The County of Brant Public Library Digital Collections is a project with the goal of preserving the history of the County of Brant and making it available around the world. This site presents digitized original historical documents, photographs, complete history books and other materials. It is an ongoing project, with the aim of expanding to document every community in the County of Brant.

These Digital Historical Collections were made possible by the incredible contribution of a number of local historical organizations as well as donations by private members of our community. The County of Brant Public Library is proud to have partnered with so many valuable historical groups: The Paris Museum and Historical Society, Heritage Mount Pleasant, The Canadian Military and Heritage Museum, The South Dumfries Historical Society and the Salt Springs Church Historical Society. Without the tireless efforts of these groups this collection would not have been possible.

The first project in this digitization program is the Hiram Capron Collection, which documents the life and career of Hiram Capron, the founder of Paris. You can see original historical records created by Capron himself, look at photos and maps, or read our essays summarizing Capron's life.

Other material currently available includes the popular At the Forks of the Grand history books by D.A. Smith, including detailed copies of the original photographs published in them.

The second collection made available is the Penmans Collection, which focuses on the Penmans clothing company and its effects on the lives of its employees in Paris.

The Mount Pleasant Collection documents the families and places of Mount Pleasant and its history. It includes the entire book The Work of Our Hands by Sharon Yaeger along with many photos, documents, and more.

The Burford and Oakland Township collections document the experience of living in these communities in years gone by through photos and more.

The South Dumfries Historical Society and Ann Gaunt collections are just two of the collections we've added that document the history of the former South Dumfries Township. Browse these collections to learn about early life in St. George, Glen Morris, Harrisburg and more. The South Dumfries Collection was generously supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.

To use this collection, you can use the search bar on the main page to search for names, titles, keywords, or even words in the texts of items themselves. Alternately, you can browse using the groups linked below.

Links:

Hiram Capron Collection
At the Forks of the Grand: Volume I
     Photos from Volume I
At the Forks of the Grand: Volume II
     Photos from Volume II
Penmans Collection

Mount Pleasant Collection
The Work of Our Hands
     Photos from The Work of Our Hands

Oakland Township Collection
Burford Township Collection

St. George Collection
Glen Morris Collection
Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Collection
Witteveen Collection
Onondaga Collection

The support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Culture, is acknowledged.