Some places describe the past. Black Creek Pioneer Village brings it to life.

Before we had electricity, moving water was the engine that turned the mill wheels of rural Canada, grinding grain into flour and providing a focal point for Ontario’s early communities. With the mill perched at the side of the stream, it wasn’t long until stores, a tavern, and a blacksmith shop were built nearby. Houses, churches and a school quickly followed.

Over the past 150 years, most families have moved away from the land and into cities, leaving behind a way of life that defined early Ontario.

But four decades ago, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) created a small agricultural community at Toronto’s northern edge that honours the ways of our early settlers. Today, Black Creek Pioneer Village offers you a fascinating journey into the past – into the way people lived before cars, digital technology and the dominance of urban culture separated them from the land.

Black Creek is a working village, typical of those established in south central Ontario between the 1790s and the 1860s. At Black Creek you are invited to escape the modern world, and experience Ontario’s rich rural heritage.