St. Jacobs Village, Ontario

Interesting and pretty buildings line the streets in St. Jacobs

Living in Toronto is great!

Torontonians are very fortunate as we can visit many interesting towns and pretty places within a radius of 60 - 100 miles (about an hour to an hour's drive from Toronto).

A small village, St. Jacobs is a popular tourist spot

If we wanted to, we could go and explore a different city or town every weekend!

We did just that last weekend and we could not ask for better weather!

A store that makes and sells corn brooms in St. Jacobs

We went with one of our friends and exlpored a couple of places when we made our monthly visit to Waterloo.








The closest and an interesting town to visit near Waterloo is a little village called St. Jacobs Village.

St. Jacobs may not be a big place  with a population of around two thousand people, but it has a nice business area downtown. 

Enjoying a coffee at the local bakery

It is a popular tourist spot in the summer as it is a very  pretty little town  with beautiful rustic shops selling all sorts of crafts and items made by local craftsmen.

St. James Lutheran Church - downtown St. Jacobs

St. Jacobs is only a stone throw away from the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market - the largest outdoor farmers' market in Ontario.

Interesting architectural house designs in this small village

Betty enjoys window shopping at St. Jacobs

The St. James Lutheran Church, rustic homes and buildings can be found on main street downtown.

It was a pleasure strolling around and peering into these shops stopping for fresh pastries and coffee.

Many modern shops and buildings co exist with the rustic old ones

Lots of handcrafts shops around

St Jacobs Village is a unique community with around seven thousand Mennonites residing and farming in the immediate area.

A Mennonite Museum is housed inside the Visitor Centre

The St. Jacobs Visitor Centre is situated right on the downtown street with the Mennonite Museum located in the basement level of the same building.

St. Jacobs Visitor Centre

For a voluntary donation of $5.00 per adult, we went inside to learn about the story and history of the Mennonite families in the Kitchener/ Waterloo region.

A replica Mennonite church inside the museum

It was a detail display with a short documentary film, picture displays explaining the persecution of the Mennonites in Europe and their immigration to North America.

The most visible members of the Mennonite family are a group called the Old Order. They have chosen not to follow the changes of modern life.






The Old Order group of Canadian Mennonites dress in the old fashion way - men in plain shirts and pants, often with suspenders while the women wear long dresses covering their knees and with bonnets covering their hair.

Mennonites forsake modern means of transportation, instead they travel in horse drawn buggies in St. Jacobs

Traveling by horse and buggy, Mennonite families are often seen driving  in their old fashion buggies in downtown St. Jacobs and on the highways around the Waterloo area.






St Jacobs is a lovely place to visit. I have been to this village many times and I enjoy it every time we are there!  If you are in the Waterloo area, you don't want to miss this place!

R.T.
St. Jacobs Village
Ontario