Bruce County Archives

• Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre

• Government

The Bruce County Archives is a proud part of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, which is owned and operated by the Corporation of the County of Bruce. The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre opened in 1955, and as been collecting archival records since that time. An Archives area was more formally established within the BCM&CC in 1979 when the Bruce County Historical Society deposited the historical records they had been collecting. The role of the Bruce County Archives as an official repository for County and Municipal government records was formalized in 1998 through Bruce County by-law 3652.

The Bruce County Archives collects records of archival value (possessing administrative, fiscal, legal, evidential and/or historic informational value) relevant to all areas of the County of Bruce, which (since amalgamation in 1999) consists of the County and eight lower-tier municipalities: Municipality of Brockton, Township of Huron-Kinloss, Municipality of Kincardine, Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula, Town of Saugeen Shores, Municipality of South Bruce, and Town of South Bruce Peninsula.

The Bruce County Archives is part of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, which is a department of the County of Bruce.

The Bruce County Archives acquires records of archival value, relevant to the history of the County of Bruce, through private donations (by Deed of Gift) from private individuals, businesses, and organizations and through transfers of government records from the County and its lower-tier municipalities.

From Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre's Collections Management Policy:

"Collecting Mandate

The BCM&CC seeks to collect both two- and three-dimensional items that portray and interpret the social, cultural, industrial and natural history of the County of Bruce.

Acceptance of Items

Working in conjunction with the Collecting Mandate, both the collections and archives have detailed collecting plans, which outline specific needs, and redundancies within these areas, and provide a more detailed plan for future collecting. Alongside the mandate and content of the collecting plans, items will be considered for acceptance based on several factors including, but not exclusively:

• Legal obligations or constraints
• Donor restrictions
• Legal ownership
• Dangers to staff, patrons, or other items within collections
• Resources to properly store and care for an item

• Collection redundancies

  Items are to be in reasonable condition, requiring basic to no conservation work. Generally, items in poor condition will not be accepted, unless they are deemed as rare or unique. Transportation of items located outside of Bruce County to the BCM&CC will also be the responsibility of the donor. "

The Archives are housed on the third floor of the former 1878 Southampton Public School building, which forms part of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. The School was retrofitted during the 2003-2005 Museum rebuild project. The Archives and Research Room consist of the Archival Stacks storage area (1500 sq ft) and the Research Room (900 sq ft).

Stored on the shelves in the Archives records which reflect the social, political, environmental, business, family, and community history of Bruce County, including materials such as: photographs, letters, diaries, postcards, family histories, land records, maps, newspapers, local histories, scrapbooks, business records, organizational records (minutes, newsletters, financial records), videotapes and more.

We also hold the library of the Bruce County Genealogical Society so the Reading Room contains wonderful resources for Genealogists. We also receive reference materials from the Bruce & Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Historic issues of Bruce County community newspapers, many of which are no longer in print, were digitized in 2022 as part of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre's efforts to make this valuable resource more accessible to the public. To search for Bruce County Historic Newspapers please visit https://newspapers.brucemuseum.ca/.

Topical finding aids are available on the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre's Research Information page: https://www.brucemuseum.ca/research/research-information/

Finding Aids are also linked to some of the descriptions available in the Museum's Online Collections - www.collections.brucemuseum.ca.

Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. to Noon; 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m
See brucemuseum.ca for more details and holiday hours.

Entrance to the Research Room is free to members of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. Otherwise, a daily pass is available for $6.00.

When you arrive in the Research Room, you will be asked to read our access and use policy and fill out a registration form. These are also available for review in the "Visit us in Person" section of our Research Information page: https://www.brucemuseum.ca/research/research-information/

Knowledgeable staff, and sometimes volunteers, supervise the Research Room and are available to assist researchers in the Archives. It is always a good idea to call ahead before your visit to the Research Room. It will allow the archives staff to prepare materials in storage and to reserve the microfilm readers if necessary. A consultation with the archives staff is always a good way to begin your visit as they will be able to direct you to the appropriate resources quickly.

For those who are unable to attend the Archives in person, Fee for Service Research is conducted on an as time permits basis. More information about this service may be found at brucemuseum.ca.

Copies - letter and legal size: $0.25, plus tax
Copies - ledger size: $0.50 plus tax

The Archives also offers digital reproductions of historic photographs available online (http://collections.brucemuseum.ca/) and in the Archives. For more details on reproduction fees, see the online Photo Request Form: https://www.brucemuseum.ca/photo-request-form/

For preservation and security reasons, the archival storage room is not accessible to the public. The majority of the records held within this room, however, are available for public use. Researchers must conduct their work in the Research Room and the Archivist or Archival Assistants will retrieve any archival records needed. If you need access to archival records on a weekend, call the Bruce County Archives before your visit to make arrangements with the Archivist or Archival Assistant.

Revised June 12, 2018