Historical Society News
New Website Launched To Preserve Grenville History
By David Graham
The Grenville County Historical Society has launched a new website housing an archive of newspapers dating back to 1895. This archive is important because it preserves the documentary history of the county and also mitigates an urgent risk. The old newspapers are crumbling. If these assets were not digitized and made searchable, a window on our past would be closed.
GCHS directors identified this crucial need and set out a plan to digitize and store the searchable information online, to be seen forever with access to all. The Society consulted with the Ontario counties of Bruce, Grey and Stormont, Douglas and Glengarry to discuss approaches taken for newspaper digitization. The topics included types of scanners (scanning and digitization was carried out for this project by Image Advantage in Mallorytown) storage approach, quality assurance and process review.
GCHS applied in 2024 for a grant from the LAC’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program. The bid failed. Project Manager and GCHS V.P. David Graham re-wrote the bid in 2025 after attending seminars on sustainability and budget process held by Library and Archives Canada. The audience approach was widened to include indigenous and French Canadian groups. But the real key was improving sustainability.
A key part of winning the 2025 federal grant of nearly $50,000 was coming up with a plan to future-proof the collection. The new website https://vitacollections.ca/grenville-county-newspapers/search is hosted by Our Digital World, a non-profit based in Toronto. “Our Digital World works with many communities on similar projects to ours”, says Project Manager David Graham. “They are committed to updating their housing and search technology as time passes. And to safeguard the sustainability of our archive, we have deposited external hard drive copies with organizations such as the Ontario Historical Society, the Ontario Ancestors (Leeds and Grenville Branch) and the Prescott Public Library.”
The site is linked to the Ontario Community Newspaper portal https://news.ourontario.ca/ for wider-reaching search options available to the residents of Grenville. “This new archive site really improves our service for researchers or interested community members”, says GCHS President Jane Ramsay. “Instead of having to show up in person to look through papers at an archive that is open one day a week, you can now do a key word search on line from the comfort of your home or office”.
Roughly half of the GCHS collection of 75,000 newspapers has been digitized and housed online. The next project for the Society is to preserve more Prescott Journals and other publications such as the Prescott County Telegraph, Prescott Messenger and Grenville County Advertiser. The goal, of course, is to ensure our county history is easily accessible to current and future generations.
The Grenville County Historical Society has launched a new website housing an archive of newspapers dating back to 1895. This archive is important because it preserves the documentary history of the county and also mitigates an urgent risk. The old newspapers are crumbling. If these assets were not digitized and made searchable, a window on our past would be closed.
GCHS directors identified this crucial need and set out a plan to digitize and store the searchable information online, to be seen forever with access to all. The Society consulted with the Ontario counties of Bruce, Grey and Stormont, Douglas and Glengarry to discuss approaches taken for newspaper digitization. The topics included types of scanners (scanning and digitization was carried out for this project by Image Advantage in Mallorytown) storage approach, quality assurance and process review.
GCHS applied in 2024 for a grant from the LAC’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program. The bid failed. Project Manager and GCHS V.P. David Graham re-wrote the bid in 2025 after attending seminars on sustainability and budget process held by Library and Archives Canada. The audience approach was widened to include indigenous and French Canadian groups. But the real key was improving sustainability.
A key part of winning the 2025 federal grant of nearly $50,000 was coming up with a plan to future-proof the collection. The new website https://vitacollections.ca/grenville-county-newspapers/search is hosted by Our Digital World, a non-profit based in Toronto. “Our Digital World works with many communities on similar projects to ours”, says Project Manager David Graham. “They are committed to updating their housing and search technology as time passes. And to safeguard the sustainability of our archive, we have deposited external hard drive copies with organizations such as the Ontario Historical Society, the Ontario Ancestors (Leeds and Grenville Branch) and the Prescott Public Library.”
The site is linked to the Ontario Community Newspaper portal https://news.ourontario.ca/ for wider-reaching search options available to the residents of Grenville. “This new archive site really improves our service for researchers or interested community members”, says GCHS President Jane Ramsay. “Instead of having to show up in person to look through papers at an archive that is open one day a week, you can now do a key word search on line from the comfort of your home or office”.
Roughly half of the GCHS collection of 75,000 newspapers has been digitized and housed online. The next project for the Society is to preserve more Prescott Journals and other publications such as the Prescott County Telegraph, Prescott Messenger and Grenville County Advertiser. The goal, of course, is to ensure our county history is easily accessible to current and future generations.
Grenville County Historical Society Wins
$50,000 Grant to Digitize Newspapers
GCHS President Jane Ramsay and Treasurer Dave Robertson sign grant agreement with Library and Archives Canada.
By David Graham
The Grenville County Historical Society has won a prestigious grant from Library and Archives Canada worth nearly 50 thousand dollars.
The federal funding is designated to support a project that will preserve an important part of the county’s history – a treasure trove of newspapers dating back to 1900. “The newspapers, including the Prescott Journal, are a window to the past and remind us of everyday life here for the early English, French and indigenous communities”, said GCHS President Jane Ramsay.
This project has been made possible, in part, by Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program.
The project is ambitious. It calls for digitization of very old newspapers and storing them on a new website that will be future proofed by continuously updating to new forms of media technology as they evolve. The new GCHS website will be searchable and accessible by everyone. There will also be links to sites such as the Ontario Historical Society and copies of the digital files backed up with the Town of Prescott and other sites.
“It’s really important that this work is going ahead. The GCHS recognizes the need to preserve the old papers now because some are more than a hundred years old and are crumbling”, said Fraser Laschinger, past President of the GCHS.
The actual total of the grant is $48,933 and covers digitization of the papers by partner company Image Advantage of Mallorytown and web site construction and stewarding by the not-for-profit Our Digital World, based in Toronto. This grant will cover costs for about half of the newspaper collection owned by the GCHS. Applications for funding more work will follow next year.
A launch of the new Grenville County Historical web site is expected to be announced in the Fall of this year.
The Grenville County Historical Society has won a prestigious grant from Library and Archives Canada worth nearly 50 thousand dollars.
The federal funding is designated to support a project that will preserve an important part of the county’s history – a treasure trove of newspapers dating back to 1900. “The newspapers, including the Prescott Journal, are a window to the past and remind us of everyday life here for the early English, French and indigenous communities”, said GCHS President Jane Ramsay.
This project has been made possible, in part, by Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program.
The project is ambitious. It calls for digitization of very old newspapers and storing them on a new website that will be future proofed by continuously updating to new forms of media technology as they evolve. The new GCHS website will be searchable and accessible by everyone. There will also be links to sites such as the Ontario Historical Society and copies of the digital files backed up with the Town of Prescott and other sites.
“It’s really important that this work is going ahead. The GCHS recognizes the need to preserve the old papers now because some are more than a hundred years old and are crumbling”, said Fraser Laschinger, past President of the GCHS.
The actual total of the grant is $48,933 and covers digitization of the papers by partner company Image Advantage of Mallorytown and web site construction and stewarding by the not-for-profit Our Digital World, based in Toronto. This grant will cover costs for about half of the newspaper collection owned by the GCHS. Applications for funding more work will follow next year.
A launch of the new Grenville County Historical web site is expected to be announced in the Fall of this year.
Portolano Canada Shuts Its Doors
Portolano Products Canada Manager Sandra Shay in the Portolano mini-museum formerly located in Prescott. April 2024
Portolano mini-museum, formerly located at Portolano Canada Outlet Store, 840 Walker Street, Prescott.
By David Graham
Portolano’s outlet store in Prescott has closed down, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Portolano Products (Canada) was the company’s only Canadian distributor and was a bonded warehouse shipping premiere quality leather and cashmere fashions worldwide. It had been a mainstay in Prescott since 1986 and was the sole remaining outlet store of its kind in eastern Ontario.
Manager Sandra Shay says it was time to switch from bricks and mortar to an online-only store. “We’re divesting and re-organizing. We have a New York office and I will run a website for Canada. We don’t need the old brick building and warehouse anymore to do the job, even though it’s beloved in this town.”
There’s a lot of history in that old building located at 840 Walker Street. James Elliott, a skilled carpenter, built Prescott’s first carpentry shop and planing mill on the site in 1890. Elliott Brothers later manufactured wooden spools for electrical wires and burial caskets.
Children playing hide and seek in those caskets is just one of the tales heard by Karen Price, who curated the Portolano mini museum, with help from the Grenville County Historical Society. “When we set up the museum at the store we heard stories about how successful Portolano and earlier, the Fischl Glove company was, at bonding with the community. It was more than just a local business that grew. Founder Louis Fischl brought over 200 Czech and Italian Jews in the late 30s and early 40s to work here in Prescott. They escaped the Nazis and thrived, working at a company that emphasized top quality work.”
The human touch that went into glove making ended in the late 1960s. Rising costs forced Fischl to become a wholesaler but the company was finished by 1985.
Enter the Portolano family, experts in tanning and gloving in Italy since 1895. Due to customer demand in North America for quality leather gloves, Portolano Products established operations in New York and Toronto. In 1986 the company bought the old factory at 840 Walker Street and built a new warehouse next door. Timing and location were everything, says Ms. Shay, who has managed the operation since 1990. “We were a bonded warehouse, keeping product without paying duty. We added products like cashmere apparel and shipped all over the U.S., Australia, the world.”
But times, and business, have changed. Ms. Shay says, “Portolano’s now has a big warehouse in Mt. Vernon New York. Customers can’t wait 72 hours for us to clear a product through customs channels. Sellers never touch a product and customers go directly to web sites.”
The closing of the Portolano’s outlet brings back memories of other closures in Grenville County, including RCA Victor, Newell Manufacturing, Hathaway Shirts and Ferrox Iron. Markets change. Technologies change. Customer needs change. Making things by the hands of skilled tradespeople is from a bygone era. And it’s something that is missed.
But treating customers like royalty will be emphasized by Ms. Shay as she develops the next stage of her career. “I’m doing what I enjoy. I am re-developing the Portolano Canada web boutique that will offer that feeling of specialness and prove you can sell very high quality gloves on the internet.”
Artifacts and information from the Portolano mini museum will be distributed to the Prescott Museum and Visitor Centre, along with the Grenville County Historical Society and some previous owners.
Portolano’s outlet store in Prescott has closed down, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Portolano Products (Canada) was the company’s only Canadian distributor and was a bonded warehouse shipping premiere quality leather and cashmere fashions worldwide. It had been a mainstay in Prescott since 1986 and was the sole remaining outlet store of its kind in eastern Ontario.
Manager Sandra Shay says it was time to switch from bricks and mortar to an online-only store. “We’re divesting and re-organizing. We have a New York office and I will run a website for Canada. We don’t need the old brick building and warehouse anymore to do the job, even though it’s beloved in this town.”
There’s a lot of history in that old building located at 840 Walker Street. James Elliott, a skilled carpenter, built Prescott’s first carpentry shop and planing mill on the site in 1890. Elliott Brothers later manufactured wooden spools for electrical wires and burial caskets.
Children playing hide and seek in those caskets is just one of the tales heard by Karen Price, who curated the Portolano mini museum, with help from the Grenville County Historical Society. “When we set up the museum at the store we heard stories about how successful Portolano and earlier, the Fischl Glove company was, at bonding with the community. It was more than just a local business that grew. Founder Louis Fischl brought over 200 Czech and Italian Jews in the late 30s and early 40s to work here in Prescott. They escaped the Nazis and thrived, working at a company that emphasized top quality work.”
The human touch that went into glove making ended in the late 1960s. Rising costs forced Fischl to become a wholesaler but the company was finished by 1985.
Enter the Portolano family, experts in tanning and gloving in Italy since 1895. Due to customer demand in North America for quality leather gloves, Portolano Products established operations in New York and Toronto. In 1986 the company bought the old factory at 840 Walker Street and built a new warehouse next door. Timing and location were everything, says Ms. Shay, who has managed the operation since 1990. “We were a bonded warehouse, keeping product without paying duty. We added products like cashmere apparel and shipped all over the U.S., Australia, the world.”
But times, and business, have changed. Ms. Shay says, “Portolano’s now has a big warehouse in Mt. Vernon New York. Customers can’t wait 72 hours for us to clear a product through customs channels. Sellers never touch a product and customers go directly to web sites.”
The closing of the Portolano’s outlet brings back memories of other closures in Grenville County, including RCA Victor, Newell Manufacturing, Hathaway Shirts and Ferrox Iron. Markets change. Technologies change. Customer needs change. Making things by the hands of skilled tradespeople is from a bygone era. And it’s something that is missed.
But treating customers like royalty will be emphasized by Ms. Shay as she develops the next stage of her career. “I’m doing what I enjoy. I am re-developing the Portolano Canada web boutique that will offer that feeling of specialness and prove you can sell very high quality gloves on the internet.”
Artifacts and information from the Portolano mini museum will be distributed to the Prescott Museum and Visitor Centre, along with the Grenville County Historical Society and some previous owners.
Assistance Please
The Society has received a request from an individual regarding a WWI medal in his possession. The owner would like to contact the soldier's remaining family members and present them with the medal if they desire it.
If you have any information regarding the information below, please contact the society by phone or e-mail.
Thank You.
Soldier: Arthur E Baker. Arthur was from Prescott. He was killed in action in 1917.
Father: George Baker
Brother: Wade Baker. Wade died in 1984 and is buried in Sandy Hill Cemetery in Prescott.
Newspaper Project
April, 2024
The content below explains our journey to obtain digitization of our Prescott Journal newspapers. We have made progress in partnering with a digital imaging company to complete this process. Details to be announced soon.
The Society has received a request from an individual regarding a WWI medal in his possession. The owner would like to contact the soldier's remaining family members and present them with the medal if they desire it.
If you have any information regarding the information below, please contact the society by phone or e-mail.
Thank You.
Soldier: Arthur E Baker. Arthur was from Prescott. He was killed in action in 1917.
Father: George Baker
Brother: Wade Baker. Wade died in 1984 and is buried in Sandy Hill Cemetery in Prescott.
Newspaper Project
April, 2024
The content below explains our journey to obtain digitization of our Prescott Journal newspapers. We have made progress in partnering with a digital imaging company to complete this process. Details to be announced soon.
HISTORIC PRESCOTT JOURNALS TO BE PRESERVED
Ongoing
GCHS has acquired Prescott Journal newspapers and other files dating back more than a century which, at one point, were threatened with disposal.
After the paper changed hands and changed names to the South Grenville Journal, the historical society was advised that the space on King Street where the files were stored was to be vacated and their fate was uncertain. With approval from former Prescott Journal owner Beth Morris, the society took over the lease on the space and all contents.
Board members felt the material was too important in the annals of Prescott not to be preserved. The newspapers have been organized. Funding has been secured to digitize the collection and house it on a new GCHS archive site. Part of the work has been completed and the new site is expected to launch in late 2025 or early 2026. In the meantime, the society has placed some exhibits in the front window on the King Street Annex to promote its archives in the town's former train station, located at 500 Railway Avenue in Prescott.
Ongoing
GCHS has acquired Prescott Journal newspapers and other files dating back more than a century which, at one point, were threatened with disposal.
After the paper changed hands and changed names to the South Grenville Journal, the historical society was advised that the space on King Street where the files were stored was to be vacated and their fate was uncertain. With approval from former Prescott Journal owner Beth Morris, the society took over the lease on the space and all contents.
Board members felt the material was too important in the annals of Prescott not to be preserved. The newspapers have been organized. Funding has been secured to digitize the collection and house it on a new GCHS archive site. Part of the work has been completed and the new site is expected to launch in late 2025 or early 2026. In the meantime, the society has placed some exhibits in the front window on the King Street Annex to promote its archives in the town's former train station, located at 500 Railway Avenue in Prescott.
