Phoebe Amelia Watson is born in Doon, the 4^th child of Ransford Watson and Susannah Moore.

After Queen Victoria signs the British North America Act, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec are united into the Dominion of Canada, and Sir John A. Macdonald becomes the country’s first prime minister.

Homer Watson receives his first set of oil paints and determines to become a professional painter. Lacking the means to receive formal training, he begins studying by copying pictures in books.

Homer visits Toronto for the first time and is encouraged to focus on landscape painting by Thomas Mower Martin.

Homer begins studying art in earnest in Toronto, studying the works of art on display at the Toronto Normal School and the Notman-Fraser photography studio, as he could not afford to take classes.

Homer finishes The Death of Elaine, his first major work of art.

Homer makes his first trip to Lily Dale, New York State, to explore the concepts of Spiritualism.

Homer marries Roxa, and they move into the present-day Homer Watson House & Gallery as renters.

Homer Watson receives the endorsement of a young Oscar Wilde, who himself was growing in popularity at this time, referring to Watson as “the Canadian [John] Constable.”

Phoebe moves to Toronto to take art lessons from William Cruikshank, who was a teacher at what is now known as the Ontario College of Art & Design.

Five of Homer’s paintings are included in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, England, earning him a bronze medal.

Homer travels to Britain where he works to establish his reputation in Europe. He spends three years there before returning to Doon. During this time, he studies the Old Masters of Europe.

Homer builds an extension on his home to act as a painting studio. He creates a frieze along the top of the studio, with personal renditions of paintings that inspire him.

Homer paints The Flood Gate, which he considers to be his masterpiece.

Homer purchases a house for his sister Phoebe Watson and his Mother Susannah Watson in Galt, Ontario. Phoebe Watson opened a store in Galt, selling her own artworks and teaching her trade.

Homer adds a personal gallery space onto his home.

Susannah Watson dies at the age of 73.

Canada participates in the North American Conservation Conference.

Cressman’s Woods (now Homer Watson Park) is at risk of being purchased by a sawmill owner. Homer and several locals form the Grand River Park Company to preserve it.

Homer paints the first Canadian Expeditionary Force in Valcartier, Quebec.

The Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in the United States and Canada, an early bilateral effort to protect wildlife, is signed.

Roxa dies, sending Homer into a much more spiritual phase in both his life and art. Phoebe Watson moves in shortly after to help care for the family.

Homer steps down as president of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts due to his failing hearing.

Homer Watson is caught in the middle of mounting tensions between the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the National Gallery, the RCA supporting traditional painting methods, where the National Gallery supported the growing “Modernist” painting style that was used by the Group of Seven.

Canada passes the National Parks Act. This act declares the parks “dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment,” and it requires that the parks be maintained for future generations.

Homer Watson sells paintings to his good friend and fellow spiritualist, William Lyon Mackenzie King. King hangs the moonlit scenes in his apartment at Laurier House, Ottawa.

Phoebe Watson dies, leaving the legacy of the Watson family in a precarious state.

A plaque is placed at the front of the House commemorating the life and career of Homer Watson.

The Watson House is purchased by Earl Putnam, temporarily shutting down the Doon School of Fine Arts. Soon after, the Watson house is purchased by Tom and Ruthe Cayley, who re-open the Doon School of Fine Arts.

Watson’s house, now the Homer Watson House & Gallery, is declared a National Historic Site of Canada.

The Homer Watson House & Gallery still stands, holding up the ideals of its past residents and educating and supporting the artists of tomorrow.