The Museum is located within the village of Jordan, Ontario. Our site encompasses 1.3 acres of land, bordered by the Niagara escarpment, and directly connects to the Twenty Valley Trail. Our site is also home to several historical buildings and commemorative sites, including the 1815 Fry House, the 1859 Schoolhouse, the Haines Cemetery, and a replica Conestoga wagon.
The Fry Family House is a two-story log dwelling built around 1815 by Jacob Fry and Elizabeth Wismer, two early German-speaking Mennonite settlers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Originally located near the intersection of Fly Road and Victoria Avenue in Vineland, the home is a rare surviving example of Pennsylvania German Traditional architecture in Canada. The house’s distinctly medieval form, with its steep roof, thick walls, and small, irregularly spaced windows, shows how European cultural traditions remained deeply rooted as they were passed down through generations.
Jacob and Elizabeth raised 12 children in the house, including their son Samuel Fry, a well-known local weaver. Jacob was a skilled cabinet maker and successful fruit grower. Multiple generations of the family lived in the home until 1892. In the following decades, the house was used as a playhouse and chicken coop. In 1959, to save the house from demolition, volunteers carefully transported it on a truck bed, floated it across the Twenty Mile Creek, and moved it down the Niagara Escarpment to its current site at the museum.
The Jordan Schoolhouse, also known as School Section #4 (S.S. #4), is a one-room school that served the children of Jordan for almost 90 years. Every element of the building was designed to foster attention and discipline, from its tall windows to its slanted floors and bright interior colours. The schoolhouse was also a social hub for the village, hosting society meetings, adult language classes, and the much-anticipated annual Christmas pageant.
Inside, students learned the three Rs (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), moral instruction, and hands-on skills like carpentry and gardening for boys and domestic arts for girls. As many as 60 children aged 6-16 were taught by a single schoolmaster/mistress, who maintained a strict, military-style routine to keep order and efficiency.
The school closed in 1948. In 1953, Jordan Wines purchased the building and returned it to the community. Volunteers filled the space with agricultural tools and artifacts and opened it as Jordan’s first museum. The schoolhouse was later restored to reflect a typical 1908 classroom. School Board records and alumni memories guided the restoration efforts. Today, the schoolhouse has returned to its roots as a community hub with its immersive tours and school programs.
Visits to the museum are always free. Both historic structures are open for tours with a costumed interpreter from June to August, during museum opening hours.
