108 Water Street

John McCrae’s Birthplace Museum

Bylaw: (1979)-10058 amended by (1990)-13624

Legal dDescription: Lot 36, Plan 37

Designated portions

The entire property described as Lot Number 36, Registered Plan 37 and Lots 1 and 2, Registered Plan Number 399, is designated by this By-law, including all portions and elements of the buildings, structures, monuments, walls and fences thereon.

Property history

This modest limestone cottage, built in the early 1860’s, was the birthplace of Guelph’s famous poet-physician-soldier, Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872-1918). The property was purchased in 1966 by the McCrae Birthplace Society and carefully restored under the supervision of architect Peter Stokes in 1968. It now functions as an active museum and is a major tourist attraction to this city. The national significance of the building has been recognized with a plaque of the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. It adjoins the McCrae Memorial Gardens, developed in 1946 by the Colonel John McCrae Memorial Branch 237, of the Canadian Legion. The structural character and details of the stone house, the porch and the board and batten accessory building are representative of domestic architecture in this area during the 1860’s.