Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County

February's newsletter is online, with a tenuous link to New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century and a History exam from 1926: mailchi.mp/ade114a4d542...

1990-06-08 House Moving-05 One of a series of photographs of a house being moved along Dundas Street in Belleville, Ontario. Taken by Frank O'Connor for the Intelligencer newspaper. An article in the June 9th, 1990 edition of ...

One of a series of photos taken during a literal house move from Palmer Road in Belleville to Shannonville in 1990. #ACAHashtagParty #ArchivesOnTheMove

www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

HMR2-09-05b "Snow at Car Works, Feby. '08" Three men shovelling snow from the railway tracks behind the Rathbun Company's car works at Deseronto, Ontario, in February 1908.

We are closed due to the snow today, but you can still reach us by phone or email. www.flickr.com/photos/deser...

Digitization workstation.

In December 2025, the Community Archives received a $15,000 contribution from a private individual in support of its ongoing work to preserve, digitize and share the region’s history. Our grateful thanks to this generous donor!

Happening tonight!

HCM00169 Walter Elliott on phone at his desk.

The Community Archives is closed due to poor weather today. You can still reach us by email or phone!
www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

Our current Reading Room exhibit takes a look at records relating to policing in Hastings County. Open Mon-Thu, 10-1 and 2-4 on the second floor of the Belleville Public Library building.
www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

BELLEVILLE CJB Cues TRENTON FROM: Phil Re: CHRISTMAS MUSIC TO: Lee Tom Doug Chuck Paul Lorne Janet Sylvia DATE: Nov. 12/54 As in past years, there will be certain limitations put on the playing of Christmas Music. There is always a tendency to start ’‘carolling* much too early with the result that by Christmas Week we are pretty sick of "The three Kings" etc. The deadline for Christmas music this year will be December 15th. The only programs which may make use of Christmas music before this date will be special Christmas Shows and even here we ask that you exercise some discretion...and try not to overdo it. Please initial beside your name when you have read this.

BELLEVILLE CJB Cues TRENTON FROM: Phil Re: XMAS MUSIC. As in past years general programming of Christmas Music will not commence until December 10th, Special Christmas shows will be allowed to used a reasonable proportion of Christmas Songs, but outside of these, the above date will be observed. TO: Production Staff. DATE: November 22/55

Local radio station CJBQ sent memos to its staff in November 1954 and 1955 about the earliest date that Christmas music could be played.

discover.cabhc.ca/radio-statio...

Black and white image of Christmas figurines and lights outside the Foster family home in Belleville with the words "Merry Christmas" overlaid.

Our holiday card image is a photograph taken for the Intelligencer newspaper by Frank O'Connor on December 19th, 1980. It shows the Christmas display of lights at the Foster family home on Emily Street in Belleville.

1975 report from The Intelligencer on the approval of the use of calculators in secondary schools in Hastings County, but not elementary schools.

50 years ago today, the Intelligencer reported that the Hastings County Board of Education had approved the use of calculators in secondary schools.

Check out “Life in the Clearings: Susanna Moodie’s Belleville” on display during the Belleville Arts Festival at The Belleville Public Library. This is an interactive collaborative exhibition between… read more in the alt text below 👇

List of participants in the Quinte Santa Claus Parade held on Saturday November 29th, 1975 in Belleville, Ontario.

Black and white image of one woman helping another dress up in a "Big Bird" costume.

Young girl with models of Santa's reindeer.

50 years ago: the Intelligencer newspaper covered preparations for the Quinte Santa Claus Parade, to be held on Saturday November 29th. The people in the photos were Lucy Stokmans, Kim Carleton, and Cindy Nelson.

"The Mighty Moira" Haiku activity in the John M. Parrott Gallery.

Our collaborative interactive exhibit in Belleville's John M. Parrott Gallery has a Haiku Board for poems about the Moira River.

Our November 2025 newsletter is online at mailchi.mp/3a248afca030... - find out more about the Intelligencer newspaper's "Mug Shots" series of around 10,000 images from the 1960s to 1980s.

1970-06-09 Joan Bronskill-01 Dr. Joan Bronskill, working at her microscope in the Canadian Department of Agriculture's Entomology Laboratory in Belleville, Ontario. Photograph taken for the Intelligencer newspaper.

Dr. Joan Bronskill (1924-1978) at her microscope in the Entomological Research Institute in Belleville. She was a founder of the Quinte Ballet School, a member of the Belleville Theatre Guild, and a charter member of the Quinte Arts Council. #ArchivesWomensHistory www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

Ad for Forepaugh's Circus in July 1880 in Belleville: "A human being Shot from a Cannon, loaded with powder and sent whriling through space and caught by a lady hanging head downward on the lofty trapeze. This wonder-moving feat performed at each exhibtion by Mons. Loyal, the 'human cannon-ball'. Appearance of the only Female Blondin, M'lle Ella Zuilla, who crosses the high wire 60 feet above the heads of the audience, blindfoled and with her feet encased in sacks, and rides a velocipede over the high wire! All riding on bareback horses! Grand pantomime troupe! 6 great clowns and 10 famous foreign actors. Only exhibition using the new and wonderful Electric Light!"

Circus advertisement from the Stirling News-Argus, July 1880 archive.org/details/stir...

Intelligencer May 1968 : The Intelligencer : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Newspaper published in Belleville, Ontario.

Another wildly inaccurate prediction about the world of work. Here's Robert Secord in 1968, forecasting that in 2000 only "20 per cent of the population will work and they will only work about 20 days a year" archive.org/details/inte...

Our October newsletter is online at mailchi.mp/9644c9ae5bb6... - find out about a railway crash in Trenton in 1961 and a family who were postmasters in Stirling for 90 years!

Ontario Land Records Index is now digitized and freely available to the public: archive.org/details/onta....
Thanks to the collaboration with the Archives of Ontario, @tofamilyhistory.bsky.social, OurDigitalWorld and CRKN.
internetarchivecanada.org/2025/09/24/n...

File 62: Bay of Quinte tartan Fabric sample. Production of this tartan began in 1967. It was made by Trenton Dyeing and Finishing and was designed by Alex Wilson.

Bay of Quinte tartan from 1967: "The dark blue blocks of the fabric represented the Bay, lighter blue blocks local rivers and streams, green blocks local fields and parks and the gold threads the golden future of the Quinte area."
www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...
#ACAHashtagParty #ArchivesUniqueItems

Typewritten text reads: "MOIRA SECONDARY SCHOOL Belleville, Ontario August 5, 1959 To the Students of Moira Secondary School and Their Parents: As I write this news bulletin it seems apparent that our new school will not be completed by September 8th, but in spite of all rumors to the contrary, we intend to have classes in the building. Since we will probably have an enrolment of approximately 500 students this may at times be inconvenient, but we are expecting that with complete cooperation from our students no academic progress need be lost. Last year the Students’ Council of Belleville Collegiate Institute and Vocational School made a number of suggestions regarding school dress. In line with their observations the following suggestions are being made; (1) Boys wear slacks (grey flannel) and sport shirts. (2) Girls avoid the excessive use of crinolines. A grey flannel skirt would be a useful addition to your wardrobe. The school colours are maroon and grey and so it is possible that the Students’ Council may decide to have maroon school jackets or blazers. The above suggestions are not meant to be obligatory but are made in the interests of economy and appearance. They are made for the benefit of those students who have to purchase new clothing, not with the idea of having anyone discard their present wardrobe. Note: (a) A girl who seeks to impress her associate with elaborate dress is indicating lack of confidence in her own personality. (b) A boy who wears sloppy jeans tends to become sloppy in his thinking and actions. (c) In all school activities may it be kept in mind that no one should be priced out of school by having to spend too much money on clothing and social functions in order to keep up with the crowd. I am looking forward to meeting all of you September. Yours truly, W. J. Musgrove Principal"

Guidance on what to wear for students of the new Moira Secondary School in Belleville in 1959.

View of buildings on the west side of the Moira river in Belleville, taken from City Hall.

Find out more about the buildings at the west end of Belleville's Lower Bridge in our latest newsletter at eepurl.com/jl6nJw

View of Bellevue Terrace in around 1980.

Bellevue Terrace in around 1880.

Bellevue Terrace in Belleville was built in 1876 at a cost of $12,000. Each of the six luxury tenements had a basement kitchen and dining room and a main floor drawing room and sewing room. On the top floor were bedrooms and a bathroom supplied with hot and cold running water. #ArchivesArchitecture

HC02646 Photograph of the Nonsuch visiting Belleville, Ontario. This was a reproduction built by the Hudson Bay Company in 1968 of the 1650 original, to celebrate the company's tercentenary in 1970. The ship...

For #transportTuesday we take a trip back to this week in 1970, when the replica ship Nonsuch visited Belleville. www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

Letter addressed to Sir Fortescue Flannery, Baronet.

We have found the best name of the day, no doubt about it. (In Gilbert Parker's papers)

Our latest newsletter is online at mailchi.mp/54c4fab9faca... - in it we take a look at a waterfront park which was never built and explore the history of the game of cricket in Hastings County.

Finding Bet in Belleville: The Archives of Slavery in Upper Canada - Belleville Public Library and John M. Parrott Art Gallery Finding Bet in Belleville: The Archives of Slavery in Upper Canada  Professor Natasha Henry-Dixon will discuss her current research on the history of chattel slavery in colonial Ontario. She will […]

An event happening today which may be of interest: www.bellevillelibrary.ca/event/findin...

1990-06-18 Storm 011 Belleville bus on Quinte Mall to Hillcrest route (8) passing through a large puddle and spraying water. One of a series of photographs taken after a rain storm in Belleville, Ontario by Chris Malette...

For #TransportTuesday, here's a Belleville city bus in a rainstorm, taken in June 1990 by Chris Malette: www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

PC 38 "Centennial Secondary School Presents Bye Bye Birdie At C. S. S. Auditorium Belleville March 4, 5, 6, 7 8 P.M. Tickets $1.00 Limited Number of Reserved Seats for Each Performance TICKETS AVAILABLE FRO...

#ThrowbackThursday to the 1970 production of Bye Bye Birdie at Centennial Secondary School in Belleville. www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...

According to the Intelligencer, over 200 students at the school were involved in putting on this musical. archive.org/details/inte...

Henderson-1968 1968 portrait of a man identified only as "Henderson" in the "Mug Shots" series of photographs taken for the Intelligencer newspaper in Belleville, Ontario.

Does anyone recognize this man? His photo was taken in 1968 for the Intelligencer newspaper and "Henderson" is the only name given. www.flickr.com/photos/cabhc...