Memorial 35092-003 Aurora, ON

[Plaque/Plaque]

AURORA ARMOURY

Built in 1874 as a drill shed for the 12th Battalion or Infantry or York
Rangers, the Aurora Armoury was part of a network of defence
training facilities for citizen soldiers. It evokes the larger stories and
traditions of the province's militia regiments, recruited regionally, and
possessing close affiliations with their communities of origin. The
armoury was also the site of Edward Blake's famous "Aurora speech"
of 1874, in which the prominent politician and former Ontario
premier called upon the federal government of Liberal Prime Minister
Alexander Mackenzie to implement nationalistic and electoral
reforms. The speech exemplifies how drill halls and armouries fulfil
civic roles in the lives of their communities. The oldest purpose-built
armoury still used by the military in Ontario, the Aurora drill shed is
home to elements of The Queen's York Rangers (1st American
Regiment)(RCAC).

Ontario Heritage Trust, an agency of the Government of Ontario