On September 20, 2008 from 10am - 4pm the Oil Heritage District of Lambton County is hosting a Doors Open Day in conjunction with Doors Open Ontario and the Ontario Heritage Trust.  FREE Access to 12 Sites, One Day Only We are offering guided tours and special exhibits at the 12 sites highlighted on this website around Lambton and Kent Counties.  One can experience the beginnings of the oil industry at a historic working oil field and the see the first commercial oil well dug in North America.  

For more information contact Tourism Sarnia-Lambton @ 1-800-265-0316

click here to view our poster

Province of Ontario

Designating Heritage Properties: A guide to municipal designation of individual properties under the Ontario Heritage Act. Ministry of Culture, Government of Ontario.

Designation under the Ontario Heritage Act applies to real property, and helps to recognize and protect the heritage features on that property. Property designation is not limited to buildings or structures but can include groups of buildings, cemeteries, natural features, cultural landscapes or landscape features, ruins, archaeological and marine archaeological sites, or areas of archaeological potential. Designation not only publicly recognizes and promotes awareness of heritage properties, it also provides a process for ensuring that changes to a heritage property are appropriately managed and that these changes respect the property’s heritage value. This includes protection from demolition

Our cultural heritage is what we value from the past, and what we want to preserve for future generations. Identifying and protecting places in our communities that have cultural heritage value is an important part of planning for the future, and of helping to guide change while keeping the buildings, structures and landscapes that give each of our communities its unique identity. Municipalities have a key role to play in conserving places that have cultural heritage value. The designation of individual properties under the Ontario Heritage Act is one tool that municipalities have used to protect thousands of heritage properties in hundreds of communities across Ontario.

Heritage designation:

• RECOGNIZES the importance of

a property to the local community;

• PROTECTS the property’s cultural

heritage value;

• ENCOURAGES good stewardship and conservation; and

• PROMOTES knowledge and understanding about the property.

DESIGNATING HERITAGE PROPERTIES : A Guide to Municipal Designation of Individual Properties Under the Ontario Heritage Act - Part of the Ontario Heritage Tool Kit. Published by the Ministry of Culture

Government of Canada

The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) advises the Government of Canada on the designation of places, persons, and events of national historic significance. All submissions are evaluated by the Board within a national context and in keeping with the criteria established for assessing national historic significance (see Criteria for National Historic Significance).

Any aspect of Canada’s human history may be considered for Ministerial designation of national historic significance. To be considered for designation, a place, a person, or an event will have had a nationally significant impact on Canadian history, or will illustrate a nationally important aspect of Canadian history. The subject must meet one or more of the Board’s criteria and be consistent with the enclosed General Guidelines.