At the bottom of the post is an Interesting video on the history of local buildings from the Orillia Museum of Art and History, narrated by Tom Rose as he talks about historical buildings and, the town. I knew a lot of this history because I've been learning about it's history since I moved here - 47 years ago. While I wasn't born here, I spent a lot of summers here with family, and at the Tudhope Campgrounds (no longer in existence, as now it's a public park.)
My family lived in Udney (before I was born - my mom was a teenager), and a number of them worked in Orillia. My mom, her sister, and her neice all worked at the original Zellers Store on the main street.
One of my mom's sisters married a man from Udney, and they eventually moved to Orillia. Her other sister married a man from Sebright, and their son was born in Orillia. Eventually, they separated and she moved to Toronto, but my other aunt and uncle lived the rest of their lives in Orillia.Because of the fact that our family has roots in and near Orillia, when I married a man working in Orillia, I wanted to learn more about the town (it was a town at that time). I searched the library for everything I could find about this area, and asked people I knew or met about any of the history that they might have known. (see the history section of Orillia Travel for more.)
This video provided information on some of the buildings that are homes in Orillia, that I didn't know the history of, so even after all this time, and all my research I learned something new. Very worth watching if you have an interest in Orillia.