About
About
About
The community of Massie, Ontario came into being in the 1840’s. By 1859, when almost all the farms in the vicinity had been settled, it had taken its name from the miller, Alexander Massie. Schooling was of paramount importance to members of the community and one individual undertook to teach the kids in his farmhouse until the early 1850’s when a log school was built. In 1871, the current stone building was erected on a parcel of land purchased from Andrew and Deborah Neelands “for the sum of forty dollars lawful money in Canada”. Hundreds of children passed through the elementary grades in that one-room schoolhouse until 1965 when a township school was built to collect all the students from surrounding settlements. Residents of the hamlet decided that they needed a gathering place apart from Massie United Church which stands right next door. A board of directors was set up to make this happen. Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers over the past decades the charming stone building became – and still flourishes as – Massie Hall.
The hall hosts Live at Massie Hall concerts by multi-talented performers from across Ontario, an annual fish fry, a vintage car and motorcycle show and other events. It is available for rental by individuals or groups wanting to host their own gatherings.
Massie Hall has undergone improvements and renovations since its inception, including the construction of a kitchen, bathrooms, closets and a vestibule, and the installation of a water supply shared with the church and a septic system in the late 1980’s. In 2013, with generous funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, major improvements and repairs were done such as replacing the heating system, windows and doors, reconstructing the bell tower, restoring the exterior stone work and re-roofing the building. The board of directors is currently seeking funding to pay for further much-needed renovations and repairs such as replacing the old wiring and making the washrooms easily accessible to all.
In 2017, generous funding from the Community Foundation Grey Bruce allowed the hall to replace all of the deteriorating wiring in the main room, a major improvement in fire safety, and a new electrical panel to allow for new circuits bringing the building up to current standards.
https://www.communityfoundationgreybruce.com/
As a community, we are proud and pleased to have this historic building as our hub in a delightful rural setting, but we’re also happy to share it with anyone who’d like to join us for one of our scheduled events or organize one of their own. Hope to see you soon!
