Doors Open Kingston: Explore Our History

Kingston penitentiary.

I love art galleries, museums, and historic sites and Kingston has so many great ones. As a grad student, I am always working within a tight budget, and it can be hard to justify these extra expenses. Luckily, Doors Open Kingston and Area, is happening on July 20th, August 24th and September 28th from 10 am - 4 pm offering free admission or programming to many of Kingston’s historic sites.

Saturday July 20th, 2024

On Campus

Medical Quadrangle, Kathleen Ryan Hall, 50A Arch St, Kingston
Guided Tours of the archives and vaults.
This is where Queen’s University archives and records our university’s history dating back to the first archived item in 1869. They hold, “10 kilometres of textual records, 2 million photographs, tens of thousands of architectural plans and drawings, and thousands of sound recordings and moving images”. I have researched in this space but have yet to visit the vault. I hear it’s like a giant fridge, might be a nice place to cool off!

  • Museum of Health Care at Kingston
    32 George St, Kingston
    Tours at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm
    The Museum of Health Care at Kingston highlights Canadian health and medical history. They have a number of mini exhibitions on display: The Century: Medical Innovations of the 1800s, Electricity and the Invisible Ray: The 1930’s Doctor’s Treatment Room, For Service to Humanity: Nursing Education at KGH, Custodial to Curative Care: Rockwood and the Evolution of Mental Health Treatment, Selling Hope: A History of the Medical Marketplace, Toothless: A History of Dentures, Trench Menders: Health Car during WWI, Vaccines and Immunization: Epidemics, Prevention and the Canadian Innovation. As my father was a physician and my grandmother and mother were both nurses, I enjoyed seeing the inventions, medicine bottles and the nursing uniforms. I would love to see Indigenous medicine valued and exhibited.

Near Main Campus

  • Murney Tower Museum
    2 King St W, Kingston
    Guided Tours
    Murney Tower is staged to highlight 19th C domestic and military artifacts. They offer guided tours to learn about the Martello Tower and its function as a military fortification. In 2025 they are celebrating their 100th birthday making them Kinston’s oldest Museum. My art piece Space Craft Parking Here is on display on their flagpole outside creating an aerial parking lot for spacecrafts. The flag is humorous at first glance but hopes to challenge us to consider our imagined futures for our planet Earth. Ask for a spacecraft parking pass at the front desk. I was told it was especially fitting to have my piece here given the 1865 novel, From the Earth to the Moon by Jule Verne.

Near West Campus

  • Canada’s Penitentiary Museum
    555 King St W, Kingston
    Free Self-Guided Tour
    The Penitentiary Museum was built between 1870-73 by convict labour and functioned as “    Canada's oldest and most notorious maximum-security prison”. I learned online that in the early days, children as young as 8 years old were housed here! There is a fascinating yet troubling history here and I am curious how they represent this and the inmates’ stories. Canada’s Penitentiary has been functioning as a museum since 2013 and many films have been filmed here including Blues Brothers 2000.

Downtown Kingston

  • Pump House Museum
    23 Ontario Street, Kingston
    For Doors Open Kingston, they are offering an outdoor guided tour along Ontario Street: Brewers, Bakers and Boilermakers 1930-1970. *No free admission until Sept. Doors Open event. If you visit The Pump House Museum, you will be able to view Kingston’s first steam-driven pumps along with the current exhibition Soil Superhero’s.  My favourite part of the museum is in the back room where they have an impressive working model train room featuring The Friendly Giant.

St. George’s Cathedral was built in the Georgian and Neoclassical style in 1825. I live close to downtown, and I don’t know if I hear St. George’s Cathedral or St. Mary’s Cathedral bells ringing on the hour. It has become one of my favourite things. If you plan on visiting the cathedral this weekend, consider going a little before 12, noon and then staying for their Summer Concert Series on King St. steps. Playing July 20 are The Limestone Jazz Collective and playing the following Saturday, July 27 are The Saxobelles.

St. Mary’s Cathedral is the tallest building in Kingston. It is built of limestone in the Gothic style 175 years ago. Like St. George’s Cathedral, I have admired St. Mary’s from the outside and look forward to seeing the beautiful stained glass with the light shining through. If you can’t make it this time, they have tours 1-4 Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

I was surprised to see Gallery Raymond on the list because it is a commercial gallery, meaning they sell art as their business. It is a great place to see local art as they represent 18 locals.  Opening on July 19, from 7-9 are Barb Sohn’s new acrylic landscape paintings. 

East End:

I have never been to Barrifield Village and I would like to visit and check out the architecture. It is located across the water from downtown Kingston near Fort Henry.  The historic village was established in 1914 by Richard Cartwright and includes, Bill Robb Barriefield Rock Garden, Main Street, Barriefield House, Frontenac County Schools Museum, Barriefield Antiques, Barriefield Market (deli for lunch) and Green Bay.  Guided tour at 1pm outside the Frontenac County Schools Museum

As the name suggests, the museum is set up like an old country one-room school room with desks, slates, and books. The museum has collected artifacts and memories from the past 100 years. Ask them about the Trippensee Planetarium and Chautauqua Industrial Art Desk.

Fort Henry
1 Fort Henry Dr, Kingston
Like the TV show, Agnes Roadshow, offers consultations on fine arts and decorative arts at this pop up event. Do you have something that is collecting dust that you think might be of value? Sign up for your spot to consult a specialist. There will also be a pop-up art exhibition where you can view some of the treasures.
Also on by Agnes Etherington Art Centre today (but not officially part of Doors Open Kingston) is the Launch / Dinner of Landing: No.9 Gardens Exhibition curated by Sunny Kerr. There is a bus taking people to and from the No.9 Gardens, 1516 Summers Road, Lyndhurst, ON. There is a cost for the bus and dinner.

Outside of Kingston

This museum looks like a hidden gem rich with history. It is housed in the County Gaol (jail) and its collection includes over 12000 artifacts.  Current exhibitions include, Roots Unveiled, The Beat Goes On, What the Night Brings, Macpherson House & Park, On The Map and A Place to Call Home: Life in Lennox & Addington County. The archives are available to visit with an appointment going as far back as 18th c.

The South Frontenac Museum seems to be bursting with nostalgia full of classic toys like tin tea sets and wooden pull toys. It is volunteer-run and located in the old schoolhouse. This could be a fun day trip!

If you enjoy art, history or are looking for a fun break from writing, be sure to check out some of these free local gems during Doors Open Kingston!