Museum teams with Brown Homestead for property research workshop

With a large number of historic homes and properties in Niagara-on-the-Lake, it’s common for people to approach the NOTL Museum for help in finding out more about their property’s history.

Museum staff is often asked to assist Town officials with historical designations and heritage permits. Realtors listing historic properties will often turn to the museum for historical information. As well, it is common for homeowners to visit the museum in their efforts to find out more about their homes. 

On Saturday, April 6, the NOTL Museum welcomes representatives from the Brown Homestead in St. Catharines to host a full-day workshop on how to use the online Ontario Land Registry.  Participants will receive hands-on teaching on how to research property histories.

The Brown Homestead was founded in 2015 by Andrew and Jennifer Humeniuk. It is run out of the oldest home in St. Catharines, a two-story stone house built in 1802 located at 1317 Pelham Road, a piece of land across from the entrance to Short Hills Provincial Park, which was settled around 1785 by Loyalist John Brown and his family. The site also includes the Norton Cabin, circa 1817, built by Mohawk chief Teyoninhokarawen (John Norton), which was moved to the homestead in 1997 to save it from demolition.

The Humeniuks founded the organization with the mission of preserving and maintaining significant heritage buildings and sites. They acquired the Brown house from well-known heritage consultant Jon Jouppien, who purchased the property in 1979 and completed several renovations. Jouppien also applied for and received both exterior and interior heritage designations for the house. 

Their plan for the property is to make it a popular cultural venue, a place to host festivals and other public and private events, and to create an educational program run out of the historic site. They have worked with the students at the Willowbank School of the Restoration Arts to restore some areas of the home. 

St. Catharines historian Brian Narhi, a member of The Brown Homestead’s board of directors, along with its director of community engagement Jessica Linzel, a historical researcher, and community engagement manager Sara Nixon, will be leading the workshop. 

The trio will walk participants through the process of using OnLand, an online portal of property records for Ontario. The session will give an overview of Ontario’s land registry system and structure, best practices for using the OnLand database, and how to trace the history of any given parcel of land from its Crown patent up to the present time. 

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Brown Homestead on this program," said Amy Klassen, the Museum’s Director of Finance and Marketing, in a recent press release. “This workshop provides unique learning opportunities to staff and the public on a subject that garners ongoing curiosity and fascination.”

The workshop runs from 9 am until 3:30 pm April 6 and all are encouraged to bring a packed lunch for the break. The cost is $50 or $40 for Museum members. Registration is required as space is limited. To register, call 905-468-3912.

Participants are also welcome to bring their own laptops or tablets.