Established 1998

Brampton Historical Society

PAMA Archives- Archives Tour - Christmas in Peel On December 4th, 2025, members of BHS braved a particularly cold night to attend a unique tour of the Region of Peel Archives and vault located at PAMA on Wellington St. Our tour guides were Archivists Kyle Neill and Jacob Keszei. The theme of our tour was Christmas in Peel. Kyle presented a wonderful sample from the Archive collection. Some of the items shown to the group were: Christmas family pictures from glass plate negatives to pictures in the 1940s, novelty Christmas cards from early 20th century, photo Christmas cards from Williams Perkins Bull, and a child’s letter to Santa from the Benares family. Kyle also provided the background stories to the displayed items and the people who provided the artifacts. The history of the Dapper Cat, a treasured Christmas postcard from 1910 and fondly regarded as the Archive posterchild, was just one of those funny stories. Within the vault, Kyle showed a couple of vintage maps of Brampton. The 1980s promotional map of commercial businesses in Brampton was popular amongst the attendees. Jacob provided quick tours of the PAMA galleries and the jail and answered our questions about the Archives work. Currently, the majority of the Archives are composed of paper documents such as cards, letters, maps, documents, and photographs. When asked about the impact of digital media on the important work of the Archives, Jacob pointed out that this presents the most challenging issue for all archivists. The reason is the rapid change in technology. Generally, technology changes about every ten years. As a result, software becomes obsolete (and no longer available) and any data/documents created and stored with this same software may be lost. Indeed, a complex problem. Kyle and Jacob advised our members that the Region of Peel Archives has an extensive (and growing) collection of artifacts. This vault is one of several locations used by the Archives team. Most importantly, the Archives’ records are available to the public by appointment. We are fortunate to have such a great resource in our community. A good time was had by all. Many Thanks to Kyle & Jacob!

Member Event - June 7
Day at Great War Flying Museum 
1 pm to 3 pm
Friends & Family are invited.

Join us for a special tour of the Great War Flying Museum located at the Brampton Airport, 13691 McLaughlin Rd, just north of Brampton. The museum website is: greatwarflyingmuseum.org. This museum is dedicated to the young pilots of WWI. There is a great display of WWI memorabilia and precision models. Museum volunteers have also created life size replicas of WWI warplanes including the Fokker Dr.I - the plane flown by the Red Baron! 
Members attend for free! Thanks to the generosity of the Museum, the fee for non-members is $5 each. Children under 14 are free.  All attendees must sign up/register; send us a note at our email.

​Farmers’ Market

BHS will be at the Brampton Farmers’ Market this year. Talking all about Brampton history, Steve Collie will man the booth. He is looking for another pair of hands to help out. Please send an email to BHS if you can help.  BHS booth will be at the Market on: June 13th, July 25th and September 26th

Check it out this summer!

2019 Annual BHS Bus Trip to Guelph

​​Places visited:  Guelph Museum, John McCrae House and local bus tour around Guelph

Past Events

2018 Annual BHS Bus Trip to Cobourg and Bowmanville

All Aboard - The Railways of Peel

​​
 On July 26th, 2025, 25 BHS members enjoyed a private tour of the PAMA exhibition "All Aboard - The Railways of Peel".  The tour was led by Dr. Thomas F. McIIwraith, retired Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.  Dr. McIIwraith is a railway enthusiast who researches the history of railroad construction and its impact on society. He is one of the historians who partnered with PAMA to put this wonderful exhibit together.  In his introduction to our tour, Dr. McIIwraith described the importance of the railways to successfully move people and goods in the nineteenth century when road travel was too slow and impractical.  Interestingly, he pointed out that while the use of the railroads declined after WW2,  once again interest and investment in railroads are increasing as a solution to escalating congestion on today's roads.