The barn located on the east side of Essa St. (south of Frederick St.) belonged to the former Anglican Manse. The Manse was located at 81 Frederick St. (1, 2)

The Queen’s Hotel (located at 22 Holland St. West) was built circa 1850. This photo (taken in the fall of 1995) shows the structure just before a major renovation. The hotel went “dry” during WWI. Bradford, like all of Ontario, was experiencing prohibition (even though Bradford had voted “wet”). The building originally had two storeys. A third floor and a flat roof were added later. It was heated with an old steam engine that had the undercarriage removed. The engine first burnt 4’ stacks of hardwood, then coal, and finally, oil. Eventually a new furnace was installed (most likely natural gas). The building was always warm and thought of as a home away from home.
Harry Lang, Celina and their children (Evelyn, George and Audrey) moved here from North Bay and bought the building in the 1920’s. They ran the Temperance House, and a board and dining service at this location. They had long-time help and boarders. Little John Cook ran a shop selling ice cream, chocolate bars, and smokes on the east side (down one step). A bus stop was added when bus service started. Len and Art Saint put a cement addition on the back of the building around 1938. At the rear, there was a chicken house, a roofed, open shed, and a laneway. Another shed ran south, and to the west was an ice house. There was open space to the north before the laneway and a barn for hay and horses. The barn had two stories and below there was a pig sty. North of the laneway there was another open shed, car storage, and a cooking kitchen on the back of the hotel (a little east of the back entrance). Jack Wilson worked for Harry Lang for many years. Mitch Hepburn brought in beer in 1934 and the building opened as the Queen’s Hotel. Businessmen had to chip in to buy a liquor license and Hepburn was the first supplier. Business was excellent and the hotel was really crowded. Before the arrival of the beer, the locals had used it as a place to play dominoes and checkers, and to conduct hunt camp and other organizations’ meetings. (1, 2, 4)
Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.

The mid-block building located on the north side at 93 John Street East was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival Cottage style. A large horse stable and a barn for storing marsh hay once stood behind the house. A fence also ran across the length of the rear of the property. Brunnetto Caesar lived here with his wife Grace (Stamper). He worked on the marsh harvesting marsh hay and as a teamster. He later bought a tractor and did custom work (draining and breaking marshland). Bill Wilson and his wife bought the house after World War II. He worked on the railway and retired here. He had a large garden at the rear, as well as a barn. Bill eventually sold the house to Ferrara and moved away.
The 1½-storey, three-bay house has a rectangular plan with a centre hall, a symmetrical façade with a centre gable over the entrance, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The entrance porch does not appear to be original because the peak and eaves of the hip roof of the porch interfere with the ground and second-floor windows. Double-hung windows are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. The house has wood frame construction, stucco cladding, and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the main-floor windows, screen door, and the two-storey addition at the rear are not original. (1, 2, 3)
Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.

The mid-block building on the north side at 107 John St. East was built around the 1880’s in the Gothic Revival Cottage style. The main house was moved to this site from the saw mill in Amsterdam during the early 1900’s. It was the home of Arthur “Mike” Saint and his wife Alice and children (Russell, Eric, Ralph, Zella, Rita and Archie). He had immigrated to Bradford from London, England in 1871 with his parents (William and Sarah) and siblings (Thomas, Harry, Frank, George, Annie and Maria). William died in 1875. All of his sons were in the building trade. Mike was a well-known brick layer and he also raised and showed chickens. There once was a 1½-storey frame barn at the back of the house that was used to store feed, a horse, and a cow. A chicken house was attached to the barn. A huge, old well was found (beyond the back fence) that was thought to belong to the first hotel (located on the only street) when Bradford was first founded.
The 1½-storey, three-bay house has a rectangular plan, a centre hall, a symmetrical façade with a centre gable over the entrance, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. A porch with a hip roof supported on wood posts and brick pedestals was added after the building was relocated. The enclosed porch was open originally, with only the brick pedestals remaining visible. Small windows have high floor to ceiling heights. Double-hung windows are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. The 2/2 windows are original. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding and there is a parged, stone foundation. Originally, the cladding was stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, the building’s form is unmistakable despite the new cladding. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block building located at 47/49 Simcoe Road was built around 1830-1860 in the Neoclassical Duplex style. Originally, there was a long, one-storey, frame house located at this site. It had a verandah on the northwest side, a picket fence along the street, a large barn on the south side of the house, a garden at the back and it was the home of Lew McConkey Sr. (a grain and seed merchant), his wife, and son. Lew had an office on the north side of Holland Street. New owner Paul Sadlon had Len Saint build a garage and a storage building at the back. Paul and his wife were market gardeners. Their son owned Bruce Sadlon Motors. The house was later converted into two apartments. Jack Gibney and his wife (Sadie Copeland) and their three daughters (Doris, Joyce and Muriel) lived here at one time. He was a horse trainer and worked for Dick Crake for many years. Jack replaced Alfred Payne (a bachelor who lived at the Queen’s Hotel). The current duplex was built on the same property after the house was demolished. Harold Gwyn, owner of a plumbing and heating business, was the owner of this newer building at the time this photo was taken in 1996.
The two-storey, four-bay, semi-detached house has a rectangular plan, a formal, symmetrical façade, and a medium-pitched, gable roof that has a central chimney (not original). Slightly-raised, separated, side-hall entrances are located at either end of the façade. This gives greater privacy than paired entrances, but it places habitable rooms along the party wall. The doors are set into plain, rectangular openings and are not original. There are large window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Equal-sized, ground-floor and second-floor windows (not original) with high sills are set into plain, rectangular openings. The openings have plain, wood frames and sills. Similar window openings above the entrance doors may have once existed and then been covered. The building has wood frame construction with vinyl siding (not original), a cut- stone foundation, and a basement. According to the 2000 inventory, few original details remain other than the building’s form. It also notes that the slightly-sagging roof suggests insufficient structural supports in the centre of each house. (1, 2, 3)

The first S.S. #6 School was moved to the Church farm where it functioned as a barn until it was obtained by the Chambers family and moved to Bond Head where it was restored and today is used as a carpentry shop operated by the family.

Langford Farm.

Barn on the (Roy, Orville) Hughes farm, the south half of Lot 1, Concession 2. The Hughes' farm shows two styles of barns. The early shed roof on the left and then the hip roof on the right barn (added in 1937).

Aerial photograph of the property of Joseph Martin (1873-1946) and Elizabeth Martin (nee Spiers) (abt. 1883-unknown). Shows farmhouse and barn.

Joseph was the son of Thomas Martin (1840-1919) and Elizabeth Martin (nee Lee) (1850-1936). Elizabeth Lee was the daughter of Thomas Lee (1794-1868) and Ann Lee (nee Graham) (abt. 1825-1903).

Cronan Barn Raising in the spring of 1934