Draft:Symmes Inn

The Symmes Inn is a former inn turned museum located in the heritage district of Aylmer, Quebec.

Built in 1831 by Charles Symmes (nephew of Philemon Wright), on the banks of the Ottawa River as a part of the landing's important role as a staging ground for both settlement and the timber industry of the Upper-Ottawa River. The Inn became the regional history museum in 2003.

History
Realizing the importance of the Chaudière Lake Landing at the western end of the Britannia Road (now the Aylmer Road) as a shipping and loading point for goods, Charles Symmes ordered the construction of a hotel, which he named the Aylmer Hotel, and a store in the lot adjacent to the landing. This location was in the village known as Turnpike End or Chaudière Lake Village, a village founded in 1818 by Philemon Wright Junior. Symmes built a wharf and its landing would be known as Symmes Landing and before long, the inn was also mostly called the Symmes Inn.

Symmes Inn Museum
Originally housed at 10 rue Principale (John McLean House, built circa 1840), the Aylmer Museum has marked the physical, cultural and educational landscape of Aylmer for many years. Formed in 1987 by the Aylmer Heritage Association, it has helped bring local and regional history to life through its varied exhibits and activities: the geology of the region, the life of the Ottawa Valley Indigenous people, explorers and trappers, the timber industry, steamboats and more.

When it moved into Greater Gatineau's quintessential heritage building, the Symmes Inn, in 2003, the museum took up these themes to some extent, since its main focus is on the Ottawa River and its tributaries, from aboriginal times to the present day. Thanks to its privileged location, the Symmes Inn is a hub of activity in the Aylmer sector and its Heritage Square.

Thanks to its permanent, temporary and travelling exhibitions, the Symmes Inn Museum is the spark plug that, in collaboration with the Gatineau Heritage Network, the education community, libraries and other local stakeholders, promotes local and regional history to young and old alike, and stimulates historical research. In this way, it contributes to developing a sense of belonging and pride among the citizens of Gatineau and the Outaouais region as a whole