Small
Boom, Bust and Bothwell tells the story of the colourful community founded by Father of Confederation George Brown. The exhibition explores how the discovery of oil fuelled the town’s remarkable growth in the 1860s through the 1890s and follows its subsequent decline into a small Ontario hamlet. Although a far cry from the heady days of rough wildcatters, saloons, hotels, brothels and a population of 10,000, when the source served 60 oil wells at one time, this quiet community is still producing oil on a small scale. The citizens have spent the past five years preserving the last remaining original oil field powerhouse and turning it into an open-air museum.
