Genealogy resource centre
Don’t miss this unique museum full of old documents and operated by welcoming host Joanne Burroughs, the executive director of the Highland Grove Historical Society.
First built in 1890 by Walter Kidd, the school operated in the village of Kidd’s Corners until the 1920s.
It later served as a hunt camp and information booth until moving to its current location in 2004. Here, it was restored and reopened as a museum in 2010.
Photos: Vlad Umnov
4 Responses
Good afternoon,
I am writing to see if the museum is still open?
My great, great grandfather was Walter Kidd.
Thank you,
Michael Kidd
Hi Michael — what a wonderful connection.
Walter Kidd built the original schoolhouse back in 1890, so this is very much your family’s story. We visited and photographed the museum in 2023, when it was run by Joanne Burroughs of the Highland Grove Historical Society. We’d suggest calling ahead before you visit, as hours can be seasonal — the museum’s number is 705-448-9546, and there’s a blog at kiddschool.blogspot.com.
I’ll also email you directly.
Thanks for getting in touch — it’s exactly the kind of message that makes this project worthwhile.
I’m contacting you to find out if the book “WATSON GENEOLOGY” would be available to purchase. If not from ypu then could you tell me it can be found from other sources.
Hi Randy — thanks for writing in. Just to clarify, we’re 1000 Towns of Canada, a travel website that features the Kidd Schoolhouse Museum on this page — we’re not the museum itself, so we don’t sell books or hold their collection.
The best people to ask would be the Highland Grove Historical Society, who run the museum as a genealogy resource centre. You can reach them at 705-448-9546, and there’s more at kiddschool.blogspot.com. They’d be the ones to know whether a Watson genealogy is available, or where else it might be found.
Hope that points you in the right direction.