Haliburton House Museum

Haliburton House Museum Review

The Haliburton House Museum was once home to Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865), a lawyer, politician, historian, and, above all, humorist. Hugely popular in his own day, Haliburton inspired Mark Twain and put Nova Scotia on the literary map with The Clockmaker, a book that used a fictional Yankee clock peddler named Sam Slick to poke fun at provincial foibles. Although you may not be familiar with Haliburton's name, you surely know some of the phrases he coined. The Windsor wordsmith gave us expressions like "quick as a wink," "it's raining cats and dogs," and "the early bird gets the worm." Themed programs and events are offered throughout the summer.

Haliburton is also remembered for making the first recorded reference to hockey—the sport that was "born" here in the early 1800s. Fittingly, antique skates, hand-carved sticks, wooden pucks, and other artifacts from the collection of the Windsor Hockey Heritage Centre (formerly on view in a small museum downtown) are now displayed in the house as well.