The Heritage Attraction at a Glance & the Story Behind the Site
Doon Heritage Village is a scenic 60-acre living history museum that interprets rural life in the Waterloo Region as it existed around 1914, just before the transformative impact of the First World War. It is part of the Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum campus, a larger cultural complex that preserves and shares the history and heritage of the region.
The village was originally established in 1957 (as Doon Pioneer Village) and has since grown into one of southwestern Ontario’s most immersive heritage sites. Visitors explore more than 22 historic buildings, including homes, barns, shops, churches, a sawmill, and community spaces, all furnished and interpreted to reflect life in a flourishing rural crossroads community. Costumed interpreters help bring the past to life through demonstrations, storytelling, and craftsmanship.
Although the Village is undergoing infrastructure renewal and interpretive reimagining through 2025, with full reopening anticipated Spring 2026, consultation work through 2024–25 has helped shape enhanced programming that responds to community input and broadens the Village’s historical narrative before it re-opens for regular visitation.
Doon Heritage Village stands on lands with deep Indigenous and settler histories. While the interpretive village focuses on early 20th-century rural life, it is situated in territory with longstanding Indigenous connections, and future programming will continue to integrate broader perspectives on the region’s human and cultural history.
