If you've ever wondered what happens to municipal records when they reach a certain date or how to find historical information about properties and businesses in Saugeen Shores, Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre (BCM&CC) retains records from the County of Bruce as well as from municipalities within the county. These records are now available online.

In a BCM&CC media release, the transferring of municipal records for care and storage within the environmentally controlled archives storage area began in the 1980s and the practice continues today. The Archives holds records for the County of Bruce and the municipalities of Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, Huron-Kinloss, Kincardine, Northern Bruce Peninsula, Saugeen Shores, South Bruce, and South Bruce Peninsula, as well as for the former townships, towns and villages which amalgamated to form the present municipalities.

Records include council and committee minutes, by-laws and tax rolls to name a few. Archival staff have been working to ensure that these records are described online at collections.brucemuseum.ca. The “Search our Archives” page also provides direct links to the descriptions for each municipality.

Many researchers use municipal records in their study of family history, property history and academic research for educational assignments or post-secondary degree work. Family history researchers use them to place family members at a certain time or see what their interests were if they were on municipal council. Tax rolls provide information about property assessments and taxes paid which are sometimes used for capital gains purposes or attempts to date a house. The uses for records are varied and preserving the collective history of Bruce County is a big job that is also rewarding, especially when a researcher finds something that links everything together for them.

In addition to online, records are available in the Research Room at Bruce County Museum, 33 Victoria Street North in Southampton.