LOTS TO CELEBRATE!
​2026 is going to be FUN! 
  1. With other community partners, we celebrated the 175 Anniversary of Plattsville on Saturday, June 20, 2026. Check out the Plattsville 175 page for more details and pictures.
  2. An access ramp was installed at Chesterfield on June 25th, 2026. Special thanks to the Oxford Community Foundation for their financial support!
  3. The Plattsville & District Heritage Society will be also celebrating a milestone! It has been 25 years since we were incorporated with the Ontario Historical Society. Join us Saturday, August 8th for a FREE BBQ - donations appreciated. 
  4. We are ready to welcome you to our twelfth summer exhibit ~ Holidays and Celebrations That Bring Us Together ~ check out the 2026 Exhibit Page. We open Saturdays until September 19th from 10 am to 4 pm. Call 519.535.1417 or email [email protected] to book a week day/evening appointment. We look forward to your visit!
  5. ​And one more thing to celebrate ... our Elder Wisdom Green Bench has arrived! On Saturday, September 12, 2026, the Plattsville & District Heritage Society celebrated Grandparents Day and officially dedicated our new Elder Wisdom Green Bench. Today was really about something very simple, but very important — taking the time to listen to one another. As a Heritage Society, much of what we do is about preserving stories. We collect photographs, documents and artifacts, but some of our most valuable history isn't found in a box or an archive. It is carried in the memories and experiences of people.
    Our parents, grandparents and elders have stories about growing up, raising families, working on farms and in local businesses, going to school, attending church, helping neighbours and watching our communities change. When we take the time to sit down and listen, those stories become part of our shared history.
    That is why this Green Bench is such a wonderful fit for our Heritage Society. We are extremely grateful to Ted Hudson from Schlegel Villages for honouring us with an Elder Wisdom Bench and for creating an initiative that encourages communities to recognize the value, experience and wisdom of older adults. Visit elderwisdom.ca for more information.
    For now, this bench will have a home here at the Chesterfield Museum & Archive, and when the work at the Memorial Gates is completed, it will move to Plattsville, where we hope many more people will stop, sit and share a conversation.
    And so, on this Grandparents Day weekend, we dedicate this Green Bench.
    May this bench always be a place of welcome.
    A place to sit.
    A place to talk.
    A place to listen.
    A place where generations come together.
    And, most importantly, a place where every person knows that their story matters.
    May the conversations that happen on this bench help preserve memories, build friendships and remind us that we have so much to learn from one another. Thank you to Schlegel Villages, to our Heritage Society volunteers, and to everyone who joined us today to make this dedication special.
    And perhaps the best way to officially dedicate our Green Bench is with the words that capture its purpose so perfectly:
    Let’s sit. Let’s listen. Let’s learn from each other. Honouring wisdom. Inspiring connection.

The Plattsville & District Heritage Society was incorporated under The Ontario Historical Society in 2001. Our mission/tag line is "Preserving the past for the future".
Our objectives include:
- to promote and encourage interest in the history of Plattsville and the surrounding district;
- to collect, classify, edit and preserve historical information relating to Plattsville and the surrounding district; and
- the organization shall be carried on without purpose of gain for its members and any profit or other gains to the organization shall be used in promoting its objectives.
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We are a dedicated group who love to share their love of history (local, Canadian and world). To promote history and more cultural education in our community, we also have a Heritage Cupboard in the Plattsville Public Library that has themed displays and encourages people to visit/join us. 
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Since July 2012, The Plattsville & District Heritage Society has a home at the former Chesterfield United Church and we are into our second 10 year agreement with the Chesterfield Cemetery Board. The majority of our members are seniors. We have an Archives Committee who are busy archiving materials donated to the Society to preserve the history of Plattsville and the surrounding district. Our Archives Collection continues to grow.

Our building is available to other groups and is a meeting place for those visiting family buried at the Chesterfield Cemetery. We receive requests to help locate plots for families researching their history.

Find us. Plan a visit. ​​

816661 OXFORD RD 22
BRIGHT, ONTARIO N0J 1B0
(2 miles north of Bright)
​No mail received at this address.
CALL: (519) 535-1417
Denise Tew, Chair
Snail mail can be sent to
​c/o Denise Tew
926982 Oxford Rd 8
Bright, ON N0J 1B0
[email protected]