Doors Open with Hamilton Civic Museums

Event Description

Doors Open at Auchmar Estate - May 4 & 5, 2024

Auchmar, 88 Fennell Avenue West, Hamilton

Auchmar estate is considered to be the last surviving country estate on Hamilton Mountain. It was built for the Honourable Isaac Buchanan but over the years has been home to a wide variety of groups and organizations including the RCAF, the Young family and the Sisters of Social Service. Each owner has left their mark on the house in ways that are still visible today.  Visit this mid-century gothic revival manor house and the walled and landscaped grounds that surround it.

Doors Open at Battlefield House Museum & Park National Historic Site - May 5, 2024

Battlefield House Museum & Park, 77 King St. West, Stoney Creek

Battlefield House Museum, part of which dates back to 1796, was once home to the prominent Gage Family. Learn about the stories of the people who built the house and the efforts to preserve and restore it. Explore the Dunington Grubb landscape and hike around a 34-acre patchwork of meadow and forest. Compare and contrast the Tudor Gothic Revival Battlefield Monument with the artwork Eagles Among Us, that symbolize peace and reconciliation. Engage with 19th century music and dancing.

Doors Open at Dundurn National Historic Site - May 4, 2024

Dundurn National Historic Site, 610 York Blvd., Hamilton

Known as Dundurn Castle, this 40-room Italianate-style villa was built in the 1830s on Burlington Heights, also the site of a fortified military encampment established by the British during the War of 1812. It was home to Sir Allan Napier MacNab, railway magnate, lawyer and Premier of the United Canadas from 1854 to 1856. Today Dundurn Castle tells the story of the MacNab family and the household staff who lived and worked in the house. Join us on Doors Open for a complimentary, self-paced tour of the home and the Historic Kitchen Garden. In keeping with the Doors Open theme of music, enjoy traditional Scottish music performed by harpist Ruth Sutherland.

Doors Open at Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum - May 4, 2024

Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum, 64 Sulphur Springs Rd., Ancaster

Fieldcote was built in 1948 as a private home, and today serves as a cultural heritage centre with emphasis on Ancaster’s local history, the promotion of fine arts and the celebration of natural heritage through beautiful landscaped gardens and walking trails. Please visit the exhibit Poetry in Stitches, featuring textile works inspired by poetry.

Doors Open at the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology National Historic Site - May 5, 2024

Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology, 900 Woodward Ave., Hamilton

The Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology is the site of the original 1859 Hamilton Waterworks. The museum features two 45-foot-high, 70-ton steam-powered pumping engines which supplied the city with clean drinking water from 1859 to 1910. The pumping engines were made in Dundas, Ontario and today are the oldest surviving examples of their kind in North America. 

Doors Open at Whitehern Historic House & Garden National Historic Site - May 5, 2024

Whitehern Historic House & Garden, 41 Jackson St. West, Hamilton

Join us for a special opportunity to view Whitehern at your own pace; your museum visit will be self-guided with the presence of knowledgeable staff spaced throughout the home to answer any questions. In keeping with this years Doors Open theme, the site will also feature period music. Whitehern Historic House and Garden is a mid-19th century urban estate maintained by the McQuesten family for three generations. It was built in 1848 with a 1930s addition. The home includes original family furnishings from the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian eras in the context of Thomas B. McQuesten’s career in 1939.