Last summer, I took advantage of camping at Awenda Provincial Park to drag my family to Discovery Harbour. This was a place I had known about since my teens, when I was sailing tall ships. In fact, I had applied for jobs there several times, trying to get jobs sailing on their two tall ships HM Ships Tecumseh and Bee. This seemed a brilliant opportunity, however, and so we went in.
First off, despite being the summer we were one of only a few visitors there, and I was surprised how calm things were, despite it being the middle of July. I very much hope that it gets more visitors than we saw.
The museum is on the beautiful site of the Royal Navy (and it turns out, the Army’s establishment) in Penetanguishene, on Georgian Bay. This was established and dis-established several times as a preeminent site on Georgian Bay around the War of 1812. This is a link to Thomas Malcomson’s article looking at the Penetanguishene site after the War of 1812 (in The Northern Mariner).
All photos were taken by myself.
Here, we are looking back at one of the modern buildings in the Museum site. It is used for a theatre, and the new front entrance to the museum is off to the left. To the right is where the Tecumseh and Bee are docked, or at least where they are currently placed. More about that later. There is a substantial parking lot, and people need to walk to the front gate, which is some distance with some children although there seem to be golf carts for those with mobility issues to ferry people between the front gate and the parking lots. However, if you do have mobility issues, be aware that the museum is a fairly long walk from one end to another. It is also very much out in the open, so bring water and weather-appropriate clothes. There are some places to rest.
Once you’re in the museum and past the theatre and building you come to a series of historical buildings, although not all in original positions. They provide a really good insight into the physical condition of the establishment at Penetanguishene when people were stationed there.
Here we have a couple of the example buildings- there is a large number of tools and artifacts to demonstrate things- it’s really very good for children. And many of the buildings also have staff reenacting roles to help teach children and visitors (I didn’t take photos of them).
I very much enjoyed seeing things related to the people who were living in Penetanguishene during the duration of the Eastblishment, and was very happy to see they had some small gardens there as well, as well as historical documentation to put these things into context.
The absolute highlight of the museum for me was the very modern building housing the HMS Tecumseh Centre. In this building was housed, like Ontario’s version of the Vasa Museum or the Mary Rose museum, a historical ship that had been recovered and preserved.
On the main floor was one room that provided an opportunity to see what it would be like to be on the Quarterdeck/deck of the Tecumseh as it was in service. It was very interesting, and is absolutely suited for children.
The main portion of the building as seen in these photo above contain the preserved remains of the Tecumseh itself, surrounded by extensive displays about its building, service, abandonment, recovery, and preservation. The building itself is fascinating- and is situated right at the end of the museum, near what is now the staff parking lot. When I asked a staff why they placed the jewel of the museum so far from the front entrance, the answer was that partially for space but also because what is now the staff parking lot used to be the main entrance. It is a fair walk from the visitor entrance however as a warning.
In the large space next to it was quite a bit about the Army Establishment in Penetanguishene, as shown in these photos. It’s very much set up for educating children and teens about the War of 1812. There’s even enough wooden muskets to throw a platoon of teens around a parade square for a while. Some real hands-on training. I loved to see the edition of the Infantry Manual that they had.
Now to come back to Tecumseh and Bee, the reasons I came to Discovery Harbour in the first place. Unfortunately, these two vessels have largely been left to rot. Although when I visited, there was some effort being made to restore them. Effectively the decisions has been made that they will, if possible, become static museum exhibits, but they will not sail again. This is for insurance reasons as much as the cost of paying for qualified crews. Visitors do not have access to these vessels but it is hoped that they will be able to be visited again in the future.
I very much hope that the museum gets the visitors and the support it deserves going forward, because it is an important maritime museum in Ontario. The Tecumseh really is a jewel of maritime heritage.
