At Ross Farm Museum you can ride in a horse-drawn wagon, see, taste and smell good food being prepared in Rose Bank Cottage, watch the cooper making barrels, see various types of farm animals and much more. Ross Farm is a place where old skills are still used to complete traditional farm work. At Ross Farm, you can see the same old tools and machinery still being used that were such a great part of Canada's farming history.
Products made as demonstrations in the shops as part of the Museum's programs are often available in the museum's gift store, along with community made items & souvenirs.
Generations of families in the New Ross area were educated in this one-roomed school. It was moved from the community to this site. This is a schoolhouse from the early 1900's. Visitors can write on old slate boards and get a feeling of going to school in a small rural community. It is very different than the mega schools of today.
Ross Barn (1893)
This is believed to be the second barn on the property and houses our heritage animals. Our oxen reside here, along with Berkshire pigs, Canadian Horses and, of course, the family milk cow. At 4:30PM every day, visitors can try their hand at milking a cow. The upper level of the Barn houses one of Canada's most impressive plough displays.
Farm Workshop (1870)
The Farm Workshop was where repairs to the farm implements & equipment were done and wooden items such as stools, axe handles, butter churns, and spoons were made. Today, the workshop is much the same. Visitors can watch the work and can help with some of it depending on the demonstration of the day.
Rose Bank Cottage (1817)
Rose Bank Cottage, the original home of the Ross family, is always bustling with activity. While visiting you can taste homemade cooking fresh from an open hearth, or try your hand at whatever demonstration is taking place such as wool spinning, candle making or butter churning. It is hard to resist tasting the offerings when the cottage is full of aromatic smells.
Here the specially shaped pieces of wood for making barrels and shingles are made from spruce and fir cut from the neighboring woodlots.
Larder Barn (1905)
Larder Barn displays many of the more than 3,000 artifacts in the Ross Farm Museum collection including an impressive collection of land transportation vehicles. A fully equipped Pedlar's Wagon is one of the prize exhibits. Demonstrations of farm workmanship often take place in this barn.
Blacksmith Shop (1910)
An important member of the rural community, the blacksmith forges horse and ox shoes and many other metal parts and objects.
Chat with the cooper and find out how apple barrels and tubs are made, and the importance this industry had on small rural communities.