Owned and operated by the City of Mississauga, the Museums of Mississauga are heritage buildings restored to visually narrate the early settler experience and life in the nineteenth century through to the modern era.
There are three Museums in Mississauga and the Friends of the Museums support many events to enable as many people as possible to experience all the museum sites. The Museums have a rich artifact collection which spans over 200 years of Mississauga’s history.
Benares Historic House
With more than 160 years of history, this exquisite estate was home to four generations of the Harris and Sayers families. Feel the warmth and pride ofworkmanship in this home which has been restored to its quiet elegance of the early 20th century.
Begin your tour at the Visitor Centre. Explore the interpretive gallery; become acquainted with previous generations of the family and discover how Benares came to be.
A short walk through the picturesque park-like setting brings you to the Harris family’s Georgian style home, filled top to bottom with original family possessions. Benares and most of its contents were donated by the three great grandchildren of Captain Harris — Geoffrey Harris Sayers, Dora Sayers Caro and Barbara Sayers Larson to the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1968. It was restored and fully furnished with Harris Family items and opened to the public in 1995. Part of what makes Benares so unique is that over 95% of the artifacts in the house are original to the Harris family and this home.
Bradley Museum
The Anchorage
Open the doors to the 19th century and discover the Bradley Museum. Your journey begins at our Visitor Centre in The Anchorage, an Ontario Regency style cottage on the grounds of the museum. Once the retirement home of Royal Navy officer, John Skynner, the early 19th century home was moved from its original site on the shores of Lake Ontario to the Bradley Museum in the mid 1970s. The Anchorage now houses changing exhibits, gift shop, meeting room, administrative offices and collections storage space.
The Bradley House
A short walk across the grounds brings you to a small saltbox style farmhouse that was constructed in 1830 by Lewis and Elizabeth Bradley. After 20 years in a rugged cabin, this United Empire Loyalist couple and their seven children called this modest house home. Bradley House opened to the public in 1967. It was originally restored by the Mississauga Heritage Foundation to reveal the everyday life of early settlers in Ontario.
The Log Cabin
Across the drive, sits the delightful, award-winning Log Cabin, added to the Bradley Museum site in 2007. Originally slated for demolition at its Port Credit location, the cabin was rescued and reconstructed through a great community effort, and now offers year round use for educational programs, meetings, receptions, special events and sleepovers for children’s community groups.
The Leslie Log House
This white cedar log house was built by Robert Leslie in 1826 on Mississauga Road, north of Derry. In 1994 it was moved to its current location; the building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The City of Mississauga worked in partnership with the Streetsville Historical Society to provide them with a new home in the Log House, with appropriate artifact and archival storage for their rich collection, as well as exhibit and meeting space. The Museums of Mississauga and the Friends of the Museums of Mississauga were also partners in this project. Funding was provided by the City of Mississauga and infrastructure Ontario Art funds.