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Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 4pm

Frontenac County Schools Museum

Name: Frontenac County Schools Museum
Address: 414 Regent Street, Barriefield, Kingston, ON, K7K5R1, CA
Telephone: +16135449113
Price range: $

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Frontenac County Schools Museum

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The Schools Museum provides an authentic 1890s schoolroom experience and has a wide variety of artifacts on display, with activities for all ages.

The Frontenac County Schools Museum began as a project to celebrate Kingston's Tercentenary in 1973. A small group of retired educators spent many hours researching and photographing schools and school sites, collecting books and artefacts, and microfilming hundreds of school records. In 1977 the Museum Association was formally established, and by late 1979, the museum was ready to be unveiled to the public. In 1993, the museum re-opened in a new site at Robert Meek Public School. However, when RMPS closed, the museum was forced to pack up for a few years before coming to its current home in Barriefield in 2005.

10/19/2026

Chalkboard Champion

Edward J. Corkhill was both a student and teacher at S.S. No.6 Loughborough- Wilmur. He attended the school in the 1870s, and became the school’s first student to pass the High School Entrance Exam in 1877. Corkhill returned to Wilmur School in 1880 as the teacher. Corkhill supplied many of the books for the school from his personal library. This act was uncommon for the time, and exemplifies Corkhill’s interest in education.

10/16/2026

School Spotlight

Rideau School
Rideau School opened on 9 September 1926 and was constructed to replace the “Old Rideau School,” previously known as Williamsville. The new school relieved high attendance at Frontenac, Macdonald, Victoria, and Louise schools. The opening was attended by Ontario’s Lieutenant- Governor, Henry Cockshutt. He was given a gold key to commemorate his visit to Kingston and the opening of Rideau School. According to the Kingston Board of Education minutes, the weather on opening day was “unpropitious and prevented a large gathering of the citizens of Kingston from attending.” The school was built at a cost of $119,186.25 ($2,116,851.44 in 2025). It was designed by architect Colin Drever, who designed many of Kingston’s schools. In 1967, the Director of Education recommended a pilot French Immersion program at Rideau. It would become the first French Immersion program in Kingston.

10/14/2026

Archival Excerpt

This was the successful tender to bind books for the Kingston Common School Board. H. Stalleraffe Smith submitted proposed to complete the work at $0.10 per book. It is unknown how many books were bound or repaired.

10/12/2026

Chalkboard Champion

Joseph Grey Elliott

Elliot served as a trustee of the Kingston Board of Education from its establishment in 1897 through the early-1900s. He was a well-known advocate for education with progressive views. During his time as a trustee he played a critical role in shaping school finances and overall education policy in Kingston. He also served as Managing Editor of the Daily British Whig for a number of years.

10/09/2026

School Spotlight

The Princess Street School opened in 1855 and was one of the earliest schools in Kingston. Like many of the schools at the time, it was not built or owned by the Kingston Common School Board. The building was originally the Temperance Hall and rent was paid to the Sons of Temperance. The building also housed the Kingston Common School Board Library, which supplied books to all of the City schools. The school only operated until 1868 when it was replaced by Cataraqui School. Today, the building is an antique emporium.

10/07/2026

Archival Excerpt

This is a tender to repair books submitted by Thomas McAuley to the Kingston Common School Board. Textbooks were expensive to purchase. Therefore, books were more often repaired than replaced.

10/05/2026

Chalkboard Champion

Colin Drever
Building on last week’s architecture theme, today we look at Colin Drever, a well-known mainly 20th Century school architect. Drever’s portfolio includes Rideau School, the Technical Wing expansion of KCVI and expansion to Louise School in 1931-32, Winston Churchill P.S. The Museum contains many of these architectural records

10/02/2026

School Spotlight

Wellington Street School

The original Wellington Street School opened in January of 1862, it was in this building that the first Night School in Kingston took place, which was replaced by a stone school in 1873. The school was located on 47 Wellington Street, and was designed by John Power, with tenders for the school totalling $7200. Wm. Irving & Son fulfilled the carpentry tender and Richard Tossell was the stone mason. Wellington Street School opened in the fall of 1874, with W.G. Kidd as principal, and James Metcalfe as the assistant principal. From 1877-1887 the school was used as the Kingston Model School until it was transferred to Central School. Wellington Street School was renamed Sydenham School on 13 September 1900, and operated until its closure in 1926, where students were likely transferred to Louise School. The building was used for many years following the closure of the school. The Kingston Badminton Club used the building from the late 1920s until 1943, after which it was taken over by the HMCS Cataraqui to be used as a training centre during WWII. Following the war, Queen’s University leased the building for use by the engineering department. They added a full hydraulics lab and used the former school until 1967. The building remained until it was turned into apartments in the early 1980s.

09/30/2026

Archival Excerpt

This 1875 Inspector’s Report details some of the educational challenges in Kingston. Older classes are near overpopulated, and attendance is very irregular. These problems would be common throughout Ontario at the time.

09/29/2026

The FCSM offers both full-day and half-day programming for elementary schools. Learn what it was like to attend a one-room school throughout our “One-Room School Experience’ and a host of other programs. Contact us at [email protected] or by phone at 613-544-9113 for more information!

Address

414 Regent Street, Barriefield
Kingston, ON
K7K5R1

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+16135449113

Website

http://www.fcsmuseum.com/

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