Home From the War – Stories of St. Catharines’ Wartime Neighbourhoods photo exhibit will run Feb 19 – May 14, 2010 at City Hall during regular office hours (8:30-4:30 Monday-Friday). The exhibit is a joint project of the St. Catharines Heritage Committee and the City of St. Catharines’ Cultural Services Division.
The exhibit photos are from the St. Catharines Museum’s Standard Photo Collection and from private family collections.
Between 1941 and 1947, Wartime Housing Ltd. (later Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation – CMHC) built over 30,000 homes for munitions workers and returning veterans and their families. The building continued into the peace years and today there is an estimated one million wartime houses still standing in Canada. Here in St. Catharines we have over 1,500 wartime homes that were built between 1941 and 1947. These neighbourhoods are familiar to most people in the city, but why these homes were built and who the first occupants were are often not known.
This site will attempt to explore the reasons these homes were built, who lived in them, how they helped to change and shape our city and gather the stories of the families who once lived in these homes and who are living there today.
This site is a work in progress. We will be adding information, photos, and stories. If you would like to share your story, click on the Share Your Story link under The Families link.