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This two-storey, solid-brick building is located on the north side at 37 Holland St. West (on the corner of Holland and Moore Streets). It has been the site of several businesses, including Western Tire, Municipal Savings and Loan, and a grocery store. Originally, it was the Kilkenny Furniture Store. Frank Kilkenny, his father, and Keith lived here. The front part of the building was a furniture display and show room. There were stairs on the west side leading up to the show room. It was later turned into a funeral parlor when funerals ceased to be held in the deceased’s home. In the early 1930’s, Len and Art Saint built an addition on the back. The back part was used as an embalming room and for casket storage. It had two car bays. There was an elevator in the back part that provided access to the second floor. After Frank died, Keith remained an undertaker for only a short time. He preferred to work with refrigerators, furniture, freezers and radios. There was an office off Lovers Lane (Moore St.) that later became the location of Keith’s radio repair shop. Tom Kilkenny, an undertaker and furniture maker, later ran his business here. He employed a number of men. Behind the brick building was a two-storey, frame building used for storing cutters, sleighs, furniture, and the other things used in the business. There was also a small garden. Neal Lathangue eventually took over the funeral business. (1, 2)

The structure located at 38 Holland St. West (on the southwest corner of Holland and Drury Streets) was built around 1900 in the Ontario Vernacular style. B.B. “Ben” Collings lived upstairs with his wife (a Waldruff), and children Bernice, Kathleen and Norman. Both daughters became school teachers and Norman (“Dodger”) was a professional hockey player who helped his father and later took over the business. Ben’s workshop was also located here and there was a horse stable at the rear of the property many years ago. The back end of the building was destroyed by fire in the 1920’s. Ben Collings was involved in several businesses. He was also known as an organizer and sports manager. At one time this building was the site of the Collings’ mattress factory. Ben also cut marsh hay and hauled it down the river on a scow. Sometimes the hay was stacked for winter baling. The horses wore four wooden boots and wouldn’t get off the scow until they were applied. Ben was a furniture maker and an undertaker. His first experience as an undertaker was with the body of his own father. He bought Jack Spence’s fishing business (including nets, reels, pulleys, ropes and the fish shanty at the mouth of the river on the east side opposite the 8th Line). His largest catch of fish was five tons of carp. He fished in the spring and fall and put nets under the ice in winter. Carp was caught (when in season) and had to be kept alive for the Jewish market. He employed about eight men all year round. Later he had old cars cut down to make tractors. Ben and another man broke (worked?) Col. Bar’s marsh land at the north end of Federal Farms Rd. (Bathurst Street). The Newmarket Canal started and died on this property.
The two-storey, commercial ‘row’ building has second floor offices (or living space), a wide, rectangular plan with symmetrical organization, and a flat, built-up, tar and gravel roof. The ‘Main Street’ frontage with a typical, storefront façade is located at the street line. The Drury Street façade on the north portion of the building (fronting Holland Street) has a more informal façade with openings placed as required to suit the building’s requirements. The Drury Street building has a plain, symmetrical façade and is dominated by a wide, segmented, arch entrance raised slightly above the sidewalk. A loading door to the rear portion of the Holland Street building has a segmented, arch opening and a concrete sill raised above street level. The existing doors and windows are not original. There are several window openings with segmented, arch openings and concrete lug sills. Several basement windows (all topped with segmented arches) have been fully, or partially, blocked in. This suggests that the building was built before the existing road or town services were installed. The building has masonry construction, brick cladding, and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest, commercial building is in good condition with some original details. (1, 2, 3)

Miss Sinclair’s House is a mid-block building located on the south side at 92 Holland Street West. It was built in the 1890’s in the Italianate style. Miss Bertha Sinclair lived in this house for many years. When she died, her nieces Kay and Isabel (daughters of Robert Spence) moved into the house. They were hairdressers. Isabel later moved and part of the house was rented to George and Ethel Stewart. The building was eventually sold to a real estate agent. The office of Dr. Fitzsimmons was also here at one time. Next to this structure was a vacant lot belonging to the Sinclair family. Many years ago there was a Temperance Hall and a church located there.
The two-storey, rectangular, main building has a single-storey, rear addition, a symmetrical façade, and a moderately-pitched, hip roof with a central chimney. The grand, Italianate scale is reflected in the large window openings, high floor to ceiling heights, and the large, 6/6 sash windows. There are deep, projecting eaves with ornately-decorated, paired cornice brackets and ‘false quoins’ (wood detailing meant to resemble masonry). The window cornices are exaggerated. According to the 2000 inventory, the stone foundation, wood frame construction, horizontal, wood-sided exterior finish (resembling masonry), and painted, exterior, wood trim are maintained well. (1, 2, 3).

The mid-block building located on the north side at 15 John Street East was built around 1890 in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. It was the home of Miss Arnold, a well-respected member of the community, during WWI. Dick Saint had part of the house before and during WWII. The building is currently (in 2014) owned by Giuseppe (Joe) Campagnola. It has been his family’s home since the mid 1950’s.
The two-storey, rectangular building has symmetrical openings and a centre hall plan. A medium-pitched, hip roof with a curbed deck above is a Regency Revival feature. It is reminiscent of construction before a belvedere or cupola is added and it accentuates the horizontal roof-line. The upper-floor windows are narrower than the lower ones (neoclassical features). This suggests late nineteenth-century construction. The full-width, front verandah is another Regency Revival feature. Elaborately-carved, wood brackets and turned wood posts at the verandah are original. The typical low porch railing and wood newels at the stair railing are more Gothic Revival features. This building has rusticated, loadbearing, cement-block construction and a cement-block foundation. These blocks were made by William Turner during WWI. The block pattern is considered to be interesting. According to the 2000 inventory, this unique house has been well-maintained and many original features remain. It also notes that the ground-floor replacement windows with sliders, screen door, and window A/C unit are unsympathetic with the original design. (1, 2, 3)

The Edmund Garrett House is a two-storey building located at 45 Holland St. East. It was built in the Classic Revival style in the 1880’s (after the fire of 1871 that destroyed much of Bradford’s downtown). The building was converted into two living quarters many years ago and was once the home of the VanZants (on the west side) and the Bennett family (on the east side). George Bennett, a powerful man and labourer, dug (by hand) a large number of the ditches on Dufferin Street. Howard Thornton eventually bought the building and started a crate factory with Bill Fuller in the barns at the rear. He had a crate and lumber yard on Back Street. Howard and his brother also owned Barron’s Hardware store. After Howard died, Mrs. Thornton rented the upstairs apartment and lived downstairs by herself. After her death, the town bought the structure and had it remodeled to accommodate the Bradford Police Station on the ground floor, which it housed from 1980-2008, and the building inspectors’ office on the upper floor.

The building has a modified, rectangular ‘temple’ plan with a projecting frontispiece flanked by two-storey wings on either side. A medium-pitched, gable roof has a plain cornice and frieze supported on small brackets. There is an enclosed, raised porch with a shed roof and a plain cornice and frieze supported on small brackets. The building has tall, narrow window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. Windows are used to highlight the frontispiece with an angular, flat-roofed bay at the ground level and a projecting cornice and eaves on brackets. Double, semi-circular, arched windows at the second floor are highlighted with dichromatic, brick voussoirs. There is a rose window set within the gable into a round opening of cut-stone voussoirs. Other windows are set into rectangular openings with stone (or concrete) lintels and lug sills. The original windows were probably multi-paned and double-hung. Masonry construction has brick cladding and there is a coursed, rubble-stone foundation. The two, two-storey additions have filled in the east corners of the building and the entrance porch has been modified and enclosed. According to the 2000 inventory, the structure is in good condition with some original details remaining. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block building located on the south side at 126 John St. West was built in the 1880’s in the Gothic Revival Cottage style. Originally, there was a back lane for Jim Woods' house and barn next to this house. Pratt lived here many years ago with his wife and two sons. Elgar Houghton bought this house around the time of World War II. He lived there for a time and then he had the house converted into four apartments which were rented. He later sold the building.
The 1½-storey, five-bay cottage has a rectangular plan with a centre hall, an asymmetrical façade with an off-centre gable over the entrance, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. There is a simple, rectangular entrance (at grade level) with windows to the primary rooms on each side. The existing roof over the entry is not original. Small windows at the ground and second floors are not original. They are set into segmented, arch openings with plain, wood frames and painted, stone lug sills. Brick, masonry construction is clad with stucco (not original) and the structure has a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest house has few original details other than the building’s form. (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 units located at 70 Simcoe Road (north side) and 72 Simcoe Road (south side) are part of an apartment building that was erected in 1980. The property was originally the site of a large, frame house that had a woodshed, chicken house, and a horse and cow stable on the back lane (Elizabeth Street). It was the home of Mr. Peachman (a farmer), his wife and sons (Wilbert, Harvey and Louis) many years ago. He was a day worker and a labourer. Charles Jackson and his wife (retired farmers) later lived here with their family before the house was demolished. (1, 2)

The Standard Bank is located at 65 and 67 Holland St. West. It was built in the Romanesque Revival style around 1860-1900. O.M. Seim, previous owner of the Bradford Witness newspaper (1916-1932), and his family (Gordon, Ken, Marjorie, Maurice and Betty) once lived here. Dr. McMichael, a dentist, lived on John St. but had his practice here many years ago. Aubrey Stewart (and her son Bruce) at one time had an Insurance company here and the living quarters were rented. The building was eventually converted into apartments.
The commercial building (67 Holland St. W.) is set close to the street. Originally, there was a large, walk-in vault at the rear of the building on the ground floor. Residential quarters were on the second floor. The two-storey building has tall window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and an asymmetrical façade with a simplified ‘temple’ form. There is a medium-pitched, ‘pediment’ gable roof facing the front and a tympanum with a rose window. Brick pilasters support a plain cornice and frieze at both the ground and second floors to create the image of a classical Greek temple (combined with the more Roman arch form). The commercial entrance is contained within one of the two corbelled arches and is raised slightly. A double-panelled door is topped by a multi-paned transom light. The ground floor bank window is set into a corbelled arch opening with a transom light and stone or concrete lug sills. Upper windows are set into rectangular openings with transom lights. The cornice and frieze at the ground and second floors are ‘supported’ on corbelled brick brackets. This building has brick masonry construction and a cut-stone foundation.
The residential wing (65 Holland St. West) is set further back from the street to provide greater privacy to the living quarters. It takes a more recessive form with an open verandah at the ground floor and an enclosed porch on the upper floor running the full width of the house. There is a hipped roof on the residential wing. The entrance door to the house also a transom light, but like the rest of the residential wing, it does not have the rich texture or detail found on the more public portion of the building. The residential porch posts, railing, door, and windows are not original. According to the 2000 inventory, the structure is in good condition with many original details remaining. (1, 2, 3)
Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.

The building located at 5 Holland St. East (near the northeast corner of Holland and Barrie Streets) has solid-brick construction. The office of veterinarian Dr. Stephenson (who lived on Queen Street across from the public school) was on the ground floor at this address. Grain buyers worked upstairs. They had their own stairway and a huge, walk-in safe. Later, that space was turned into an apartment that became the home of Rae Green after WWII. Around 1928 or 1930, Fred Buck (a pharmacist) opened a drugstore on the ground floor. It later became Brackens Drugstore and was run by Mr. Harrison. (1, 2)
The building located at 9 Holland St. East (beside 5 Holland St. East) also has solid-brick construction. It was the site of Dennis Nolan and Jim’s Model T Ford dealership. There was a garage with an elevator. Overhauling was done in the basement and painting was done upstairs. Hugh Bannerman pumped gas and Rose MacEwan was the bookkeeper. Nolan had as many as 10 employees working for him at one time. Mr. Martin moved in around WWII and opened a used furniture and appliance store here. It was later sold to Bob Sewery, a WWI veteran. (1, 2)