The Newcastle Village and District Historical Society, in Newcastle, Ontario was formed by a group of citizens in 1981 to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the former Village of Newcastle and its immediate environs. Today, we have an extensive collection of artifacts, documents and photographs and offer help with research into the history of the area, including its businesses and families.

We are located in the former public library in the Newcastle Community Hall. We have permanent and special displays in the historical room and are open to the public. We are a registered charity, supported by our almost 200 members, local sponsors and donors, with some additional assistance from the Town of Clarington and the Government of Canada (Canada Summer Jobs). We welcome all new members and donors!


News & Events

Christmas cookies and greenery

NVHDS Christmas Open House

Come meet the directors and your fellow members and enjoy lots of Christmas treats, mulled cider, special children’s Christmas craft and Christmas music. We’ll be open from 9:30 a.m. to noon and look forward to seeing you all!

Please note that we will be closed Dec. 17, reopening on January 4.
gold Christmas tree and greenery with lights in background

Double your impact

With the help of summer students and our volunteers, we’ve been busy cataloguing and documenting our collection, but we still have lots to do.

We’ve been using our new museum software (CatalogIt) for a while now, and it allows us to mount online slide shows, and makes managing, searching and sharing our collection much easier.

Your continued support has helped facilitate this move, and we are thrilled to be able to show you our first two online exhibits – one featuring our collection of holiday cards, and another of winter scenes in and around Newcastle.

New Year's card featuring a blue butterfly and a sprig of pink and white fushia flowers.

See our new online exhibits

We hope you’ll enjoy the first two of our online exhibits showcasing aspects of our collection of artifacts and documents. We have been hard at work over the past few years digitizing our collection – first in museum software which we ran locally, and now in CatalogIt which allows us to easily mount online exhibits and show the community and beyond at least a small portion of our extensive collection.

Our first two exhibits highlight some of our holiday card collection (some of them 140 years old) and some winter scenes in and around Newcastle.

Newcastle aerial view of village from 1919

How we’ve grown!

We thought it would be fun to show you how much Newcastle has changed in 100 years. Our first photo is from 1919 – 105 years ago, with the next photo taken in the late 1970s/early 1980s. And finally, you can compare the old views to a current Google satellite view.
St. Georges Anglican Church Tiffany window with Olive Wilmot

Olive Wilmot and Mary Magdalene

A talk by Judith Clapperton and James Breech

Wednesday, October 16 at 7 p.m., Newcastle Community Hall

Had They But Known Her is a work of historical fiction by former resident of Newcastle, Judith Clapperton, about the life of Olive Wilmot. Judith corrects the false information that Olive was reviled as a loose woman and depicted as the “prostitute” Mary Magdalene in the magnificent Tiffany stained glass window in the chancel of St. George’s Church, Newcastle.

Free admission and refreshments

Still from NVDHS video

We’ve got videos!

We’ve posted a lot of our vintage movies (transferred) to YouTube for your enjoyment. From 1920s and 1930s movies of Newcastle residents to the Orono Fair from the 1920s to the 1960s, there is something interesting for everyone. Check it out!

Newcastle Community Hall

2024 Annual General Meeting

Mark your calendars

Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m.
Historical Room, Newcastle Community Hall

Find out what we’ve been doing for the past year, elect 2024-2025 Board of Directors, participate in our fun and informative Show and Tell and enjoy a light lunch afterwards.

Antique bottles

Vintage Vessels: Exploring the World of Antique Bottle Collecting

NVDHS General Meeting

On Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m., join us for a talk at Newcastle Community Hall (main hall) on the fascinating world of antique bottle collecting, featuring local collectors Carl Parsons, George Miller and Glen Moorhouse. Free and open to all.

1239 Next

Follow us

Instagram posts

Facebook posts