By Lisa Terech, Youth Engagement / Programs
In an earlier post, I discussed a few of the wall hangings inside the Henry House Study. Today, I’d like to share about the largest hanging we have in the study, and my favourite artifact on tour of the museum, our Tackabury Map.
With the frame measuring at 6×7’ (or, 182.5 x 217cm), this hanging dominates the north wall of the Study. It fit with the interpretation of the room because Thomas was a travelling minister for the Christian Church, who would have utilized a map when planning his travels. It also fits with the interpretation time period as it dates from 1862.
The map is of Canada West, featuring an overall map of the province, and surrounding this, there are inset maps of the major cities, including Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, and Hamilton. There is also an inset map of North America, and several drawn images from around Canada West (Toronto, Niagara Falls, University of Toronto, etc). It is a detailed map of Canada West (Ontario), showing major roads, railroad and proposed railroad lines, concessions and lots, and county, township and town boundaries. Place names, post offices and telegraph stations are also identified. Census figures for 1861 and a mileage table are also shown. Port Oshawa can be seen on the map on the very eastern edge of the County of Ontario. Many visitors will often look for Oshawa within the boundaries of Durham County, as we are now in the Region of Durham, however, boundaries changed in the 1970s; before then, we were geographically in the County of Ontario, which stretched from Pickering in the west, to East Whitby and Oshawa in the east, and as far north as the Township of Rama, where Orillia and Casino Rama are.
One of my favourite features, and my favourite thing to talk about, is the ‘Time Table.’ Because there was no ‘standard time’ in 1862, it showed what time is would be across the province (Ottawa = 12pm; Whitby = 11:47; Toronto = 11:43, 8s). Today, if it is 12 o’clock noon, that would be time across the province and the time zone, however, in 1862, 12 o’clock noon was set by the sun. This fascinating vestige from days past always gets an interesting reaction from visitors.
Oshawa Museum Blog 
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