Art and Culture, Guide to the Niagara Antique Belt


by ROB CAMPBELL - Date: 2008-05-08 - Word Count: 1130 Share This!

Niagara on the Lake is very old. Established by British Loyalists in 1778, this quaint little town at the mouth of the Niagara River is one of oldest settlements in the nation. As you can imagine, after hundreds of years of being Canada's foremost agricultural, military and civilian hot spot, the entire Niagara region is now overstocked with heritage items. The antique and collectibles merchants must cut prices to liquidate history. Use this handy guide to find bargains in Niagara on the Lake.

First you must understand the History of Niagara.

The entire Niagara peninsula is steeped in Canadian history because, 1) The settlement is really old, and 2) it contains a cool waterfall, and 3) its right on the border with the United States and they haven't always been so friendly. The place was entirely settled and collecting dust before the Dominion of Canada was born in 1867. Thirty years later the Niagara Historical Society & Museum was founded (in 1895) to encourage the study of Canadian History and Literature, and to collect and preserve Canadian historical records and relics. The Niagara Peninsula has at least nine other museums, and more historical reenactments per square mile than anywhere else in Canada.

Etienne Brûlé was the first European to see Niagara Falls in the summer of 1633. The first eyewitness account of the falls in written text was by Father Louis Hennepin in 1683 wherein he described it as, ‘the most beautiful and altogether the most terrifying waterfall in the universe'.

John Butler - The first European settlers were primarily British Loyalists fleeing America in 1778. At the end of the American Revolution, these Loyalists were given land grants, and the town of Niagara was laid out on the west bank of the Niagara River. As the first farms were cut from the wilderness, the first orchards were planted with apples from Quebec and the Maritimes, and red cherries from the east coast of the United States. The whole settlement prospered under the leadership of John Butler, who had led a regiment of rangers during the revolution.

In 1792 the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, chose Niagara as the temporary capital of the province. He held parliament here until 1796. Unfortunately the town was just too close to the United States for comfort. Indeed, this fertile region was the principle theatre of operations for both the War of 1812, and the Fenian Raids of 1867. Between these years are wonderful stories about Laura Secord, the Mackenzie printing press, and the last stop on the Underground Railroad where so many African American men and women finally found freedom.

Where to shop for antiques? The old towns of Niagara on the Lake, Virgil and Jordan are terrific places to shop for antique furniture, vintage kitchenware, stain glass windows and lamps. Although military collectibles are surprisingly scarce, there exists an extraordinary amount of sheet music, lace, dolls and of course doll houses, vintage bar supplies and nostalgia pieces from the 1920s and 30s. The area is also rich in antique toys, primitive iron tools, and collectible fruit sealer jars.

Look for handcrafted wood furniture Known for gorgeous homemade 'primitives', the entire Niagara region is rich with homegrown wood furniture sometimes made of fruitwoods. Inside Europa-Antiques, shoppers will no doubt admire handmade wooden chests, side tables and wardrobes, pine dressers and bookshelf units all being sold for less than $350. The proprietors of this business, located at 1523 Niagara Stone Road, inside a ‘dear old red brick church', have an interesting attitude toward recycling furniture as part of their contribution to reducing climate change - can you see the green Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triangle on their hemp shopping bags? This business is here to sell good furniture cheap, and keep the inventory moving by offering very low prices. And BEST OF ALL, if you buy over four hundred dollars worth of furniture they will deliver it for free as far away as Toronto!

Bakelite is a good buy in Niagara The area is becoming known for unusual Bakelite items like radios and picnic vessels, tableware and all manner of period Art Deco objects. These gorgeous early wood plastic luxury items were imported by retailers to accommodate Niagara Falls tourists in the booming 1950's. Today vintage Bakelite is very sheik, and these antiques are cool to collect and relatively inexpensive here because of their availability.

Pottery, porcelain and fine china

Lakeshore Antiques and Treasures is located at 855 Lakeshore Road in the center of Niagara on the Lake. This is a well stocked 7000 square foot building wherein 15 separate merchants offer up their wares. Overall there are good prices here on painted pine furniture and English china. The shop is filled with tables and chairs and early Canadian pottery, porcelain, and English fine china and American kitchenware from the 1940s and 50s. Antique chandeliers hang from the rafters over many merchant holdings.

Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian antiques

Creighton House Antiques is a family business located on the main street of Jordan since 1982, but Joe and Pauline Creighton have been in the area, selling antiques for thirty years. Their large shop is located in the carriage house next to their 1850s Georgian home. They have lots of Canadiana, Victorian, and Edwardian furniture pieces, turn-of-the-century oak wardrobes, and quality mahogany and walnut furniture of the 1920s. The antiques are in "as found condition", and range from fair to good condition. Joe does the buying and prides himself of the selection - there's something for everyone here.

Jordan Antiques is found at 3836 Main Street in the village of Jordan and boasts 6000 square feet of shopping; there are a lot of antiques here and it's not crowded. The prices are good on pine furniture, fine china and figurines. There's an abundance of Art Deco ashtrays, cranberry coloured carnival glass, vintage Christmas decorations, antique fishing lures, wooden tackle boxes, and handmade quilts. This is the perfect place to outfit a cottage with classic furnishings.

The Shaw Festival Theatre is a world class performing arts company that brings the best plays of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries to life on three stages. This entertainment spectacle nicely compliments every antique collector's annual pilgrimage to Virgil and Jordan and the shops along Stone Rd in the old town of Niagara on the Lake. Shaw Festival plays punctuate the excitement of this historic destination. Look around this old town and you can see, touch and breathe in the history; the scenery includes thundering black powder cannons in the walls of Fort George, and quaint horse and buggy tours that parade under tree canopied streets. And as most of the buildings in town have historic plaques chronicling their construction and importance, it's fun to simply wander about for an afternoon.


Related Tags: culture, antiques, wine, canada, niagara, collecting, falls, fort george, performing arts, shaw festival

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