Heritage Caledon celebrates 50th anniversary in community

February 26, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Celebrating five decades worth of research, protection, identification, grants and more, Heritage Caledon is ringing in 50 years in the Caledon community.

Heritage Caledon, established by Council in 1976, is an Advisory Committee to Council established under the Ontario Heritage Act, composed of both community volunteers and a Council representative.

The committee advises Caledon Council on identifying, conserving, and promoting heritage resources in Caledon.

Other roles within their committee are to make recommendations on heritage property designations, alterations and related policies, support the Town’s efforts to build a strong sense of place and community character by conserving unique heritage resources, assist in identifying and researching properties, landscapes and areas of cultural heritage value, on top of promoting public awareness and involvement in local heritage matters through educational events, workshops and signage.

They also oversee the Heritage Caledon Award of Excellence and help implement the Town’s Designated Heritage Property Grant program.

But the committee would not be where it is today without its founding members back in 1976, including Community champion Heather Broadbent.

Many in the community may recognize Broadbent for her numerous roles, including as longtime chair of Heritage Caledon and role as Caledon’s first Heritage Resource Officer.

Broadbent spent numerous years in the world of heritage, serving as Chair of the Peel County Historical Society (later PAMA), President of the Ontario Historical Society, a founding member of the Albion Bolton Historical Society, and much more.

In the early 2000s, Council established the Caledon Heritage Trust Fund in honour of Heather Broadbent’s retirement

Originally from the UK, Broadbent and her family moved to Caledon in the 1970s. Upon moving to Caledon, Broadbent had asked if there was a local historical society, and the answer was, “No, but there ought to be.”

And so, Broadbent and members of the Rotary Club organized a meeting to gauge interest in the society.

“The room was packed,” Broadbent recalls. “Next thing, I found myself on the committee.”

Now 91, Broadbent reflects on her time serving the heritage and history of Caledon.

She recounts how she organized numerous heritage bus tours across Caledon to introduce people to the community’s history.

When the Ontario Heritage Act was established, she remembers it was met with much hostility across Ontario, but here in Caledon was widely accepted.

“I’d go to conferences, and I’d find out that other areas weren’t experiencing what we were. People [here] were asking for their properties to be heritage designated,” says Broadbent.

She adds that it was never new to her to be interested in history and heritage, as her family has always loved history.

To see Heritage Caledon celebrating its 50th anniversary is extremely rewarding, says Broadbent.

“It was an interesting time to come here. It’s almost like things fell into place,” she says, reflecting on her role as a founding member.

“Having subsequently been very involved provincially and to a degree throughout Canada, I do appreciate that this [Caledon] community is interested and, therefore, willing to support heritage conservation; it helps enormously,” says Broadbent. “Whether there were a whole bunch of disconnected people that were interested and then having this happen, they found a home.”

Both current Chair of Heritage Caledon, Joanne Crease, and Vice-Chair Barbara McKenzie are in their third terms serving on the committee. What McKenzie says drew her to the committee was her passion for heritage.

“If we don’t conserve these beautiful properties, churches, cemeteries, our grandchildren are not going to know where they came from, they won’t have any information on it,” she says.

Crease echoes her passion as well for heritage, “I’ve always been a history buff,” she adds. “Heritage is what’s left of history, and I think it’s really important to save it. It gives you a sense of place, it gives you a sense of where you come from. It’s your roots.”

Crease says that when it comes to Caledon, it is about preservation of humble beginnings.

“We don’t have massive castles. We don’t have the glamour that a lot of people see in heritage. But we have those original farmhouses, which were built with back-breaking work, and the farmers [who] basically built Caledon,” she says.

McKenzie adds that they also have to thank the Indigenous population in Caledon at that time, who played a major role in the settlers’ acclimation.

The castles and cathedrals are right here, the two say, in the old farmhouses, log, stone, and heritage houses the community works to protect.

“We’ve just got some really phenomenal residents who really are passionate about their house, and they really want to bring that back to its former glory,” says Crease.

When it came to the 50th anniversary celebration, it was a lot of hours poring over their decades of work, but the two share it’s nothing they’re not used to.

Whether it’s 20 hours put into researching and potentially designating a property, bushwacking their way to a heritage location, or the incredible amounts of research bicentennials take, the Heritage Committee is no stranger to “burning the midnight oil,” says Crease.

“I think the Council and residents should be very proud of what the committee has achieved. The volume of time that has gone in, you can’t even count it. It’s just hours and hours and hours and hours,” she adds.

But, she says, it’s a passion and labour of love.

“It’s a labour of trying to bring some history to the foreground so that the future generations can have it, and they can see it.”

Both celebrating Heritage Week in Ontario and their anniversary, Heritage Caledon put on a display at Town Hall detailing the committee’s history.

The display featured year-by-year information, as well as the names of volunteers and Council members over the various decades.

Information about the Heritage committee will be travelling to various community centres as over the following months to continue educating Caledon about what the committee has achieved over five decades.

Heritage Caledon will partner with the Caledon Public Library to bring forward various workshops recognizing the importance of history and heritage over the next few months.