Heritage and Culture

Experiences in Orangeville are complemented by the character of the historic sights and memorable features. Buildings adorned with intricate details and decorative brickwork entice you to gaze upwards and linger a bit longer. The medians along Broadway, our town’s main street, tell the story of the community’s evolution. Many landmarks offer intriguing glimpses into the past while maintaining a present-day purpose, connecting our community's history with today’s authentic spirit. Read below for different ways to walk through time in Orangeville.

The medians on Broadway

A series of medians along Broadway describe Orangeville’s development from a forested area into a mill village, and later an urban centre. The features were designed by landscaping students at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

Eastern Median

A statue of Orange Lawrence, the founder of the Town of Orangeville, stands proudly in the median across from Town Hall. The 7.5-foot sculpture stands on a base and towers above street level to welcome visitors. The statue was created by Grand Valley artists Donna Pascoe and Peter Turrell and shows the Town's founder with his coat over his left shoulder, sleeves rolled up and working plans in hand, symbolically ready to build his mill on Mill Street. The median also features a pergola with stone columns and a white cedar roof structure.

Centre Median

In the central median, you’ll find a clock tower. The marble timepiece weighs over 900 kilograms and was originally built and installed on the old post office in 1936 where it remained until the post office was demolished in 1963. It then sat atop Town Hall from 1980 to 1993 when the building was renovated.

Western Median

The waterfall in the western median was built with Orangeville’s location and history in mind. From spring to fall, water runs through the feature in four directions, representing the town’s position at the headwater of four river systems – the Credit, the Nottawasaga, the Humber, and the Grand. The rougher features on the east and west faces were designed to demonstrate the variation in the how the water moves in the area. Water also flows along a chute to the top of a symbolic waterwheel, representing the importance of the mill and its energy source for the community.