Our Stories

really old skates

Percy Johnston: A Life on Ice

1903–1988 Pine Hills Cemetery Section 8 Lot 975 Henry “Percy” Johnston was born with winter in his veins. In the late 1920s, when frozen lakes and
Read More
boulder with trees and shrubs

The Children’s Garden: A Place of Memory and Peace 

older black man in a grey shirt

George Ethelbert Carter: A Trailblazer in Law and Civil Rights

Snow‑covered cemetery scene featuring the McCain family marker, a low black granite headstone set against a wooded hillside. A green memorial wreath with a red bow rests in front of the stone, with trees and snow‑covered ground surrounding the grave in winter.

Wallace McCain: A Legacy of Canadian Enterprise

Historic postcard view of Chalmers Presbyterian Church and Sunday School in Toronto, showing a large Romanesque‑style brick church with arched windows, a central tower, and corner turrets. Overhead utility wires cross the scene, and handwritten postcard notes appear along the top and right margins.

Chalmers York Town Line Church: A Lost Cemetery Remembered

Black‑and‑white photograph of a tree‑lined roadway stretching into the distance, with evenly spaced trees on both sides. A low stone bridge or railing appears on the left, and the road curves gently uphill beneath an open sky, creating a quiet, park‑like landscape.

Bill Latham: The First Burial at Pine Hills Cemetery

a hotel in the 1900s

The Ward Sisters: A Tragedy on Toronto Bay

Placeholder image

Frank and Emily Wanzer: Freedom Seekers Who Built a Life in Toronto

Black‑and‑white formal studio portrait of a person seated and wearing an ornate, embroidered ceremonial jacket with decorative braiding and medals. The individual rests one arm on a chair, with a feathered accessory across their lap, posed against a dark backdrop with a textured column visible to one side.

Colonel the Honourable Herbert A. Bruce: Surgeon, Soldier and Statesman

monument with man on horse

Steve Stavro: A Monument to Vision and Legacy

big grave that says Rogers

Edward Samuel Rogers: Revolutionizing Radio

people holding up a big sign that says thank you canada

Kenneth Taylor: Canada’s Quiet Hero Behind Argo

Black-and-white photograph of three young people standing side by side in a grassy field. They are wearing heavy work clothes with long sleeves and overalls, suggesting farm or manual labor. All three of them are wearing medical masks. The field slopes gently behind them, with open land and sky in the background. The scene has a stark, historical feel, with simple clothing and a rural setting.

Silent Witness: The Spanish Flu Tragedy

houses sinking in flood

Ken and Joan Edwards: Tragedy on Raymore Drive – Hurricane Hazel

large granite bench with naked granite woman and trees and flowers

Lionel Cutten Monument: Art, Memory and Mastery

A vintage sepia-toned portrait of Alice Freeman-Brown seated in an elegant pose. She wears a long, fitted dress with puffed sleeves and decorative details along the bodice. One arm rests on a fur-draped chair, while the other holds a folded piece of fabric or a cloth across her lap. The background is plain, highlighting the formal style of the period clothing.

Alice Freeman-Brown: A Pen Name and a Pioneering Spirit

A detailed photograph of a Victoria Cross medal suspended from a deep magenta ribbon. The bronze cross features a lion standing atop a royal crown at its center, with an ornate scroll below. The medal hangs against a dark, textured background

Joseph Harcourt Tombs: Victoria Cross Hero of WWI

Alt text: Historic postcard photograph of Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto showing the stone Gothic-style public vault partially framed by trees, with handwritten message text and a small British flag illustration on the right side.

Receiving Winter Vault “The Dead House”: Victorian Design for a Practical Need

A black-and-white photograph of the Freemasons’ burial plot in a historic cemetery, featuring a tall stone column monument topped with a sphere in the foreground. Rows of smaller gravestones and monuments are arranged across a gently sloping grassy landscape, with leafless trees in the background, suggesting a formal memorial setting in late fall or early spring.

Freemasonry and the Shaping of Toronto’s Civic Identity

Taller stone memorial monument set in a green park, inscribed with the words “Korean War Gapyeong Battle Monument” and “We Will Remember Them Forever,” featuring the South Korean and Canadian flags at the top, with engraved bronze plaques mounted on the base and trees surrounding the site.

Korean War Gapyeong Battle Monument and Conflict Sculpture: Honouring Courage Through Design

Studio portrait of a military officer wearing a formal uniform with a peaked cap, medal ribbons, and aviation wings, posed against a plain teal backdrop and shown from the waist up.

Oliver Milton Martin: Indigenous Leader and Canadian Military Figure