The OHS is proud to announce the launch of our updated Ontario Heritage Directory & Map. This 2020 digital initiative and service to our members follows up on our recent launches of the Ontario History journal online archive, the Elibrary, and the Ebook store.
The Ontario Heritage Directory & Map shows a list of over 400 of the OHS’s current Affiliate Members (incorporated through the OHS) and Institutional Members in Ontario. Our database of member groups includes a wide breadth of heritage organizations from all parts of the province, such as historical societies, historic sites, libraries, archives, museums, cultural centres, municipal heritage committees, cemetery preservation committees, and more.
The Directory & Map is free to use for anyone in Ontario or around the world, and may be explored on desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices. The map provides a visual representation of heritage activity across Ontario, helping users find and connect with our Affiliate and Institutional members. As a heritage tourism tool, this Directory & Map will raise the profile of our groups across the province. The Directory & Map is also a great online tool to expose students to local history sites and heritage organizations.
Users may focus on a particular region by zooming into the interactive map, or may enter a term (e.g. city) in the directory’s search box. For example, searching for “Thunder Bay” produces nine OHS member listings, from Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior to the Thunder Bay Railway Historical Society.
Each listing includes the publicly available address, phone number, and email address. In addition, listings link to websites and social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Logged-in members may update their public listings at any time, or may let us know if they wish to make changes.
Since the 1980s, the OHS has maintained and published an invaluable directory of heritage institutions and organizations in Ontario. For a decade, the OHS’s extremely popular online Directory & Map has served as a well used and much respected hub for heritage groups across the province. This new version highlights and gives wide exposure to the Society’s own member groups, while providing links to other provincial heritage organizations.
Is your organization not an OHS member but would like to be included in the Directory & Map? Please let us know! You may join through our website, or email us at ohs@ontariohistoricalsociety.ca. Members are encouraged to make use of this new online service and share it with their friends and colleagues.
The Society would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.