QWF Historical Frankford Walking Tour

2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the amalgamation of the City of Quinte West. To celebrate this year, the City is delivering a number of free community activities and initiatives that tell the story of our growing community.

Join us at Quinte West Fest at Riverfest in Frankford on Saturday, May 20 from 12-9 p.m., for free activities at the Frankford Tourist Park, Frankford Arena, and throughout the community.

Enjoy a day jam-packed with free family fun including kids activities, live music, an evening concert featuring local band 'Moonsugar', evening fireworks, an outdoor movie and much more!

Visit quintewest.ca/QW25 for event updates and a complete schedule of event activities.

Take a self-guided Historical Frankford Walking Tour on Saturday, May 20

Coming to Frankford for Quinte West Fest?

On Saturday, May 20 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. take a self-guided walking tour of downtown Frankford to find out more about these long-standing community destinations.

• Frankford Arena/Dr. McMullen Recreation Centre, 35 March St.
• Frankford Public School, 36 Adelaide St.
• Old Bank Cafe, 1 Mill St.
• Madill's Pharmacy, 7 Mill St.
• Riverfest @ Frankford Tourist Park, 2839 Frankford Rd.
• Trent-Severn Waterway Lock 6, 207 Riverside Pkwy.

Find out about Frankford

Tour Stop #1 - Frankford Arena/Dr. McMullen Recreation Centre, 35 March St. 

The Frankford Arena/Dr. McMullen Recreation Centre is Frankford's community arena, home to a single-pad ice surface and multi-purpose room. Over the years the arena has hosted countless hockey games, figure skating shows and community events.

The old steel covered arena was erected in 1927. It was a combined agricultural building and skating rink, but this building burned down in 1962. The Community Centre Board completed the front portion which includes dressing rooms and other facilities for hockey and skating.

The arena and recreation centre is named in honour of Dr. David McMullen (1885-1967). Dr. McMullen was a graduate of the University of Toronto where he played varsity football. After graduation, Dr. McMullen spent six years as medical officer for the International Nickel Company of Canada before opening his practice in Frankford in 1921 and serving as a family doctor to hundreds of village residents for over 40 years.

Source: Archives of Belleville and Hastings County

Tour Stop #2 - Frankford Public School, 36 Adelaide St.

The first schoolhouse in Frankford was erected in 1840. In 1844, £50 ($2,022.42 dollars today) was raised to buy a new lot and erect a new school, where the current school exists today. The teachers were teenage girls, supplies were few, and classes were held six days per week. The school doubled as a place to hold Sunday services, being shared by various denominations.

In 1858, a two-story stone school was built, accommodating older students on the upper floor and younger children on the lower. The school was described as "the finest in the district". With more families realizing the importance of education, an addition to the building added in 1908, and the school was also used as a high school.

By 1923, the old stone school was badly overcrowded and a new red brick school was constructed and staffed with four teachers. This red brick school is still a part of the current school on Adelaide Street, and celebrates its 100th birthday in 2023.

Tour Stop #3 - Old Bank Cafe, 1 Mill St.

Originally a general store in the 1860's, the building burned down and the Molson Bank was built on its foundation. Later the building was the location of the Bank of Montreal, an insurance company, and apartments.

On March 30, 1966, when it was the Bank of Montreal, four armed men entered the building, herded employees and customers into a corner and in four minutes were out the door with $15,000. A passerby, noticing the commotion, phoned the police from Madill's Drug Store and the four men were arrested the next day in Cobourg. Ironically, the same bank had been robbed 20 years earlier, almost to the day.

Since 2019, the building has been the home of the Old Bank Cafe.

Tour Stop #4 - Madill's Pharmacy, 7 Mill St.

Madill's Pharmacy, founded by Holton Madill in 1923 has been serving the local community for 100 years.

Tour Stop #5 - Trent-Severn Waterway Lock 6, 207 Riverside Pkwy.

Constructed: 1908-1914

The construction of Lock 6 on the Trent-Severn Waterway required extensive dredging and recontouring of the canal embankments. With this work complete, residences were built for lock staff who lived permanently on-site, operating the locks 24 hours a day during the navigation season. Other duties also included managing water levels by regulating the flow of the river through the dams.

Lock 6 is located beside the Frankford Tourist Park, a five minute walk to the centre of Frankford Village, and within walking distance to the Quinte Hills Golf Course and the Frankford splash pad.

The Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site is made up of 386 km of waterway, that first opened in 1922 to connect Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. Today Parks Canada maintains and operates this historic lock system as a destination for recreational boaters and paddlers, and a home to the many people.

Photo credit: Parks Canada