this land reaches back long before Confederation in 1867. Indigenous peoples built extensive trading networks along rivers, portages, and trails, carrying materials and goods between communities across the continent. Making and trading were already part of a rich, connected world.

In the Ontario communities of the nineteenth century, skilled trades helped meet everyday needs. A cabinetmaker built and repaired furniture. A shoemaker fitted and mended footwear. A blacksmith shaped metal into useful things. The trades interpreted today at Upper Canada Village offer a glimpse of that working life in the 1860s, when local workshops existed alongside mills, merchants, and growing factory production.

Even the money passing from hand to hand told a story of connection. Before Confederation, foreign coins, trade tokens, and notes issued by colonial governments and banks circulated here. In 1871, the Uniform Currency Act brought greater consistency to the new Dominion’s currency. Commerce was becoming more closely joined, while the work behind a purchase still began with someone’s time and skill.

Imported goods had been part of trade for centuries, and by the 1860s factory-made furniture was already putting pressure on cabinetmakers’ custom work. What draws us to these histories is the place of skill in everyday life, and the possibility of knowing more about the person behind what we buy.

That is the connection we hope to make a little easier today. There are people around us still shaping, stitching, pouring, and building with care. Choosing their work is a way to support the skills we want to see continue in our communities. Our part is to help you find them, hear their stories, and bring something of their world into yours.