Our History

June 4, 1838

One of the first recorded games of baseball is played

One of the first recorded game of baseball in North America took place in Beachville, Ontario (30 minutes south of St. Marys) on June 4, 1838. It was written about by St. Marys native Adam Ford, a local Doctor, in the 1886 Sporting Life magazine. Adam became the Mayor of St. Marys in 1877.

NOV 19, 1982

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is established

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was started in Toronto by Bruce Prentice and was incorporated on November 19, 1982. The main two homes for the Hall of Fame in Toronto were Exhibition Place and Ontario Place. The Hall of Fame closed its doors in Toronto in 1991.

AUG 25, 1994

St. Marys is declared the new home for the CBHFM

During the early 1990’s 12 cities expressed interest in becoming the new home for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The top 2 cities were Guelph and St. Marys and St. Marys won the bidding process on August 25, 1994 and became the new home for the Hall of Fame.

JUNE 4, 1998

The Hall of Fame officially opens in St. Marys

The CBHFM originally opened in a farmhouse, which was built in 1868. It was established in collaboration with the St. Marys Rotary Club, and the St. Marys Cement Company, who donated 32 acres of land to the project to establish playing fields.

November 23, 2017

Construction begins on a 2,500-square-foot expansion to the museum

The project created a secure archive facility and resource library for the Hall’s extensive collection which consists of over 6,000 books and magazines and more than 10,000 artifacts and papers. The renovations also included a new entrance and gift shop area, an accessible washroom and new auditorium/exhibition space.

The project was made possible by a number of generous private donations and funding through the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program.