guelph civic museum

On Family Day this year my family spent about 2 hours at the Guelph Civic Museum. We've been there a few times before and once again the museum didn't disappoint us. The museum is a renovated convent filled with 3 floors of photos, maps, and artifacts focusing on Guelph history. Three special exhibit rooms are presently showing: a) an exhibit of iconographic art which has been paired with specific Guelph institutions. The art work is beautiful; b)an exhibit is of Guelph's past candy shops. ( I must admit that looking at so many chocolates and candies, without tasting any samples is a bit off-putting.); and c) historic dress-up clothes for the kids. The museum has a bright central space devoted to children's activities. There were lots of children having a great time there yesterday. I spent a lot of time learning about how the Church of OUr Lady and "Education Hill" came to be at the centre of Guelph. I was surprised that we had a girls' school here before we had a boys' school. The beauty of the Guelph Civic Museum is its diversity, It has art shows, maps, local military history, industrial/commercial artifacts, church/educational information, and children's programming. A few more hands-on activities for adults might improve the museum experience.

Great little museum in a refurbished convent. Two areas house temporary exhibits -- we saw displays about former local candy stores and a wonderful art exhibit of saints in watercolors with gold leaf. An airy, light-filled children/family pavilion is housed in the former chapel. The permanent collection of the history of Guelph was great. It includes artifacts, photos and interactive computer displays. The building is fully accessible which is great for those with mobility concerns.

The newly expanded Guelph Civic Museum is, in my opinion, one of the best local museums around. Give yourself plenty of time to see all of the exhibits.

My family had a great visit. Very interesting displays in an old convent. Very bright and clean inside. The staff were really friendly and helpful. Very cheap to get into. Be aware that Garmin sends you to the wrong address, The museum is right beside the lovley Catholic church that you can see miles away!

If you have small children, and live anywhere even sort of close, do yourself a favour and buy a family membership. Exhibits change often and are often kid-friendly. The children's areas are great and run by an amazing and creative staff who clearly love their jobs. The membership is inexpensive and we often swing by if we have an hour or two to kill. As an added bonus, membership also gets you into the Waterloo museum, which is just as good and twice the size!

I have family history in Guelph, so my Mother and I made a special trip to the museum in search of pictures or information about her Grandfather, my Great Grandfather. Decades ago, my Mother remembered seeing pictures of him in the museum displays. But since then, the museum changed locations, and changed displays. So he was no longer in the exhibits. But as we were about to leave, I noticed the locked "Archives" room, which had staff inside. We inquired about my Great Grandfather, and an employee looked him up in their computer. Sure enough, she found two images of him and his buisness. She also looked through the old city maps, and found the site in the city where his business was located. We found out that we could have looked up his images through their website, but I don't think I would ever have known without the museum visit. Apparently they are also able to, for a fee, print you a photo from their archives since their images are high resolution.So this is the reason for my excellent rating. Thank you, GCM, for helping us find Alex A. Watt - Coal, Coke & Wood

This is a small museum but the fee is little too and what you see and learn is well worth it.Every exhibition is very well made and the museum is organized in a great way.Kids will love it.

Pros:-Extremely quietCons:-Very small.-(At least when I visited the place) the first floor didn't have anything in it.The museum has canvas paintings in it, and exhibits to show the history of Guelph. There are three floors.I didn't really like it. The only reason I gave it three stars is because it's very reasonably-priced, and you can visit it once in a period of one year for the ticket you buy.I'm not saying it was a waste of money. It's worth it cause of the low cost, but it's really small. Don't expect it to be like a Toronto museum.

Wide ranging story of Guelph and area. Displays are well thought out. The children's area interesting for the younger ones. Historic locale in reclaimed building an added bonus.

This museum had more to offer than we realized. The art exhibits were beautiful, the section about the history of Guelph was very well done and the family floor provided our kids with a few hours of good old fashioned fun. The key is to go and just let them explore.... don't be in a rush. They enjoyed making the crafts that were available, playing at the various dramatic play areas and using the hands on computer activities. They also found the puppet area, fossil dig and science discovery area to be quite entertaining. If you are looking for a low key, inexpensive way to spend a Saturday afternoon (family admission was $10.00) then this is a terrific spot!

We visited here one afternoon, and it was a nice place to take 4 little ones. They sped through the parts that weren't of interest to them of course (the Guelph specific exhibits that I wanted to read and explore). They had a great time in the hands on area and would have stayed longer if we'd let them. I wouldn't likely go back, unless we had the multi-museum pass, but it was fun for them when we went.

My family has been members for over 5 years now and my kids still are not board of the Guelph Museum. At $45 for a year membership not only gets you into the Museum and McCrae house but also at these partner locations: Wellington County Museum and Archives in Fergus, Waterloo Region Museum (formerly Doon Heritage Crossroads) in Kitchener and Joseph Schneider Haus in Kitchener. Every August we attend the Teddy Bear picnic at McCrae house (this year they are trying something new, an old fashioned family garden party) and the kid love to spend rainy days dressing up as farm animals, pretending to be pioneers loading up the wagon, serving food in the 50's themed kitchen. They also like to search for bones in the sand box, watching the fish, examining rocks up close. On our last visit they enjoyed making paper airplanes and learning about the famous Avro Arrow. I can't say I would recommend traveling to Guelph just for the museum, but for families living in Guelph its a great place to visit and keep the learning going all summer long, and with the membership you can visit another one of our families favorites Doon Heritage Crossroads.

I don't think we would go back frequently but as a new place to visit (both as a Guelphite and with children) it is an okay site to visit.