Tour | Explore Oakville,com

One of the best shopping destinations in Ontario - with architecturally preserved storefronts, the charming waterfront of Village of Bronte and the multicultural Kerr Village

A community instilled with culture and heritage, Oakville is known for its beautiful shopping districts which include the historic, yet sophisticated Downtown.

If you wish to take in the charming small town experience, whether you seek the best in fashion, one-of-a-kind galleries or antique shops, Oakville has it all!

George’s Square located at the corner of Trafalgar Rd and Sumner Avenue is a perfect place to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

George’s Square was set aside by George K. Chisholm as a place designed for the recreation and gathering place for the people of Oakville. However, to the African-Canadians in Oakville, for many years the park was the site of a gathering which remembered the end of the Underground Railroad to Oakville.

George’s Square, the oldest park in Oakville (provided for in Wm. Chisholm's 1833 plan for Oakville and named after his father) is surrounded by some of the oldest houses in the town. From the nineteenth century, different architecture and design from different periods in Oakville’s development can be seen

Visitors may also enjoy a delightful walking tour of the estate grounds and gardens with a panoramic view of the Oakville Harbour; across from Erchless is the Old Post Office, open seasonally.

Today, visitors to the Oakville Museum can take a guided tour of Erchless, the Chisholm Family Home, (c.1858), which is authentically restored to the elegance of its 1925 appearance.

Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate is a four-acre estate home and gardens set on the shores of Lake Ontario in downtown Oakville. The Museum preserves and interprets the town’s history through the heritage and home of Oakville’s founding family, the Chisholms.

Oakville also became a destination for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club Races, from Toronto, along with the building of The Oakville Club in 1907. You can rediscover these roots with a drive along Lakeshore through Old Oakville, and Bronte Village West.

After a recession and the building of the railroad, the harbour business weakened and Oakville became a "holiday destination" for many.
It was fashionable to summer in Oakville, known as a holiday paradise for many.

Across the street, at what is now 337 Trafalgar Road, he built what became known as, for obvious reasons, "Kerosene Castle". You'll recognize it today as MacLachlan College.

Oakville Harbour In 1827 Oakville was founded by Colonel William Chisholm, after he purchased 1000 acres of Crown land at the mouth of the Sixteen Mile Creek. Chisholm's great dream of building a privately owned harbour for Upper Canada was quickly realized in 1834, when Oakville was declared a Port of Entry into Canada.

The current red-brick Gothic style building was dedicated May 20, 1888. It replaced the old frame church, called Oakville Presbyterian Church. The new church had taken a year to build and cost $16,000, a huge amount in those days. The church is one of the most complete examples of the Gothic Revival period in Oakville.

The Knox Presbyterian Church, located at 89 Dunn Street, began with a simple service in 1833 attended by 11 worshippers in a wood-framed public hall on the east bank of Sixteen Mile Creek.

The Kerosene Castle is located on the bank of The Sixteen between MacDonald and Lawson Street. Richard Shaw Wood established The Oakville Oil Refinery, which became one of the largest refineries of "coal oil" (kerosene) in Canada (until it was destroyed by fire in 1866).