• Toronto’s Tollkeeper’s Cottage
    Cottage in its location on Davenport Road and Bathurst in 1875
  • A Humble Home
    Built in the 1830s, this structure housed multiple tollkeeper families over the years
  • The Families Who Lived Here
    Including John Bulman (1861) and others like Frances McCegue, Moses Hanna, and Thomas Brown
  • Art Cox’s 1875 Painting
    Color version of this rare depiction by local artist Arthur Cox
  • Now across the street
  • Restored to 1861
    Furnished with period artifacts including some from the Bulman family and other 19th century pieces
  • Meet Our Costumed Docents
    Experience daily life as it was for Toronto’s early tollkeeping families
  • A Living History Site
    One of Toronto’s few surviving examples of early municipal architecture
  • Visit the Tollkeeper’s Cottage
    Open February-December
    Saturdays 12-5pm & first Sunday each month 1-4pm

Tollkeepers Cottage Museum

Closed for holidays. open for new year starting Feb 1 2026. Then, Saturdays 12-4pm; 1st Sun each month 1 – 4pm
Wishing all our Tollkeeper Friends a 2026 filled with good health, new adventures and great joy!
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COOKIE DAY
Thank you to our bakers and buyers for a successful Cookie Day this year. We made almost $900. for the care and maintenance of the Tollkeeper's Cottage. And also a big thank you to those who decided to support us by taking out or renewing their membership. This Spring, members will be able to attend our AGM and vote on the issues that have arisen this year. 
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Membership is valid from January to December 2026 and may be purchased at any time! $20. individual, $35. family. Receipts for tax deductions will be sent by email in February.

THANK YOU FOR DECIDING TO CONNECT WITH, PRESERVE AND CELEBRATE OUR UNIQUE HERITAGE COTTAGE!
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PHOTO FIESTA 
Congratulations to David Raymont for his winning photo "Tollkeeper Window"(bottom left). David has received his prize, a gift certificate kindly donated by our local Fiesta Farms Grocery Store.

THANK YOU TO FIESTA FARMS FOR YOUR GENEROSITY AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT! 
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COTTAGE CLOSURE
As in other years, our hard working volunteers take a break for the holiday season. We closed at the end of Cookie Day, December 13 and we'll remain closed during January, as the Tollkeeper's Cottage is cold and dark during that month. 
We will re-open on Sunday February 1, from 1-4 pm.

We'll see you next year!
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"Tollkeeper Window," the winning photo by David Raymont
Have a favourite sweater with a small hole in it? Need your blue jeans mended? Want to learn how to knit, crochet, do mending? We'll have our docents ready in February to offer their services again to help you keep those wardrobe pieces, or to teach you the skills to do it yourself. Stay tuned for more information in our next newsletter.
What is this? We've acquired a new item for our collection. Email us your guess, or wait til next month's reveal!
 

Volunteers

For those who would like to volunteer as docents at the Tollkeeper’s Cottage 1.  …

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