Discover Oakville's history through our archival collections, libraries and exhibits:

The Society has an extensive collection covering various aspects of the history of Oakville and the former Trafalgar Township. It includes original documents, pictures, newspapers, maps, albums, ephemera, letters, diaries and both archival and reference books. Our main reference library contains over 1,500 works dealing with arts and crafts, costumes, Oakville history, family histories and genealogies, municipal directories, cookbooks, Trafalgar Township and numerous others. A separate section includes aids to genealogical research.

Feel free to download these three items from our collection:

• 1841 census of Trafalgar Township. Come to our library to see the notes thereto compiled by Hazel Chisholm Mathews dated 28 September 1965, plus an extensive collection of other material relating to the history of Oakville. 
• Oakville Collector's Roll 1873
• 1913 Brantwood Survey  A syndicate, the Cumberland Land Company, Limited, purchased about 200 acres which had formerly been the Anderson farm. The area called Brantwood is on the eastern side of Oakville, bounded by Colborne, Allan, Spruce and Goucester Streets. This lavish marketing booklet was published in 1913 to attract home buyers. Photographs of existing houses and on page 22, the "Oakville Plan of Brantwood Survey" are of particular interest. This 2016 map shows the area. Brantwood Survey was named in honour of Chief Joseph Brant and the Mohawks originally of the area.     
• "Oakville by the Lake", is from the July 15, 1893 edition of Toronto's The Saturday Globe.

Our climate controlled archival storage area has been inspected and approved by the Archives Association of Ontario of which the Society is a member. We continue to expand our collection through donations. 

If you have papers, photographs, or diaries that you think might possibly be of historical interest, please let us know - better yet bring them in and we'll advise you on them - perhaps we have additional information to share. Please contact us!

The George Sumner Diaries: Aug 6-7, 1869: a Charge of Bigamy, Eclipse of the Sun, & a Reclaimed Bull! Click above image to read all about it.

R.W. (Bob) Davis Marine Collection