Montgomery’s Inn
City-operated museums are beginning to re-open. Select museums are offering guided tours and activities. The Montgomery’s Inn’s weekly farmers’ market is open. Stay up-to-date on all changes to City services.
Built in the 1830s to shelter travellers, Montgomery’s Inn brought people together from the surrounding area and beyond over food, drink, games, and more. More than 170 years later, it’s still doing just that. This lively museum gives visitors the opportunity to see how a 19th-century Canadian inn was run from ballroom to bedrooms, with a kitchen and bar still in full working order.
Go behind the scenes and hear the diverse stories of people who traversed the grounds from Chinese market gardeners to an employee who escaped his enslavement in the United States through the Underground Railroad.
Come for the history, stay for the pub nights, ghost stories, live music, dancing, and more. Weekly farmers markets bring neighbours together over freshly-baked bread and seasonal fruits and vegetables; while Sunday teas, hearth cooking demonstrations and community art exhibits offer a wider range of experiences that look at the past, present, and future of the neighbourhood.
Montgomery’s Inn gathered communities around food, drink, news and laughter. Keep that spirit alive today: there’s always something happening at the Inn.
Admission
HistoricTO interior tours:
- Adults: $7.08 plus HST
- Seniors (65+ years) $6.19 plus HST
- Youth (13-18 years) $6.19 plus HST
- Children (6-12 years) $4.42 plus HST
Admission for children ages five and under is free. Guests can pre-register online or purchase tickets in-person.
Hours of Operation
Time-ticketed HistoricTO tours are offered Thursday to Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Famers’ Market Hours: Every Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Please see the Farmers’ Market tab for more information.
COVID-19 Health and Safety Measures
Proof of vaccination is not required for participation in indoor or outdoor museum programming (in accordance with the Reopening Ontario Act). Active screening, contact tracing, masking and physical distancing are in place to provide a safe museum experience for our guests and staff.
On-Site Services
- Free public parking
- Public washrooms with changing facilities
- Partial accessibility
- Please call 416-394-8113 for specific accessibility questions
- Outdoor picnic area in Tom Riley Park
By Car
Drive to the south-east corner of Islington Avenue and Dundas Street West. Free parking is available off Montgomery Road.
By Transit
Take the Bloor/Danforth subway line to Islington station and either walk north or board the Islington 37 northbound bus. For specific TTC route and schedule information call 416-393-4636 (INFO) or visit the TTC website.
Location
Montgomery’s Inn was once part of a 400-acre farm which supplied food for the Montgomery family, guests of the inn and for retail sale. Much of this land continued to be farmed by tenant farmers through the 1940s. Though the farm is long gone, we celebrate the Inn’s agricultural roots once again by offering farm-fresh produce for sale.
Market Location and Hours
The Montgomery’s Inn Farmers’ Market operates year-round.
As an essential service, it continues to be open for both in-person shopping and pre-order with curbside pick-up.
Hours: Every Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
How to Shop the Virtual Market
The Virtual Farmers’ Market is operated in partnership with Montgomery’s INNovators. Orders placed online (Friday 9:00 am- Monday 9:00 pm) will be available for pick up at the market on Wednesday.
Participating Vendors for Winter 2021-2022
Vendors rotate weekly during the winter season. Please email montinn@toronto.ca or call 416-394-8113 for more information.
- Ambrosia: Handmade Eastern European comfort foods
- Bees’ Universe: Honey and bee products, and eggs.
- Etobigrow: Hydroponic vegetables, herbs and seedlings.
- Happy Bakers: Baked goods and prepared meals.
- Molly B’s Gluten-Free Kitchen: Specialty baked goods and pizza crusts.
- Nith Valley Organics: Organic vegetables and meat.
- Ontario Water Buffalo Co.: Meat, cheese and charcuterie.
- So Delish: Organic vegetables, fruit and dehydrates.
Bi-weekly
- Alma Bakery: Flat breads, hummus and dips
- Forbes Wild Foods: Canadian foraged food
- Huron Sun: Cold-pressed, local sunflower seed oil
- Ixiim Mexican: Mexican specialties including Tamales and Tlacoyos.
- Samosa Delight: A variety of Somali-style samosas, including veggie.
- Spade and Spoon: Maple syrup, jams, jellies and ferments.
- TC Momo: Tibetan dumplings.
- Smoke Bloke: Hand-Sliced smoked salmon & more. Bi-weekly, order online only.
Farmers’ Market Toolkit for Heritage Sites
For the past ten years, Montgomery’s Inn has run a successful farmers’ market program. The market has proven to be of great benefit to the museum, the local community and participating vendors.
Using Montgomery’s Inn as a case study, this how-to guide is aimed at heritage sites and community museums in the province of Ontario, with the goal of encouraging more sites to consider a farmers’ market at their location. Please email montinn@toronto.ca to receive a PDF copy of the Farmers’ Market Toolkit for Heritage Sites.
Montgomery’s Inn was designed in the Loyalist or late Georgian architectural style, and was deemed Classical because it had been inspired by ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Features such as the centre-hall plan, the symmetrical balance of the building and the fanlight over the front door are typical. The Inn is built of rubble stone and was originally covered with pebble-dashed stucco, finished, or “coined,” on the corners to give the appearance of cut stone.
After Thomas Montgomery’s death in 1877, the contents of the building were sold at auction. The furnishings in the museum are either donated or purchased pieces of Canadian, American and English origin and reflect those of a conservative country innkeeper. The paint colours on the walls and woodwork are similar to the original colours, which were discovered by scraping down to the original coat of paint in each room.