The Vankleek Hill Museum was created to collect, preserve, research, exhibit and interpret objects that best serve to illustrate the founding, the settlement and the development of the town of Vankleek Hill and immediate area from 1797 to the present, with our primary focus on the time period of 1797 to 1920.

To accomplish this, our Museum is centred on a 19th century general store theme as a vehicle through which our community's local history can be interpreted. This complements the building in which the Museum is housed - an 1834 general store.

We collect objects with stories that contribute to an understanding of past human behaviour, customs, activities, episodes, institutions and personalities. In essence, these items are touchstones that link the historical past to our present and take us into considerations of the future. Yes, an inoffensive object such as an eggbeater, or a grain measure; or the romance and drudgery of a soldier's uniform can set us off spinning insightful stories about Vankleek Hill.

Why concentrate on 1797 - 1920? Because these are currently our most vulnerable objects and stories as one generation naturally gives way to the next. We also consider objects from more recent time periods, but we ask more from them. Our storage space is limited and our collections committee must find good reasons for their entry into the collections.

The Collections Committee: Chair Debbie Hall. Members: Harvey LeRoy, Alice McLaurin, Norm MacCrimmon.