Westfield Heritage Centre 4.22

The Westfield Heritage Village is home to the Westfield Heritage Village. The village contains over 30 historic buildings on a 3.4 square kilometres (840 acres) site. The village is located just west of Rockton, Ontario, Canada.Brief historyIn 1961, the Westfield Pioneer Village Association was established by two Brantford, Ontario high schoolteachers, D. Glenn Kilmer and Golden Macdonnell, who purchased land near Rockton, Ontario, using their own money. Doreen Kilmer, a teacher and wife of Glenn Kilmer wasn't part of the Association. However, she participated equally in the development and management of Westfield. It acquired the original 30acre of land. Their goal was to save heritage buildings that were in danger of being destroyed and also to create a hands-on educational facility to teach pioneer life. Glenn Kilmer's father had been a builder and owner of Kilmer Lumber Company in Aylmer Ontario (subsequently sold to Beaver Lumber Co). Golden Macdonnell was a science teacher who had a keen interest in the history of Ontario. Both men were able to reconstruct the donated buildings which arrived at Westfield. Golden built the forges from fieldstone on the site and Doreen managed the General Store. The original name of the facility was the Westfield Pioneer Village. The Village unofficially opened in June 1963 and officially opened in 1964. Westfield Village was open to the public on weekends in June, September and October and during the summer holidays, seven days a week from 10:00 a.m to 5:00 pm. It provided jobs for students as well as ladies in the area who operated school tours. There were 12 buildings open at this time staffed by students. In May 1968 the former Wentworth County purchased the village for CAD $32,700. Ownership transferred to the Wentworth County on November 1, 1968.