Visitors will be able to take a step back in time to early 1900s Barrie at a new display at the Simcoe County Museum.

The museum officially unveiled its newly renovated streetscape, renamed Barrie’s Main Street, Nov. 23.

The new displays are styled after stores that existed in downtown Barrie between 1890 and 1910, including Monkman’s Drugstore, R.A. Douglas Jewellers and Otton Brothers Hardware.

“Great effort was made in researching the businesses that operated during that time in the town of Barrie,” said Gloria Taylor, curator of the Simcoe County Museum. “Even the artifacts in the storefronts reflect items you would have found in the stores during that time period.”

Taylor said the streetscape was a thank-you to the City of Barrie for the many years it has supported the museum.

A crowd of local politicians, students and community members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Aileen Carroll, Barrie’s MPP, made one of her first appearances as provincial Minister of Culture for the ribbon cutting.

She spoke about the history of the museum and how far it has come from its early days.

Garfield Dunlop, Simcoe North MPP, thanked the museum staff and county staff for their hard work creating the new display.

 “We’ve seen some amazing changes here, always very positive for our whole county and our whole region and I applaud you for that,” he told the crowd. “We are a growing community and a growing region and we need this facility to grow as well and be the jewel, as we have always called it, in the county.”

Tony Guergis, warden of Simcoe County and Springwater Township mayor, said cultural properties like the museum increase the quality of life in Simcoe County.

He said designing the display to resemble Barrie shows just how important the city is to the county.
Barrie Mayor Dave Aspen was on hand to cut the ribbon.

The mayor talked about his childhood and the trips he made to the museum every year with his school.

“This is a very exciting day for the Simcoe County Museum and a very special day for the residents of the City of Barrie,” he said.

When the ribbon was cut the crowd moved through the display looking at the many artifacts on display, including fur coats, dishes and tools.

Linda Crowe, a Simcoe County resident, said she was impressed with the new displays

“They are fantastic. Lots of changes,” she said. “I think it’s important that everyone knows something about the history of their community. People can come here to the museum and see what it looked like years back.”