Beatlemania exhibit in Smiths Falls, Ont. explores Fab Four's connection to Ottawa Valley

Interested day trippers through the Ottawa Valley would be mindful to stop by the Heritage House Museum in Smiths Falls, Ont. where a local Beatles exhibit is on display.

The featured exhibit explores the connection between the iconic British band and the small Ottawa Valley town, as it helped bring Beatles-mania across the pond.

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"[Smiths Falls] actually pressed the first North American Beatles record," says Sienna Cauley, acting manager at the Heritage House Museum.

"Smiths Falls was kind of like ground zero for the Beatles in Canada. So a lot of people don't know that we have that connection."

It all started at record pressing company RCA Victor, which was founded in 1954 and once located on Cornelia Street.

At its peak, RCA Victor employed 400 people locally, and pressed the first Beatles record "Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You" in February 1963.

"They were pressing the records here, and then it was being distributed out as well, and (the local radio station) CJET would often get the copies and then play them at the radio station," says Cauley.

RCA Victor would go on to account for approximately 2.5 million Beatles singles and 640,000 Beatles albums, becoming the main distributor in Canada.

"The gallery consists of RCA Victor artifacts and items, information, pictures, some CJET items and pictures, and then a lot of Beatlemania merchandise, Beatles-related artifacts and things," says Cauley.

The exhibit is on display until Sept. 29, when a panel discussion on the historic connection will take place at the Smiths Falls Station Theatre.

"Most of the Beatles stuff has come from local collectors, which also just shows that there's people in Smiths Falls that were local that were huge Beatles fans."

Tickets for the panel discussion are free and can be reserved through Eventbrite.