Lori Ann Sanche, co-Editor of HPOC.ca, brings you our feature article.

Mother Barnes’ bucolic early 19^th century hewn log cabin, located on what is now called Mother Barnes Road near the rural community of Plum Hollow in Eastern Ontario, is a superbly restored testament to a renowned clairvoyant’s prolonged life and work in this region. Elizabeth Barnes, known locally as Mother Barnes and more widely after her death by the specious title of “The Witch of Plum Hollow”, bought her cabin in the late 1850s or early 1860s, and stayed there until her death in 1891, providing reportedly accurate tea-leaf readings daily to the large numbers of enthralled patrons who came to see her from all over Canada and the USA.

This article will be available on this page soon with reference links, but you can read it now by clicking here for a PDF version.

Also, watch our first HPOC Show about Mother Barnes' cabin!

It’s one of the oldest stone homes in Peterborough, Ontario. Today, it is a living museum providing a glimpse of what life was like in the 1800s. In this latest article from researcher-writer Stephen Robbins, we discover the home’s special past, and what it took for the Hutchison House Museum to survive a pandemic. It has been described as a monument to citizens’ co-operation for the benefit of the community. From what we can tell, it continues to be just that.

To help commemorate National Indigenous Peoples Day, HPOC is pleased to present our latest article featuring Wanuskewin Heritage Park, near Saskatoon. This sacred land has been a gathering place for the Northern Plains Indigenous peoples for more than 6,400 years. Now, it is a gathering place for people from all over the world. To explain the magnificent work going on at Wanuskewin and what further makes the site so important, Wanuskewin CEO Darlene Brander spoke to HPOC guest writer Stephen Robbins.

Edelweiss Village in Golden BC, Canada, is the historic home of the famous Rocky Mountain Swiss Guides. In 2021, the entire village property was put up for sale and was at risk for demolition. If this happened, one of the last remaining links to the golden age of Canadian mountaineering, and its Swiss-Canadian heritage, could have been lost. Fortunately, the Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation has managed to secure the property. Working with significant financial limitations, how is this non-profit heritage organization managing to succeed? For the potential answer, and a description of this significant village/past, see our latest HPOC article by Stephen Robbins, researcher-writer. For this article, he spoke to Dr. Ilona Spaar, co-founder of the Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation.

Researcher-writer Stephen Robbins guides us through the fascinating history and extensive restoration of a c.1850 Greek Revival stone home, following an interview by HPOC with the homeowners, Gail and Bill Ellison. The home is located in Merrickville, Ontario, an hour southwest of Ottawa on the Rideau River.  The Rideau Canal locks, one of which is located in this historical village, are a National Historic Site of Canada and a World Heritage Site.  The house is a landmark in the village, now known for its vibrant specialty shops and heritage charm that makes it the "Jewel of the Rideau".

Dr. Jordan Chase, who holds a PhD in History, guides us through the fascinating heritage of Bon Echo Provincial Park and the significance of the famous Mazinaw Rock that has been a meeting place since time immemorial, where culture, history and art intersect.  This article accompanies the launch of the Canadian Vistas Ambient Nature Videos streaming service, which features footage of the Rock lit up at sunset. Photos in the article, unless otherwise indicated, are of scenes from the "Mazinaw Rock Spotlight" video.