Auberge Symmes Inn Museum

Queen’s Park Ticket Office offers a peek back to a more prosperous time for Aylmer

During the day of festivities marking the season opener for the Auberge Symmes Inn Museum, June 11, there were special exhibits about the Church family, as well as the ticket office at Queen’s Park, a large amusement park that opened in 1896.

 

It was an 80-acre property owned by the Hull Electric Railway Company, located about 3 km west of the present-day Marina. Families went there on weekends by taking the streetcar from Ottawa and Hull.

Some of the attractions of the park were a laughing gallery, a merry-go-round, a roller-skating hall, a cinema, a shoot-the-falls (“Shoot the Chute”). There was also a restaurant pavillion and a large area surrounded by cedars and pines for picnicking.  Romantic moonlight cruises were organized on the G.B. Greene steamboat. The ticket office was situated at the entrance of the wharf.

In the late 1920s, due to the economic crisis, the park ceased its operations. All the buildings were demolished except for the ticket office, which was salvaged by an Aylmer resident who lived nearby.  The land was subsequently sold for the construction of cottages and residences.

The restoration and enhancement of the ticket office was done by the team and carpenters of Martin Bisson, Aylmer resident and owner of Lumbec Inc.

Founding families: Church Family made a difference

Also, in attendance was Linda Church and Morgan Holmes, descendents of the Church family who donated many articles from the family of their ancestor Dr. Coller Munsell Church.