The house located at 113 John St. East (on the southeast corner of John and Nelson Streets) was the last house on John Street East. This area was known as French Town at the time because of the French families living there who had come to Bradford to work at the sawmill and planing mills. Fred Stoddart’s pasture fields were over what is now called Colborne Street. The small, one-storey, square-frame house with a cement cellar was built by Dan Collings in the 1940’s. He used materials from the barns behind his house in the construction. Dan eventually moved to Holland Street. He died in his 97th year. The house was sold to Couvert during World War II. Later it was owned by Len Fuller, his wife, and sons (George and Leonard). (1, 2, 4)
The mid-block building located at 19 John St. West was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular style. Frank Adamson, who ran a gas station, lived in this house after World War II. It later became the home of Henry Bell and Phyllis for a short time. The 1½-storey, three-bay cottage has a rectangular plan, a centre hall, a symmetrical façade and a shallow-pitched, gable roof. It has a kitchen at the rear and a simple porch at the front. Wood frame construction has brick veneer cladding which is not original. The structure has a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, apart from the modest form, little of the original building is apparent. It notes that the (replacement) entrance canopy, windows, and cladding successfully hide clues regarding the structure beneath. (1, 2, 3)
The frame building located at 38 and 40 Holland St. East was bought many years ago by Mr. McWilliams. He remodeled the structure and put the entrance for the upstairs apartment on the east side (42 Holland St. E.). He died many years ago and Mrs. McWilliams (a sister of William Hirlehey) and her son Bill lived in the apartment. Bill worked on the marsh and in a hockey stick factory. There were two shops downstairs. Joe Scotto barbered at 40 Holland St. East (on the east side of the building) for a number of years before moving across the street to “Rusty” Worfolk’s property at 27 Holland St. East. There was a shoemaker and leather shop for years at 38 Holland St. East (on the west side of the building). There have been several other businesses here including Joyce’s Curio Shoppe (as seen in this photo taken in 1995). (1, 2)
The two-storey, frame house located at 89 Holland St. East was the home of Tom and Mary (Harman) Saint for many years. The structure was moved across the river to this site from the Thompson Smith Saw Mill (at Amsterdam) after it closed. A crawl space under the back kitchen was replaced in 1936 by a cellar under the front part of the house. It was dug by Jim (Dummy) Peters, Donald Campbell, and Joe Saint using pick-shovels. They then poured an 8” concrete wall. An oil furnace was installed after the front cellar was completed. It replaced the wood-fueled cooking stove previously used as a heat source for the house. Tom owned the property from Holland St. through to John Street. There was a lane behind the house that led to a woodshed. At the bottom of the lot there was a shed for a wagon, buggy, implements, etc. Upstairs was a loft for hay and on the east side there was a horse stable. Tom was a stone mason, brick layer, plasterer, and cement layer. He used a horse to haul his materials. Six children (William, John, Sadie, Leonard, May and Jane) were raised in this house. Sadie married Walter Reeves, a lacrosse player and a one man/one dog police force. Sadie lived at home and Dorothy married Harvey Marks and stayed in the family till 1989. A front porch and a car port at the back were eventually added. The lot at the back was sold to William Smith. (1, 2)
