Museum mandate
The Nor’Westers and Loyalist Museum seeks to promote interest, knowledge, and appreciation for local history. We preserve a variety of historic objects, which illustrate the United Empire Loyalist migration to Glengarry County and the Glengarry partners of the North West Company.
The Museum is housed in the old Williamstown schoolhouse, a Georgian style brick building erected in 1862. In 1967, as a Canada Centennial project, the Glengarry Historical Society opened the Nor’Westers and loyalist Museum to commemorate Canadian and Glengarrian history.
Today, the museum proudly depicts the story of Sir John Johnson and his Loyalist followers who settled here after the American Revolution in 1784, and the Glengarry partners of the North West Company. The Nor’Westers Company, an active competitor of the Hudson’s Bay Company for the fur trade, explored and opened up much of western Canada and the United States. Some of the principal partners of the North West Co., such as David Thompson, Hugh McGillis, John McGillivray, and Duncan Cameron lived in the area. You will find a rich array of historic objects illustrating the beginnings of Glengarry history, preserved in our “little gem.”
The Museum is housed in the old Williamstown schoolhouse, a Georgian style brick building erected in 1862. In 1967, as a Canada Centennial project, the Glengarry Historical Society opened the Nor’Westers and loyalist Museum to commemorate Canadian and Glengarrian history.
Today, the museum proudly depicts the story of Sir John Johnson and his Loyalist followers who settled here after the American Revolution in 1784, and the Glengarry partners of the North West Company. The Nor’Westers Company, an active competitor of the Hudson’s Bay Company for the fur trade, explored and opened up much of western Canada and the United States. Some of the principal partners of the North West Co., such as David Thompson, Hugh McGillis, John McGillivray, and Duncan Cameron lived in the area. You will find a rich array of historic objects illustrating the beginnings of Glengarry history, preserved in our “little gem.”