IN CELEBRATION OF THE ST. MATILDA'S 200TH ANNIVERSARY

Two hundred years ago something never heard of was happening way back in the woods at a place that would become to be called Marmora.

The fresh little Town was bustling as the home of the grandest industry yet seen in Upper Canada. It was our first mining town and grew into an Irontown producing iron bars and hollow ware for settlers about to try starting a new life in a colony which was largely still a wilderness.

A splendid petite stone church was being built by the glistening shores of a stout river, to serve an immigrant Irish Catholic workforce-- still generally scorned for their beliefs in a starchily Protestant colony .

Eighty years ago, W. R. Freemen was thinking, intermittently fishing, and actively socializing, while quietly holidaying at a pleasant resort on a beautiful lake nearby. He had a gift for words which he turned to a brief history of the area he was growing to love.

Now after so many years there are few if any of the cute little yellow stapled books left around. For that reason and as a tribute to Mr. Freeman’s research, his poetic style, and his love of our community, the Marmora Historical Foundation has taken the liberty of republishing and illustrating a version of the little masterpiece to celebrate these anniversaries. ($10.00)

Copies are available at the Marmora Library or contact us at info@marmorahistory.ca and we’ll mail you one.

Marmora Historical Foundation

Spring of 2026