Give the Gift with a Lasting Impact this Holiday Season

Grand Bend, ON – Lambton Heritage Museum is asking residents to consider giving a gift with lasting impact this holiday season by donating to the Canatara Cabin restoration campaign.

The campaign has raised just over $30,000 of its $100,000 target to date. The relocation of the cabin to Lambton Heritage Museum has been led by the grassroots "Save the Canatara Cabin" group. This group is spearheaded by passionate local residents and descendants of families that lived in this cabin. If you would like to contribute to the restoration effort, or make a donation in honor or in memory of a loved one, you can make a donation online.

“The Lambton Heritage Museum is thrilled to have added this importance piece of Lambton’s history to our site,” said Dana Thorne, Curator/Supervisor of Lambton Heritage Museum. “Once the cabin is restored, it will be the oldest building at the Museum and provide a unique opportunity to preserve local history for future generations to enjoy and learn from.”

The Canatara Cabin has a fascinating history in Lambton County. Originally built in the 1830s the cabin served as a residential home for almost 100 years until being purchased by the Hanna/Spaulding family in the 1930s. These new owners relocated the log cabin by disassembling, then floating it down Lake Huron in pieces to its new location on Lakeshore Road in Sarnia. Over the next few decades it was used as a private summer cottage and hosted many notable guests including Nobel laureate, Sir Frederick Banting.

In the 1970s, after being sold to longtime City of Sarnia councilor Lorne Hay, the cabin was donated to the City of Sarnia and relocated to Canatara Park due to risks of erosion of the property on Lakeshore Road. The cabin became a focal point for Christmas and Easter activities at Canatara Park until 2020 when an agreement with the Seaway Kiwanis Club was made to construct a safer replica cabin, and the original cabin transferred ownership to the Lambton Heritage Museum.

To learn more about the history of Canatara Cabin and the ongoing fundraising effort, visit lambtonmuseums.ca/canatara-cabin.

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Please contact:

Dana Thorne
Curator/Supervisor, Lambton Heritage Museum
County of Lambton
519-243-2600 ext. 3151
Email Dana Thorne