Antiquing Niagara
A Guide to the Shops and Spectacle of Niagara on the Lake
Niagara on the Lake is very old. Established by John Butler and a squad of British Loyalists in 1778, this town is one of oldest settlements in Canada. As you can imagine, after 250 years of being a cultural hot spot, Niagara on the Lake is well stocked with valuable antiques and collectibles. Use this guide to find the best bargains in the Antique Belt.
The
Shaw Festival Theatre is a world class performing arts company that brings the plays of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries to life on three stages. The entertainment spectacle nicely compliments every antique collector’s annual pilgrimage.
Shaw Festival plays punctuate the excitement of this historic destination. Here you can see, touch and breathe in the history; the scenery includes thundering black powder cannons inside the walls of Fort George, trolley rides, and quaint horse and buggy tours under maple tree lined streets. As most of the buildings have historic plaques chronicling their existence, it’s fun to just to saunter around town for an afternoon.
Shopping for Antiques
The villages of Niagara on the Lake, Virgil and Jordan are terrific places to shop for antique furniture, vintage kitchenware, stain glass windows and lamps. Although military collectibles are surprisingly scarce, there's an extraordinary amount of sheet music, lace, dolls and doll house furniture, vintage bar supplies and nostalgia pieces from the 1920s and 30s. The area is also rich in antique toys, iron tools, and collectible fruit sealer jars.
Understand the History of Niagara
The entire Niagara peninsula is steeped in Canadian history because,
1) it’s really old, and
2) it contains a cool waterfall, and
3) its right on the border with the United States and they haven’t always been so friendly. Remember the whole place was settled and collecting dust before Confederation birthed the Dominion of Canada (1867). Recognizing the heritage surplus, The Niagara Historical Society & Museum was founded here in 1895 to encourage the study of Canadian History and Literature, and to collect and preserve Canadian historical records and relics. The area has at least nine other museums, and more historical reenactments per square mile than anywhere else in Canada.
Etienne Brűlé was the first European to see Niagara Falls in the summer of 1633.
The first eyewitness account of the falls in written text was by Father Louis Hennepin in 1683 wherein he described it as, ‘the most beautiful and altogether the most terrifying waterfall in the universe’.
The first European settlers were primarily British Loyalists fleeing America in 1778. At the end of the American Revolution, these Loyalists were given land grants, and the town of Niagara was laid out on the west bank of the Niagara River. As the first farms were being cut from the wilderness, the first orchards were planted and they included apple trees from Quebec and the Maritimes, and red cherries from the east coast of the United States. The whole settlement prospered under the leadership of John Butler, who had led a regiment of rangers during the revolution.
Pottery, porcelain and fine china
Lakeshore Antiques and Treasures is located at 855 Lakeshore Road in the center of Niagara on the Lake. This is a well stocked 7000 square foot building wherein 15 separate merchants offer up their wares. Overall there are good prices here on painted pine furniture and English china. The shop is filled with tables and chairs and early Canadian pottery, porcelain, and English fine china and American kitchenware from the 1940s and 50s. Antique chandeliers hang from the rafters over many merchant holdings.
Look for handcrafted wood furniture
Known for good handcrafted wood furniture, the entire Niagara region is rich in century old primitives that sometimes incorporate fruit woods. Inside
Europa-Antiques for example, shoppers will admire the cherry and apple wood desks, chests, walnut side tables and wardrobes, pine dressers and bookshelf units, all being sold for less than $350. The proprietors of this business, located at 1523 Niagara Stone Road, inside a ‘dear old red brick church’, have an interesting attitude toward recycling furniture as part of their contribution to help reduce climate change. Josh points to the green Reduce, Reuse, Recycle triangle on his hemp shopping bags. This business is here to sell good furniture cheap, and keep the inventory moving by offering very low prices. And BEST OF ALL, if you buy over four hundred dollars worth of furniture they will deliver it for free as far away as Toronto!
Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian antiques
Creighton House Antiques is a family business located on the main street of Jordan since 1982, but Joe and Pauline Creighton have been in the area, selling antiques for thirty years. Their large shop is located in the carriage house next to their 1850s Georgian home. They have lots of Canadiana, Victorian, and Edwardian furniture pieces, turn-of-the-century oak wardrobes, and quality mahogany and walnut furniture of the 1920s. The antiques are in “as found condition”, and range from fair to good condition. Joe does the buying and prides himself of the selection - there’s something for everyone here.
Bakelite is a good buy in Niagara
The area is becoming known for unusual bakelite items like radios and picnic vessels, tableware and all manner of period Art Deco objects. These gorgeous early wood plastic luxury items were imported by retailers to accommodate Niagara Falls tourists in the booming1950’s. Today vintage bakelite is very sheik, and these antiques are cool to collect and relatively inexpensive here because of their availability.
Jordan Antiques is found at 3836 Main Street in the village of Jordan and boasts 6000 square feet of shopping; there are a lot of antiques here and it’s not crowded. The prices are good on pine furniture, fine china and figurines. There’s an abundance of Art Deco ashtrays, cranberry coloured carnival glass, vintage Christmas decorations, antique fishing lures, wooden tackle boxes, and handmade quilts. This is the perfect place to outfit a cottage with classic furnishings.
In 1792 the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, chose Niagara as the temporary capital of the province. He held parliament here until 1796. Unfortunately the town was just too close to a volatile border with the United States. Indeed, this fertile region was the principle theatre of operations for both the War of 1812, and the Fenian Raids of 1867. Between these years are wonderful stories about Laura Secord, the Mackenzie printing press, and the last stop on the Underground Railroad where so many African American men and women finally found freedom. There's three hundred years of history waiting in the antiques stores of Niagara on the Lake.
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