Niagara Regional Historical Council
The Niagara Regional Historical Council was created in 1970 with the merger of the Lincoln County Historical Council and the Welland County Historical Council. This coincided with the formation of the Niagara Regional government. Prior to this, the Lincoln County Historical Council had been meeting since 1960 and was composed of representatives from the Women's Institute, Lincoln County Council, the Deputy-Clerk and Treasurer of the County, and the Niagara Editorial Bureau. The Welland County Historical Council was similarly formed shortly after.
In the early 1960s, both councils began work on an inventory of historic buildings with the intent to emphasize the historical significance of this area. Information was gathered by volunteers, a professional photographer, and an architect. A brief was then presented to the federal government in 1962 and the provincial government in 1963. This brief, An Area of Historical Interest in the Counties of Lincoln and Welland, Ontario, was distributed to schools and libraries in the area in 1965.
Pages from An Area of Historical Interest in the Counties of Lincoln and Welland, Ontario, showing some of the area's historically significant buildings, 1962.
In response, the Ontario Buildings Inventory Project was initiated by the province under the Department of Public Records and Archives, a branch of the Department of Tourism and Information, around 1966. Volunteers photographed buildings of historical interest in Lincoln and Welland Counties. This information was recorded on standardized survey forms for every township in the Niagara Region.
More information on this work can be found in the Niagara Regional Council fonds (1960-1989). It contains meeting minutes, news clippings, photographs, and a survey of historical buildings of interest.