Postcard of the Bradford Co-operative Storage.

Riverview Inn on the edge of the Holland River. This was the western end of what would have been the town of Amsterdam

The Village Inn is located on Holland Street East. The architect was Mr. William F. Sparling and it is an Old English or Tudor style building built in 1938. Mr. Sparling also designed the Granite Club, Masonic Temple and the Metropolitan Building all in Toronto.

The Bradford Shoe Repair Shop was located on Holland St. E. Mr Laka was the owner.

These shops were located on Holland St. East, near Barrie Street. This building used to be Bracken's Drug Store, owned by Mr E.O. Bracken and part of I.D.A. (Independent Druggists Alliance). Mrs. Myrtle Bracken was a Public School Teacher.
Today this is a jewellery store.

Please contact the library (905-775-3328) if you have any more information on this photo.

The building was built before 1891. It replaced the Western Hotel which burned down in 1890. It consisted of three stories and a basement, with the front spanning about 100 feet. It held 25 bedrooms, a sitting parlor downstairs, a ladies parlour upstairs, and a dining room. In 1900 it became the Armstrong Hotel. The inside was upgraded in 1905 when it was purchased by W. Whyle. In 1907, the stables could hold 75 horses, and the rates were $1-1.50 per day. In 1931 Henry Lang ran the hotel and in the 1950's and 1960's the McEvoy family owned it.

Located on the corner of Church and James Street. This church was built in 1900 after the original church was destroyed by fire. The first church was built in 1851 and burned down in April 1900. Rev. G.B. Morley was the first minister in the new church.
It is built in early English Style and used Milton Pressed Brick, a high quality and expensive brick.

This building was built in 1876 by John Maclean Stevenson, a lawyer and reeve of Bradford from 1871-1877. It was sold to the Lukes Family in 1910, who owned and operated the Bradford Flouring Mill since 1878, which was one of the best equipped mills in the province. It is a copy of Queen Victoria's residence, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, but built on a smaller scale. It was later occupied by Egerton Ryerson, a famous Methodist preacher, educator, writer and printer (Ryerson Press in Toronto). He died in 1882. In 1949 the building was called 'The Convent' because it became St. Mary's Convent of the Assumption, housing Ursuline Sisters.
In 1969 it became an apartment building but was torn down in the late 1980's.

Audio of an interview with Sam Neilly. The interviewer is George Jackson. Sam and George discuss where Sam's friends and family lived in accordance with a map of Gilford they are looking at. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.

Description : On the north side of the 7th Line, about 1 km. west of Bond Head, there is a metre-high cairn in the fence line, that marks the location of the home and church built by the Rev. Featherstone Osler in the late 1830s. The frame church, that would become Trinity Anglican Church in Bond Head, was initially planned a lecture base for divinity students, church school, and centre for baptisms and marriages. It was during this time, that four sons were born to the Oslers - Feathersone, Britton, Edmund and William. The two elder sons became lawyers of note, Edmund a banker, and William, a doctor who was knighted for his service to his fellow man, and whose work changed the nature of medical practice and diagnosis. A number of medical facilities in Ontario have been named in honour of Sir William Osler, and at Trinity Anglican Church today, a memorial window and brass plaque are of great interest to the members of the medical profession who come from all over the world to visit the birthplace of this leader of their chosen profession. The Osler timber-frame country church, with its stucco coating, was moved in September of 1885 from the 7th Line to the top of the hill, at the northwest corner of Bond Head. It was rollered down the rural road in sections, reassembled, then given a veneer of brick and a new steeple. New oak pews were installed, and the interior was trimmed in oak. Much of the original interior and exterior still survive, including items used by Rev. Osler himself. On December 20th, 1885, Rev. Osler travelled from his Dundas charge to officially open the renovated church in its new location. Recently, Dr. Watters, a local resident and retired surgeon, speaking to the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association, stated, "The old Osler church built and preached in by the Reverend Featherstone Osler, home to his astonishing family, is a piece of Canadian history of interest around the world. We must find some way to preserve the Osler church as part of that character, and as a reminder of the kind of people who began it."