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The mid-block building located at 61 Simcoe Road was built around 1850-1880 in the Classic Revival style. Emerson Glover and his wife and children (Betty, Wilma, Joe and Mary) moved to this house from Coulson’s Hill. He had Len Saint build a cement garage for the trucks he used in his general trucking business. There was a large garden at the back. Andy Simurda (a gardener) bought the house when the Glovers moved to Toronto. He also used the garage for his trucks and for vegetable storage. The garage was eventually demolished. In 1925, Billie Ward, his wife Evelyn, and children (Gwen and Connie) lived here. He worked for Spence Lumber Co. and was a master machinist as well as a clock maker. This structure later became the home of Gwen (Ward) Kilkenny for many years.
The 1½-storey, two-bay house has a rectangular, simplified, ‘temple’ plan with an off-centre entrance and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The pediment roof shape is facing the front and there is a central chimney. A hip roof on the grade-level, entrance-porch verandah is supported on wood half-posts on a solid, wood railing. The roof supports are not original. A door set into a plain, rectangular opening is also not original. There are small window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. A single, ground-floor window and the smaller, upper-floor windows are set into plain, rectangular openings. They are not original. The small, upper-floor windows are offset from the ground-floor openings. The house has 4” poured-in-place, concrete construction with vertical, metal siding. It was originally clad in stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, there are no original details remaining 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 building located at 46 Simcoe Road (on the corner of Thomas St. and Simcoe Road) was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. James Church, and then Jimmie Jackson, his wife, and son once lived in this house. Jimmie worked for the town, was a noted drain expert, and did road work. Mrs. Jackson remained in the house for many years after her husband died. It was also once the home of Lorne Faris (a jeweller) and his wife (Ona). Lorne converted the shed that was on the property into a garage. John Kanyo Jr. lived here when he was first married. After the Kanyo family, it became the home of Budd Robson. Years later, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Madill (retired farmers from the south side of the 10th Concession near Highway 400) resided here.

The one-storey, three-bay ‘cottage’ has a simple form with a symmetrical façade, a rectilinear plan, and a shallow-pitched, gable roof. It has a centre hall entrance from a covered, open, front-entrance porch which is accessed from the side. Originally, the porch stairs were in the centre and aligned with the front door. The hip roof on the porch is supported on turned posts. Decorative, wood fascia is found at the porch roof. There is a plain, wood handrail and balusters and the porch foundation is enclosed with wood lattice. The building has narrow window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Windows are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood trim and sills. The house has wood frame construction with brick cladding and a parged, concrete foundation. Originally, the cladding was stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with some original features that have been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)

The Wilkinson House is a mid-block building located at 31 Simcoe Road. It was built by Art Saint and/or George Stoddart around 1923 in the Arts and Crafts style. The house was sold to Chris Long, his daughter, and her husband Fred Wilkinson (a printer for the Bradford Witness) and daughter Marjorie. When they moved to Toronto to work at the DeHavill and Aircraft Company during WWII, the house was sold to a market gardener whose family lived here for many years.
The 1½-storey, two-bay ‘bungalow’ has a simple form with an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. A broad, steeply-pitched, gable roof extends down to reduce the scale of the building from the street. It covers the open front porch and is supported on wood half columns on brick piers. There is an off-centre hall entrance from the porch. The porch (entered from the front) is raised and has a simple, wood handrail and baluster. There are wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. A wide band of windows across the front of the dormer emphasizes the horizontal lines and massing of this house. The wide windows are set into rectangular openings. Smaller, second-storey windows in the front dormer are offset from the ground-floor windows and have plain, wood sills and trim. The windows and the second entrance door are not original. A mix of exterior cladding materials is common to this style. The house has returned eaves at the dormer roof. Wood frame construction has brick, masonry cladding and vinyl siding on the dormer. The original cladding would have been wood. There is a painted, concrete foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)

The Dan Collings House is located mid-block at 33 Colborne Street. It was built in the Gothic Revival style in the 1880’s. There were once barns (for animals and equipment as well as for marsh hay) on the property. It was the original home of Dan Collings. He was always a teamster who worked the marsh and he later bought and sold junk and farm machinery. Dan had three daughters, Edna, Olive (Al Readman) and Emily (Chet Wilkinson). Dan was considered to be a real character who lived to the age of 93 years. Mrs. Collings died in the 1920’s.
The 1½-storey, two-bay ‘farmhouse’ has an ‘L’-shaped plan with an off-centre hall and a medium-pitched, gable roof. There is a single door with a multi-paned transom and sidelights. The structure has large window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Large, replacement, double-hung windows are set into the original openings with plain, wood trim and sills. The house has wood frame construction with vinyl siding. Originally, the siding was probably wood. According to the 2000 inventory, despite its new colours, the basic Gothic Revival form is very evident in this house. (1, 2, 3)

The house located at 149 Queen St. (on the northwest corner of Queen and Essa Streets) was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was once the home of the Bales family.
The 1½-storey, three-bay ‘cottage’ has a simple, rectangular form with a symmetrical façade and a centre hall plan. It has a medium-pitched, gable roof and a lack of decoration and porch addition. The replacement windows have the original, plain, wood lug sills and trim. Metal storm windows and the door are later additions. The structure also has a one-storey addition that was built at a later time. This structure has stucco cladding on 4” poured-in-place, concrete walls and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the modest dwelling requires painting and landscaping. (1, 3)

The Fred C. Cook Senior Elementary School is located at 75 Queen Street. It is not the original building to be found on this site. That structure was a small, two-room, grammar school from Bond Head that was loaded onto a sled and pulled by horses many years ago to the newly-formed town of Bradford. It was set among the pine trees found on a plot of land between Fletcher and Queen Streets. That structure eventually became the first high school in Bradford. It was destroyed by fire in 1890 and a new school was opened on the same site. It burned as well. The Fred C. Cook Senior Elementary School (as seen in the photo) was erected in its place in 1923 or 1924. It was built in the Colonial Revival style. A four-room wing was built in the rear school yard in 1956 (1960’s?) to alleviate over-crowding.
The main building has 2½ storeys. Its large, simple, rectangular form dominates this site. The structure is set well back from the street on a broad expanse of lawn. This positioning suggests its importance in the community. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights, and a flat roof (probably covered with built-up tar and gravel). The entrance is raised one-half storey above grade level. Stairs lead directly to an over-scaled entrance door framed by white-painted pilasters and a plain, wood entablature above. The double door and transom do not appear to be original. The tall, ‘Venetian” windows (characteristic of the neoclassical style) have pilasters and three-foot ‘lights’. The first and second-storey windows are joined by recessed, wood panels. A white-painted, urn-trimmed, roof balustrade is set into a brick, parapet wall. Thin pilaster strips (set into a continuous ‘sill’ at the ground-floor level) sub-divide the front façade into multiple bays. The building has concrete, masonry construction with brick, masonry cladding, applied wood details, and a concrete foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the building is in excellent condition with many original details.
A new, modern version of the Fred C. Cook Elementary School opened in September, 2013. It is located at 20 Fletcher Street. (1, 3, Bradford District High School’s web site)

The Thompson Fisher House is located at 37 Queen St. (on the northeast corner of Queen and Rebecca Streets). It was built around 1880 in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. It belonged to J.C. Wood in the 1950’s. He was the principal at the original, adjacent Bradford High School.
The two-storey, rectangular building has a symmetrical façade and a centre hall plan (Neoclassical features). A medium-pitched, hip roof with a wide overhang and a full-width, awning roof at the porch are Regency Revival features. The house has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. Ground-floor windows and the entrance door have transom lights. The arched shutters may be original. Decorative details at the porch columns, a busy verge board, and paired, soffit brackets (over new metal soffits) appear to be twentieth-century additions. The house has solid brick construction as well as the original wood banister, doors, and 12” baseboards. According to the 2000 inventory, the decorative trim is excessive and without precedent in the community. It also notes that while some degree of eclecticism is not out of place, the total effect on this well-maintained building is unconvincing. (1, 3, 5)

This mid-block building located at 24 Queen St. was built pre-1880 in the Gothic Revival style. The one-storey cottage has an ‘L’-shaped plan with a centre hall. It has an asymmetrical façade, a medium-pitched, gable roof and off-centre gables at the front and side façades. A covered, open porch extends beyond the façade projection to shelter the entrance at street level. It has a shallow, hip roof supported on narrow, wood posts with decorative gingerbread brackets and a plain, wood railing. The centre entrance is set into a simple, rectangular opening. Narrow, double-hung windows with low floor to ceiling heights are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. There is an angular, bay-window projection on the north side that has a truncated, hip roof. The 2/2 windows are original. Decorative, painted, wood half-timbers are found on the exterior walls (at both the front and side gables) and the centre, brick chimney is original. Wood frame construction has stucco cladding and there is a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the concealed foundation indicates that the house was built prior to the construction of the existing street and town services. It also notes that the house is in good condition with many original details. (1, 3)

The building located mid-block at 123 Moore Street was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival style. It stood behind the grand, Italianate villa (The Convent) that was once located at 118 Barrie Street and was the home of the Lukes’ family. Originally, the structure was built to be a two-car garage to house Gibb Lukes’ vehicles (particularly his Stanley Steamer). The garage was eventually converted into a dwelling. At the time of this photo (1995), it was being used as the Bradford Food Bank.
The one-storey, three-bay cottage has an “L”-shaped plan with a side hall. There is an asymmetrical façade with a front gable above the façade projection and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The front wall below the gable is inset slightly to provide shelter for the front entrance. It is set into a simple, rectangular opening. Small windows that are not original have low floor to ceiling heights. They are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. The building has wood frame construction with stucco cladding and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest cottage has few original details other than the building’s form. (1, 2, 3)