Phone: 905 844-2695

About our Plaques

The black and white Historic Building plaques that you see around town have been provided by the Historical Society for close to sixty years. They do not signify any kind of designation. Owners of buildings with a Society plaque are free to make whatever changes they wish to their building - provided it is not listed in included in the Oakville Heritage Register or contravene any laws or standards! The Society has no direct role in establishing, policing or enforcing those laws. 
If we don’t have any information, the Registry Office in Milton maintains a file of all transactions for each property. A change in value or a mortgage on a property usually indicates when the first building was put up and by whom. Other records such as early censuses or books usually give us the occupation of the first owner.
Some buildings have or had a plaque which has deteriorated and needs replacement. New and replacement plaques are made by Society volunteers and cost $150.

Having a plaque made for your building – be it a store, house or other structure – is easy. Simply fill in an Plaque Order Form. We have information and the date of construction on many of the buildings in town.

Plaque Process

  1. A Property Owner contacts us. We (Jamie Macrae) may also initiate the communication. 
  2. Research Property History (OHS Archives -- Oakville Public Library -- Registry Office, Milton)
  3. Draw up Preliminary Design
  4. Owner Approves Design
  5. Carve Plaque
  6. Paint Plaque
  7. Install at no additional charge, or deliver plaque with installation instructions
  8. Photograph Plaque and Building
  9. Update OHS Records
  10. Report details of project to Plaque Committee
  11. Report to OHS Board of Directores

(All this for just $150)

Once a Plaque Order Form is received, a dedicated team of volunteers starts working on the request. A file is created to keep track of historical documentation collected. This can include copies and originals of:
  1. Plaque order form
  2. Material we already have on file
  3. Letters and other correspondence
  4. Newspaper articles
  5. Land title searches
  6. Book articles and or citations
  7. Photograph of completed plaque
  8. Photograph of installed plaque

Each current request is posted and tracked on our status board, to easily track the many requests received.
It is important to establish who built the building and when. We also want to establish some of the background of the builder.

We also like to delve into the history of people that lived or worked in the building.

Initially research is done within our own library and archives. This includes using the internet.

Visitors are welcome to visit and use books in our library. 

Land titles are searched. These are now available on-line.

(Previously, as shown, volunteers would visit the Oakville Public Library.)


The plaques are made of a waterproof material.

The plaques are designed using Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software and cut on a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) router.

To install the plaques, holes are drilled through the wide part of about 4 letters and/or numbers. 
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After each coat of primer or paint, a plaque is set aside to cure. While one plaque is curing, another can be painted.

The backs are primed and then painted with two coats of white.

Plaque fronts receive a total of five coats:
  1. A white primer
  2. Two coats of white paint
  3. Two coats of black paint
#6 Flat Head Black Trim screws are used. The small black heads of the screws are hard to see in the plaques.  

1/8" thick spacers hold the plaque out from the wall and allow for circulation. Rawl plugs are used on masonry walls. 

Shown are just some of over 200 plaques that have been produced since 1950.

Our volunteers will carefully instal your plaque.


You may visit our offices to see more pictures.

This webpage is based on a display that was in our cottages during 2014.

Many volunteer hours go into producing fine displays and other work we do or would like to do. More help would be appreciated.

(It would be great to post more pictures of this and other activities.)

To see more plaques, visit our Facebook Page.
Over time, plaques like most things, do wear out and need repair. Please contact us using the Plaque Order Form, or contact our general offices. We will give an estimate for repair costs before the work is started.

Sometimes when selling a home, the sellers will take an existing plaque with them. The replacement cost of a plaque, is $150.