Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. This school will accommodate a 

 class of students for a week with complete facilities for the students to live in. 

 During this week, students participate in lectures, take field trips and carry out 

 experiments in a wide variety of nature science subjects. The curriculum of the 

 school has been drawn up primarily for students in grades 9 and 10 but students 

 are accepted from other grades at both the primary and secondary level. While 

 classes from schools located within the Metropolitan Authority watersheds are 

 given priority, classes from elsewhere in the province will be accepted on occasion. 

 Several Authorities have produced films of their watersheds and their 

 conservation projects. Notable among these films are those produced by the 

 Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority such as A TOWN 

 AND ITS RIVER, LEGACY OF THE VALLEY and PIONEER VILLAGE 

 AT BLACK CREEK. 



History 



An important part of most conservation reports to the Authorities has 

 been the section dealing with the historical background of the resource uses. 

 The history sections of these reports have been widely read and have resulted 

 in an increase of interest in local history on the part of watershed residents. 

 During the course of acquisition of lands for conservation purposes, a number 

 of Authorities have obtained historical sites and buildings. In order to preserve 

 them, several Authorities have developed historical villages or have restored old 

 mills and other buildings and have made them accessible to the public. 



Examples of old mills acquired and restored by Authorities include the 

 mill in the O'Hara Conservation Area near Madoc and the old grist mill in the 

 Backus Conservation Area in Norfolk County. The O'Hara Mill, originally built 

 in 1846-47, is a sawmill which is unique in Ontario. It is now the property 

 of the Moira River Conservation Authority. The Big Creek Region Conservation 

 Authority has restored the Backus Mill. 



Three Authorities have undertaken development of pioneer villages. The 

 largest and most ambitious of these is Pioneer Village in the Black Creek Con- 

 servation Area in north-west Toronto, developed by the Metropolitan Toronto 

 and Region Conservation Authority. This project is being developed as a typical 

 pre-Confederation crossroads agricultural community. 



The pioneer village in Fanshawe Park near London is a project of the 

 Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. This represents a village of the 

 1830's and its buildings are typical of south-western Ontario at that time. 

 The Grand Valley Conservation Authority provided the site for the Doon 

 Pioneer Village at the Doon Conservation Area. The actual development of 

 the village itself has been financed by and is under the direction of the Ontario 

 Pioneer Community Foundation of Waterloo County. 



In 1963 nearly 170,000 people, of which a large number were children, 

 visited these historical sites. Historic sites and pioneer villages are financed 

 entirely by the Authorities from their municipal revenues and other sources. 

 The Metropolitan Toronto and Region Authority has established the Metro- 

 politan Toronto and Region Conservation Foundation which accepts donations 

 from private sources for financing such projects as its Pioneer Village. 



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