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A Keuffel & Esser level that was used for activities such as surveying. It was originally owned by Professor William H. Day, who was integral to the Holland Marsh Drainage Scheme's beginnings. The survey of the marsh determined the elevation of the muck soil and the bordering "highland" soils, providing the information the planners would need to determine the grades, estimate the materials to be moved and to determine the alignment of the canal.

The drainage scheme report came out in 1924 and work began in the mid-1920s. The work involved intercepting part of the Holland River and the diversion of water around the perimeter of the area using drainage canals. Canal excavation materials were used to create dykes on the to-be reclaimed (marshland) side of the canals. The re-claimed land was used for farming and roads were constructed on top of the dykes to allow for transportation.

The cement brick building (with an arch) that is located at 17 Barrie St. is not the original structure at this site. Originally, there was a large frame building (used to shelter horses, a stage coach, buggies, cutters, etc.) that was part of a livery stable owned by Dave Ogilvie many years ago. It was destroyed by fire shortly after Dave bought it and the building seen in the photo is a smaller replacement. Dave also ran a stage coach line (later a taxi service) to Newmarket to meet the Metropolitan street car. Travelling salesmen would use this stage line to bring their wares and samples to town. They would stay at the Queen’s Hotel, where they would take orders from customers. They then used the stage coach and livery to go to Middletown, Bond Head, Newton Robinson, Beeton, Cookstown, Fennell’s Corner and then back home. Dave also hauled mail from the train station to the local post office, as well as to Bond Head. When automobiles replaced horses, the stables were removed from the building and people rented storage there for their vehicles. In time, Dave added a small office, toilets and gas pumps. After he died, Gordon and Mac ran the business until it was sold to Fred Gregory. Fred ran a car repair shop and employed a mechanic. Fred had a rental apartment built upstairs. It had outside stairs to the laneway. When Fred got sick he rented the building to Ray O’Neil who later bought it. Ray sold the building to the European Bakery in 1994. (1, 2)

The one-storey building with a flat roof located at 21 Barrie St. has been used by many businesses over the years. Tommy Lautonee owned the blacksmith and carriage factory once situated in this structure. George Geddes was the blacksmith there until late in 1937. There was a stable door at the south end of the building and two sets of windows running along the front. There was also a large door going to the rear where there was a stall for shoeing uncooperative horses and a large flat stone circle with a hole in the middle (for pestling steel rims on wheels). In later years, the Bradford Witness (owned by Stewart and Ina McKenzie) moved from Holland St. to this structure. The newspaper also ran a printing shop here. Harvey Marks was a typesetter. Frank Edney and Fallis also helped. After Stewart passed away, Ina ran the business until she retired. (1, 2)

The one-storey building with a flat roof located at 23 Barrie St. (as seen in the photo) replaces the round, metal building originally found on this site. It was an implement store and later the home of a pop business moved here by Keenty O’Keife (?) and run by Dave Smith (who helped deliver in and around the county). The building became a Chinese restaurant owned by Jack Pong around 1938. He ran it until after WWII (when he moved to Holland Street). (1, 2)

The southwest corner of John and Barrie Streets, which is now recognized as 28 Barrie St., was a vacant lot for many years. When Highway 11 was widened, Allan (Wink) Crake built a service station here. Bill Aikens ran it until his death during WWII. After the war, Mr. Hodgson (a retired O.P.P. officer), and then Frank Adamson, ran it. When the station closed, the pumps were removed and the structure became a Becker's Milk store. It was still in operation when this photo was taken in 1995. (1, 2)

Many businesses have used the flat-roofed structure located at 29 Barrie Street. It was once the home of a farm machinery business run by Reuben Tindall. When he retired, he sold the business to Dick Crake. Dick, who sold machinery and 28 Chevrolet cars, was a bachelor who did not drive. Allen Ceeiry(?) was his chauffeur. Dick had one of the first radios in town and his shop was a popular hangout for farmers and teenage boys who wanted to listen to hockey games. Dick ran the business until he retired. Then John Morden (from Kirkland Lake) started a body, fender, and paint shop at this location which he ran until his death. A businessman from Bond Head ran a blacksmith shop here for a period of time after WWII. (1, 2)

Allan (“Wink”) Crake, a nephew of Dick Crake, owned the one-storey building located at 31 Barrie Street. When Wink retired, Bradford Public Utilities bought the building and opened its offices here. There was a laneway behind Reuben Tindall’s house to the back entrance for the residents of John Street. (1, 2)
This photograph depicts the exterior of the building after a renovation.

The Davey House is a large, two-storey house located at 79 Barrie St. (on the northeast corner of Barrie St. and Scanlon Avenue). It was built in the Gothic Revival style around 1880. There was a two-storey, frame barn on the back of the lot originally. Bill Davey and his family - Minto "Scott", Leona, Oswald, Archie, and Margaret - lived here many years ago. Bill was a carpenter’s helper for local builder A.J. Saint. Bill was also a noted lumberman, butcher, and hunter. He owned a slaughterhouse on the west side of Simcoe St. (Picadilly Hill) and a butcher shop at the corner of Holland and Moore Streets. Bill died at his hunt camp in his nineties.
The ‘L’-shaped house sits quite near the street line. It has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a medium-pitched, gable roof. Elaborately-carved bargeboard trim and finials, a coloured glass, arched transom over a main-floor window, and the original wood lug sills remain. The house has wood frame construction and a stone foundation. Deterioration of the brick veneer at the grade level indicates a lack of adequate, subsurface drainage. An original rear, one-storey addition with a simple shed roof (once used as a summer kitchen) still remains. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement windows, doors, and the two-storey addition at the entrance are unsympathetic with the original building. (1, 2, 3)

The Pringle House is located mid-block on the east side at 99 Barrie Street. It was the home of Walter Pringle, owner and manager of the first Dominion store (on Holland St.) in the 1930’s. The 1½-storey, two-bay ‘bungalow’ was built in the Arts and Crafts style. The construction of this house (and six others) was begun in 1912 by Lieutenant George Stoddart. When Stoddart went overseas during WWI, the projects were completed by builder Art Saint.
The house has a simple form with an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. It has a bell-cast roof on the centre dormer and a steeply-pitched, truncated gable roof that extends down to reduce the scale of the building. This roof also covers the raised porch and is supported on wood half posts on brick piers. The porch has a simple, wood handrail and baluster. Wood lattice encloses the underside of the porch. A wide band of windows across the front of the dormer emphasizes the horizontal lines and the massing of the house. The building has wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Ground-floor and basement windows and the front door are set into segmented, arched openings with concrete sills. Second-storey windows are offset from the ground-floor windows and have plain, wood sills and trim. The mix of exterior cladding materials and the wood fascia band (expressing the line of the floor structure between the ground and second floors) is common to this style. There are returned eaves at the porch roof. The house has wood frame construction with brick masonry cladding, painted wood shingles on the dormer, and a painted, concrete foundation. The front ground-floor and second-floor windows are not original. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)

The house located at 105 Barrie St. was once the home of Dennis and Mrs. Nolan, their son James (a car dealer and salesman), and daughters Connie (a teacher at Bradford High School) and Aileen (also a teacher). Dennis Nolan was a Model T. Ford dealer in Cookstown as well as a noted, prize-winning, honey producer. He was also the reeve of Bradford, involved in the drainage of the Holland Marsh, and he worked marshland. At one time Dennis owned the town’s water works. (1, 2)