Aylmer and District Museum

The Aylmer and District Museum occupies the old town hall on Talbot Street West and does a solid job of telling the story of the surrounding agricultural district — the tobacco and dairy farms, the early settlers, the Indigenous peoples who lived in the region before European contact. The displays are locally focused and genuinely informative rather than generically "heritage."

The building itself has been carefully preserved and is arguably the most architecturally distinguished structure in town. If you are passing through Aylmer, a half-hour here is worthwhile.

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A story
The museum is housed in Aylmer's original town hall, built in 1876 and one of the better-preserved Victorian civic buildings in Elgin County. The building itself is a reason to visit — its Italianate facade and pressed-brick detailing are typical of the confidence of small Ontario towns in the post-Confederation era, when tobacco and grain money was flowing through the region.