Showing 57 results

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : When I was about 18 years old I worked for the Bradford Fish Company which was owned by a man by the name of Jack Spencer who lived on Barrie Street. This was about 1924 or there about. At that time we were living on the 14th concession of West Gwillimbury about three miles from Gilford.

The main fish that we were fishing for was carp, a fish that was in great demand by the Jewish people. The carp was a fish that lived mainly on the roots of wild rice which was quite plentiful in the bay at that time. They also ate the rice that fell off the stalks when ripe. For this reason the carp had to burrow into the bottom of the bay and into the mud to get their food. This is why the flesh had a muddy taste when eaten, although I have eaten carp and the gentleman that was the cook for the company seemed to know how to cook it. He used to boil it right in quart sealers. He may have added something to it but he never told us his secret. I really believe that a lot of the cheap salmon that was available in those days was really carp.

At the end of the road at Gilford the company had three buildings - cook and bunkhouse, a boathouse, and a large building just north of the Gilford road which was used as a work shop and a place to store ice used to pack the fish. The fish had to be alive when they reached their destination as they had to be killed by a Rabbi. The carp was a fish that would live for a long time and when packed in ice would live when shipped away as far as New York.

When the ice was 24 inches deep (and I have known it to be 30 inches), we would have to store about a thousand blocks and when packed in sawdust and well covered it would last until well on into the next summer.

We had a large ice crusher in this building which would crush the ice into small particles with which to pack the fish. The fish were shipped in boxes that held 100 pounds. They were about three feet long and around 30 inches wide usually made of hardwood lumber. When it was stormy or too rough to fish on the open water we used to put in our time at making these boxes.

In the fall the first thing to do before the bay froze over was to drive down poles into the bottom of the lake in the areas where we intended to fish under the ice. Then we built a platform and a shelter large enough to hold the machinery and a large reel on which the nets could be stored. A slide was built from the front of the platform down to the bottom of the bay. This was used to haul the net up onto the platform.

As soon as the ice was thick enough to hold a man (about two inches of good blue ice) the first thing to do was to run ropes under the ice out to each of the corner posts that had been driven into the bay before freezeup. This was accomplished by using a pine board about six inches wide and around 10 or 12 feet long with a rope attached. Starting at the platform we would cut a hole and put the board under the ice and with a pike pole shove it as far as we could in the direction of the first corner post. Then we cut another hole and gave the board with the rope attached to it, another shot forward. This was done until we reached the first corner post, about 500 feet away from the platform. With a pulley we continued joining the posts by rope.

By the end, we had a way of pulling the net out from under the ice. The nets were known as seine nets and were about 300 yards long with lead weights on the bottom of them so that it would sweep the bottom of the bay. Cork floats were on the top of it to make it float to the top of the water.

As the net was hauled around to each of these posts a man had to be there to take the rope out of the pulley and put another rope, which was attached to the front of the net, through the pulley. When finished, we had a net that would sweep a swath at least 300 yards wide in a semi circle.

The fish would as a rule, swim back towards the centre of the net so if the net was pretty well all back to the platform before you saw how many fish you were pretty near certain that your catch wasn't very large, perhaps only two or three hundred pounds.

Of course there are almost always certain fish in the catch that had to be thrown back as it wasn't legal to fish with a seine net for game fish such as muskilunge, bass, pickerel or whitefish. Sometimes you would get no carp at all but maybe three or four hundred pounds of mullets or suckers and perch. These were all saleable. We also also used to get a lot of what we called dog fish. There was no market for them so we just threw them out on the ice for the gulls to eat. The proper name for them was Ling and I understand that now in some places they are called a delicacy and there is quite a demand for them.

The largest haul of carp that we got while I was working there was something over 40 tons in one haul. It took us two days and one night to empty them out of the net.

As we did not always have orders every day for fish, we had to make wide slatted crates 12 foot by 6 foot that sunk in the ice and down in the water When the fish were stored in them the fresh water flowed through them at all times. This way if we had a few days when we didn't get many fish but had some orders, we always had the crates of fish to fall back on.

Our main camp and cookhouse was situated just at the mouth of the river where it enters the bay. Our cook was a man from Bradford, George McDonald. We received $15 a week and our board which in those days was considered pretty good wages. On Saturday night when we were paid the first money I spent was to stop at he Gilford store and buy 25 cents worth of chocolate bars, six for 25 cents and about three times as large as what you would pay 45 cents for today.

As soon as it looked like the ice was going to break up in the spring we would carry a long pole with us in case we happened to step on a place where the ice was rotten. I remember one chap who worked with us used to walk to the store at Gilford almost every night and one night when the ice was getting soft in spots, he decided he wanted to go to the store and he wanted someone to go with him. We told him it was too dangerous and he said we were afraid and he was going anyways. So off he went and about 300 yards from the camp with us standing the veranda watching him, down he went. Well he got out all right and when he saw us watching he didn't turn back but kept right on going.

The same chap thought he was a little bit better than the rest of us. Most of us, when we were finished for the night would take off our hip rubber boots and walk around in our stocking feet, but he had to wear a pair of slippers all the time. So one night when he had gone to the store someone got some tacks and nailed his slippers to the floor. Well when he came home we were all in bed but not sleeping and he went to put on his slippers and the air was blue so he just ripped them up and left the tacks in the floor.

When we fished in the spring and fall in open water we just loaded the net into a seine boat and with a couple of men rowing the boat, a couple more would lay the net out. I remember one time when fishing in the open water the net got caught on a log or a stump and we had to pull it all up by hand. By the time we had it loaded, the back end of the board was just about two inches out of the water. That was one time that I would much sooner have been on dry land.

In the spring of the year when the water was fairly high the land which is now built up with cottages used to flood and the carp would go up into the water holes there and on the marsh to spawn. We used to have to go around with dip nets and catch them.

The female fish were called sows and they often weighed as much as 35 lbs. It didn't take many of them to fill a box.

If we only had an order for five or ten boxes, we would ship them by express but I know we would sometimes get an order for a freight car load.

The first foreman that I know of when the business started was Foxy Bantam. He was the father of Helen Bantam and Gordon Bantam. He was killed one Sunday while driving around the lake in a motor boat when a thunderstorm came up and he was struck by lightning.

When I worked there the foreman was Edmond Gibbons who now lived in Lefroy and is well over 90 years of age. He was an older brother of Leanord Gibbons who lived in Bradford.

Mr. Spencer quit the fishing business in Bradford and sold out to the late Dodger Collings who carried it on for a year or two. I think when Mr. Collings was running the business the dealers from Toronto used to come up with water tanks and transport the fish that way.

As the lakeshore property was developed around Gilford, and the reeds and wild rice were cut down, the carp population declined. It is now pretty well cleaned out.

Municipality :
Community : Newton Robinson
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Hon. Earl Rowe Pleads to Electors for Strong "Yes" Vote on Plebiscite

Newton Robinson, Ontario,
April 22, 1942

TO THE ELECTORS OF DUFFERIN-SIMCOE:

As your representative in the House of Commons, I did oppose the principle of a Plebiscite. However, our government has asked for an expression of public opinion and, under our democratic system of government, it is your responsibility and mine to exercise our franchise on this very important question.

To those who feel this vote to be an entirely unnecessary evasion of responsibility, and to those who are indifferent because in their own minds they question the value of voting at all, I would ask that they let the past go until the future permits its review.

Self-preservation is the first law of National life. If we are to preserve our existence as a nation, then our Government should feel free to take whatever action may be deemed necessary to defend and preserve Canada. Since our Government has asked for this freedom of action, it is our responsibility to give it to them.

This is a war for our very existence. Either we win by making sacrifices now, or we lose and pay tribute to Hitler and his gangsters in the future. The entire Continent of Europe, which a few years ago was composed of free nations, is now reduced to a continent of servitude.

It is perhaps difficult for us, being yet distant from the field of actual conflict, to fully realize the necessity of our Government exercising freedom of action so essential to maintain freedom itself.

Never in the history of all mankind should our people be so firmly attached to freedom of religion when such is brutally denied in other lands; to freedom of speech and press when elsewhere terror and fear stifles comment; to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizure when practically the whole Continent of Europe languishes under the heel of the Gestapo; to trial by jury when thousands in other lands are rushed to concentration camps or firing squads by courts which make a mockery of justice.

These things are part of us and our mode of life. They will endure only so long as we continue to believe in them and possess the will to defend them.

The decision which our Government asks of us far from ends the bound of political faith or party allegiance , because the Government of Canada is your Government and mine alike.

I would ask the people of this loyal constituency of Dufferin-Simcoe to vote "Yes" on the Plebiscite and do everything in their power between now and April 27th to assure its passage with an unmistakable majority.

Yours faithfully,
W. Earl Rowe

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Cabinet Post Eluded Art
By John Slykhuis

Arthur Evans' 17 years in the Ontario legislature - now coming to an end - were not without disappointment.

The position of cabinet minister has always eluded the Simcoe Centre MPP, and he frankly feel sit was because he supported the loser in the progressive Conservative leadership race of 1961.

"Politics being what it is, I guess I could have been a cabinet minister if I had supported John Robarts. I supported Bob McAuley," Mr. Evans said in an interview.

During thar critical leadership race, John Robarts approached Mr. Evans for support. "He indicated to me that I would have a chance of getting into the cabinet if I would support him."

HARD WORK

Many of the top Robarts supporters who came to persuade Mr. Evans to change his mind ended up with cabient posts.

"All I got was hard work," Mr. Evans says. "That's politics...there's nothing you cand o about it, and that's the only regret I have, the fact that I wasn't able to be a cabinet minister."

And now that his political career officially ended with the election announcement, Mr. Evans, 62, is busy campaigning actively for his successor as a PC candidate George Taylor of Barrie.

"Yes, I'm trying to help George get elected. As far as I'm concerned we need a private enterprise government in this province. That's what made this country great."

Arthur Evans' fondest memory is not one of a political triumph or an election victory.

It's one of an elderly lady who travelled by bus from Barrie one cold and snowy Christmas season, walked the half mile or so to Mr. Evans' home in Bradford, just to give the family a turkey for Christmas dinner.

"This is for all the things you've done for everyone," she said.

RETIRING

It's the kind of memory that indicates the man he is, the grassroots, close-to-the-people politician on which the Conservative party of Ontario built and maintained such a powerful level of support.

Mr. Evans' long and distinguished political career began in 1942 when he was elected to the Bradford Public Utilities Commission.

The following year he led the polls and captured a seat on council.

Running on a platform of building a new community centre and providing increased parking, Mr. Evans was elected Reeve of Bradford in 1953, defeating Frank Allan by only 39 votes.

That was the year of the Hurricane Hazel disaster, and Mr. Evans had to forgo building the community centre to handle the sudden emergency.

"I was responsible for organizing the rescue of people on the Marsh. When the first call came to me I had to ring the firebell, get the firemen, help get the sandbagging operation going on the dykes. I never went to bed until those 3,500 people had found a place to sleep.

After that came the long period of rebuilding with his establishment of the Holland Marsh relief fund in which he had $60,000 in personal cheques sent to him. He turned them over to the national hurricane relief fund.

With the financial skill that had made him a successful businessman - he ran a bakery and clothing store - Mr. Evans managed to turn the massive clean-up of the marsh refugees' trailer camp into a plus for the taxpayer.

ASSISTANCE

He went to the relief fund organization in Toronto to ask for assistance. "I wanted to make sure that I had enough money to clean up so that the taxpayers of Bradford wouldn't have to pay a cent. I said, "I want to be guaranteed $2,000 plus whatever I can salvage our of the trailer camp."

When it was all over, he still had $2,000 left, and this became the first contribution to the arena fund, listed in the Bradford Witness of the say as an "anonymous" donation.

After the completion of the Bradford community centre, Mr. Evans was elected Warden of Simcoe County in 1958.

And while ordinarily this post mean retirement afterward, he was re-appointed after the sudden death of the succeeding warden to deal with the separation of Barrie from the county in 1959.

"We did settle the financial situation between the city of Barrie and the county in about one year... it was an unusual thing to settle in so short a time. It took York and the city of Toronto over seven years to settle."

FIRST MAYOR

With Bradford growing enough to achieve town status in 1960, Mr. Evans decided to stay on to run for the first post of mayor. He was acclaimed to office.

He had decided the previous year to run for a provincial post, but the Progressive Conservative incumbent, George Johnson, decided to stay on and Mr. Evans withdrew in favor of him.

Mr. Johnson died the following year and Mr. Evans was persuaded to run in the byelection.

"I didn't really have any political aspirations then. I had just gone through the fire (which destroyed his business) and rebuilt everything. I was quite happy. I was just going to finish off the year as mayor and get out."

Little did he realize then that his political career had another 17 years to run.

He won that byelection on September 29, 1960 and four other elections since then in 1963, 1967, 1971 and 1975.

Several of his committee appointments in the legislature have been vital ones, including heading the select committee on conservation authorities 1964-67, which laid the foundation for much of the government legislation on preserving farmland and protecting the environment.

DIPLOMATIC

With a unique display of diplomacy and political skill he also averted a showdown with unions over a bill which would see non-engineering personnel involved in boiler maintenance.

"When the bill was going through committee and they (the union members) came, there wasn't room for them to all get in the hear the bill. I had to ask the speaker of the house if I could use the Legislature...This had never been allowed and he said no.

"So I called the premier, John Robarts, and I told him the situation. I said, "you could very easily have a riot on your hands if you don't allow me to do this." He said, "do you think you can handle it?" and I said, "I think I can," so he said OK and called the speaker.

The maneuver worked, and the union members wen away satisfied.

"I'm going to miss politics," he admits, but he vows to keep active in a variety of things.

He hopes to do more work for the Lions Club of which he was the district governor in 1960, and continue as director of a savings and loan corporation.

But today?

"well I'm painting the house. I'm just about finished now."

The kind of thing that appeals to people, a man just like them, not concerned with appearances or image.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : A Glimpse of History

When Lucy Shepherd (nee Fairbank) lived in the old Steel House at Steel's Corners (Highway 11 and Concession 14), she and her siblings discovered a dusty, calfbound volume in the attic of the home.

They played with the book, wrote in a few I.O.U.s and admired the elegant handwriting. It wasn't until years later, long after the Steel House had been torn down for the widening of Highway 11, that Shepherd realized she had something out of the ordinary.

The book turned out to be the Day book of blacksmith John Steel. Dating from 18855 to 1869, it itemizes the daily and monthly accounts of residents like Robert Kneeshaw, Joseph Fennel, James and Robert Bell.

Prices ranged from 10 cents to mend a pitchfork and 25 cents to replace a horseshoe, to $1.75 for repairs to a "thrashing mashen" (threshing machine). The accounts also contain a price list for construction materials for a new home in the late 1860's - including $123.41 for lumber, $19.50 for hardware, and $11.51 for the glass and "putey".

The prices seem unimaginably low by today's standards, and it is a surprise to note that over the 14 years spanned by the accounts, the blacksmith's prices did not go up.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Town Gathers for Joe Magani

"I don't know if I really deserve all this, just because I gave a stinkin' 20 years of my life to the town." - Joe Magani, January 28, 1977.

More than 180 persons were on hand at the Bradford
Community Centre Friday night to honor "Uncle Joe" Magani on his retirement from 20 years in Bradford politics, the last 16 of those as mayor.

Reeve Ken Wood was chairman for the evening, and he opened the meeting by introducing head tables guests, and then handed the microphone over to Charlie Evans, former reeve, county warden and town solicitor for Bradford.

Mr. Evans conveyed apologies on behalf of former Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Earl Rowe who was unable to attend because of the storm.

"Earl told me to say he's sorry that he and his wife couldn't come because he would have loved to be here tonight," said Mr. Evans.

He went on to read a message from Mr. Rowe: "Joe should be commended for his tremendous service to the community of Bradford, and Bradford is a much better place because Joe Magani lived here."

Mr. Rowe's statement was greeted by warm applause from the audience.

Continuing, Mr. Evans said, "I sure would like to pay tribute to our guest of honor. I sure would have liked to see Joe's mother here tonight, but I understand he ordered there was no way she was to come out on the roads tonight.

"Joe's mother would sure be proud and pleased with her little boy tonight," he added, and this was also applauded.

He pointed out that Mr. Magani had been involved in municipal politics for more than one-eighth of Bradford's life, and that he had been mayor for more than one-ninth of its life as a municipality.

"I have been close friends with Joe for a long time, and any good things for Bradford, one of the guys in there on top was Uncle Joe," he said.

Mayor Roy Gordon was then called upon to present Mr. Magani with a set of monogrammed golf clubs.

Mr. Evans quipped, "Well, Joe, I gave you lessons with these (the clubs) 30 years ago, and I'll be glad to give you more lessons."

The microphone was then turned over to the guest of honor, and he said, "I heard a few rumours about this...that's beautiful. First of all, I want to thank you all. That's a beautiful gift... I don't know if I really deserve all this, just because I gave a stinkin' 20 years of my life to the town."

"I don't know if you know it or not, but these (golf) clubs are the best in the world. I really love all of you, and I think you're fantastic people. I just don't know how to thank you."

Chairman Ken Wood then called on Bradford Fire Chief Harold "Butch" Boyd to make another presentation.

Mr. Boyd said, "We have a little gift here for Uncle Joe. He's been tellin' me what to do for the last 20 years and I've had to go along with it...And now I've got him on the spot, I don't know what to say."

The gift from the firefighters was a gold-plated fire helmet naming Mr. Magani as honorary chief of the Bradford Fire Department.

"By the way, ladies and gentlemen, we've got the best fire department in the province of Ontario. And I said that before I got this gift." said Mr. Magani. "You know, I've always wanted one of these," he added as he placed the helmet on his head.

Spotting former fire chief, Ted Gapp in the audeince, he said, "Hey Gapp, now I'm in the same class as you."

Mr. Gapp replied, "Joe, you always backed the fire department 100 percent, but I remember one time when I was manager of a ball team and you thoght you were a ballplayer."

Mr. Boyd said, "Joe, the first good Sunday that you're home I'll let you wear that hat and drive the fire truck."

Mr. Magani replies, "I really thank you from the bottom of my heart."

He went on to introduce his daughter, Denise, and her husband, Mike Gasko, as well as other relatives and close friends. "But you know, the closest family I have," he said with an expansive gesture, "they're all here."

Mayor Gordon was then introduced, and he said, "I think Joe Magani is a super guy, and I can't say enough about him. He's a lovely guy, and I'm not gonna miss him because I'm gonna get him to do a whole bunch of things."

Turning to Mr. Magani, he said, "I think you're the father of Bradford."

Simcoe Centre MPP Art Evans said, "I have played golf, baseball and hockey with Joe, and we've been on council together. Joe was a driving force behind our centennial.

"But I probably know a few more things about Joe than you do," he added, and recounted a couple of anecdotes about Mr. Magani.

Mr. Evans told about one morning when a group of gentlemen shaved all the hair off the former mayor's chest.

Noting that "those are big shoes Roy Gordon has to fill," Mr. Evans recounted another story about the time they sent Mr. Magani's golf shoes floating down a creek.

In concluding address, he said "Joe mentioned those golf clubs were the best in the world. Well, I think Joe Magani's the best in the world."

West Gwillimbury Reeve John Fennell said, "Joe always laid his cards on the table. We always knew what Bradford wanted and what West Gwillimbury wanted.

"Joe was always as close as the telephone, and we knew we could always get some good advice. I hope you'll have many happy years here in Bradford, and knowing you, you'll be involved. So if you can't phone us, maybe you can write us," he said, and presented Mr. Magani with a pen and pencil set on behalf of the township council.

Former county warden and West Gwillimbury reeve Orville Hughes said, "I know they talk about you and I retiring, Joe, and I hope they mean from politics. Because unless you made a lot more money in politics than I did, we're not ready to retire yet."

Chairman Mr. Wood adjourned the meeting, and the evening continued with dancing till the early hours.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : BRADFORD - Amid much wailing and knashing of teeth the beards of two prominent Bradford gentlemen were gently removed by master barber Joe Scotto last Wednesday.

Mayor Zyg Fenik and Councillor Bill DePeuter, who are challenging each other to a beard-growing contest in preparation for the town's 125th anniversary, took to the barber's chair.

It was the first time Mayor Fenik had been clean-shaven in five years.

In the case of Mr. DePeuter, a decade-old mustache fell to the floor in a flurry of whiskers. Although the contest didn't officially start until Monday, the two men were shaven Wednesday because Mr. DePeuter was going to Florida on vacation.

While there he'll get a signed certificate from the chief of police of the town where he's staying stating he was clean-shaven on March 1. Bradford Police Chief John Harrison arranged the international whisker inspection.

Ellen McKinzey and Diane Sturdy members of the Take Off Pounds Sensibly (T.O.P.S.) group were there to witness that the shaving was done fairly. The group will act as official judges for the contest when it winds up during the town's anniversary celebration from July 1 through 4.

A total of 19 Bradford-area men signed up for the contest Monday, Mrs. McKinzey said.

Included in the beard-growers are clerk-administrator Pat Storey (his mustache gone), Councillor Waldie Crossland (a veteran of the 100th anniversary contest) and arena manager Don Harrison (after much persuasion and outright threats).

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Bradford's telephone history began in 1885 when a telephone wire from Toronto to Newmarket was extended to Barrie through Bradford. That same year another line was built from Bradford to Alliston and Beeton. Gibson Cook was appointed local manager for the Bell Telephone Company and a tiny switchboard was installed in his store on Holland Street.

The telephone office was open for service from 8 a.m. on weekdays, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays and from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 to 4 p.m. on holidays.

Mr. Cook remained as agent until his death in 1891 when his son-in-law R.F. Green became manager.

Bradford's telephone exchange was destroyed by fire in 1892.

Telephone numbers were first assigned here in 1897. Bradford's telephones were removed in 1901 because of lack of subscribers. Telephone poles and lines remained in place, however, and in 1904 five persons subscribed for service. A new switchboard was installed and the line from Alliston to Bradford was made metallic, improving service considerably.

By 1905 the switchboard was inadequate and a new one had to be installed to accommodate new customers.

Poles on Main Street were removed in 1936 and plant was installed in underground conduits instead.

A minor disaster struck at Bradford's telephone system in June 1939 when a workman Bill Peachman, digging a ditch accidentally cut the telephone cable linking Bradford with Toronto and points south. A telephone crew worked all night to restore service.

Mr. R.F. Green remained in charge of the telephone office until 1932 more than forty year. Mr. G.G. Green was then placed in charge.

Mrs. J.E. Green took over the responsibility of local representative in 1938.

1957 saw the end of crank telephones in this area when instruments were cut over to dial operation. Dial equipment was housed in the Bell Telephone Company's new exchange on Holland Street.

All telephone numbers were changed coincident with the cutover and the exchange name PRospect 5 5 was assigned to Bradford subscribers.

Reeve Arthur Evans officially inaugurated the system by making the first call over the new equipment.

The 100th telephone was installed here in 1925.

The 500th telephone was installed in 1951, and the 1000th in 1957.

Bradford had 5,010 customers as of December 31, 1985.

This information is reprinted with permission of Bell Canada.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Local Lawyers Given Plaques by Province

Prominent local lawyers Charles and Brock Evans were presented with plaques from the Ontario government by local MPP Earl Rowe.

Charles Evans was honored for his 60th anniversary of his call to the bar, and his brother Brock was similarly honored for his 52 years in practice.

The law firm on Holland Street has existed on its present site since 1894, when the Evans father T.W.W. Evans, opened his practice.

The elder Evans grew up on a farm about five miles from Bradford in West Gwillimbury. His mother was born and grew up in Bradford.

Both parents taught school in Bradford, and then moved to Toronto while Mr. Evans attended Osgoode Hall Law School.

Of their seven children, three of six boys became lawyers and the girl married a lawyer.

Charles Evans graduated Osgoode Hall in 1926 and joined his father's practice, at the time of the Holland Marsh Reclamation project.

Eventually, Brock Evans left his Toronto practice to join his brother and father in Bradford about 30 years ago.

Charles' sons Tom and then Bob later joined the firm, to bring to four the number of Evans' in the firm Evans and Evans.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Holland-Bradford Marshes

The Holland Marsh is perhaps the best known organic soil area in Ontario since it has been used for different purposes from the early days of settlement.

The Marsh is situated on the southern end of Lake Simcoe and was probably at one time, a bay extension of an ancient lake called "Algonquin". It is also the point at which the Holland River enters the Lake.

Part of the Holland River serves as a drainage channel for farms in the southern end of the Marsh.

History

The history of this marsh in short as as follows:

A glacial lake called Lake Algonquin covered the area about 10,000 years ago. The retreating glacier uncovered a lower outlet and at that time Lake Algonquin came to an end. The lake level dropped and left the Holland Marsh embayment dry.

As the land rose higher in the north than in the south, Lake Simcoe, which existed as a separate lake by this time, expanded and flooded the land south of Cook's Bay.

This flooding caused swampy conditions and the accumulation of organic matter such as muck and peat in the Marsh.

The organic accumulation varies from a few centimeters to as much as 27 meters and is underlain by fine sand, silt or clay.

The Marsh, approximately 3 km in width, extends 24 km inland from Cook's Bay.

The western border of the Marsh is mainly Schomberg clay, silt and sand deposits, whereas the eastern border is mainly till deposits (moulded mass of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders deposited by glaciers) with minor areas of Lake Algonquin sediments.

Drainage Schemes

Some 2900 ha (7200 acres) south and west of Highway 11 have been incorporated in the Holland Marsh Drainage Scheme constructed as diked areas under the Municipal Drainage Act, in the period 1925 to 1930.

Areas to the north of Highway 11 on each side of the river were developed later by private enterprise of individuals. Approximately nine or ten separate drainage systems have added another 1600 ha (4000 acres) of vegetable producing soil which is mainly between Highway 11 and Cook's Bay, some in the Cookstown area and some south-east of Alliston.

Abotu 800 ha (2000 acres) of the remaining peat and muck area have been or are being acquired by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for a wildlife preservation area.

The scheme for draining the Marsh was promoted by Mr. W.H. Day, Professor of Physics at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, to address a group of itnerested people on marsh drainage in December, 1909.

Until this time, the area was only known as a "mere ditch, swarming with bullfrogs and water snakes" -- so John Gait, an agent for the Canada Company described it in 1825.

Professor Day tested the soil and became enthusiastic about the possibilities of growing vegetables on it and actively promoted the scheme to drain all of the area. The implementation of the project was slowed by years of political maneuvering and the economic hardships of World War I, but in 1930, the Project was completed.

In 1930, Professor Day also reported a profit of $27,000 on his first crop of 15 ha (37 acres) of vegetables.

In 1931, some Dutch settlers had come to the marsh and by their industrious labours had achieved greater success than most. The Canadian representative of the Netherlands Emigration Foundation, Mr. J.J. Snor, saw a chance here for the rehabilitation of Dutch immigrants who had failed elsewhere in Ontario.

In 1934, eighteen Dutch families on relief were moved to this location from Toronto-Hamilton area. Each family received $600.00 (to be shared equally by the federal and municipal governments). The sum of $475.00 was to be repaid eventually by each family. The Dutch government contributed the $200.00 portion which was due by the municipality, when it was unable to produce this amount.

These eighteen original families formed the nucleus of the first settlement in the Marsh and it was and still is called "Ansnorveldt". After the war, more immigrants from the Netherlands came to settle here as well as people from practically every country in Europe.

There are large groups of Hungarian, German, Polish, Czechoslovakian, Ukrainian, and Italian immigrants as well as Portugese, Chinese and Japanese nationalities making their living from growing Marsh vegetables.

Organic Soils - A Disappearing Resource

An organic soil such the one in the Holland-Bradford Marshes is usually called on a pear or muck soil. It is estimated the Canada has approximately 1.3 million km square (500,000 square miles) of organic soils or in other words for every 7 ha (17 acres) of mineral soil, there is on ha (2.47 acres) of organic soil in Canada.

In recent years, Canadians are becoming much more aware of the need to take stock of Canada's resources and to use them wisely.

Organic soils are one of many irreplaceable Canadian natural resources. These soils were formed by nature under conditions of poor drainage and flooding. There formation takes place where plant materials (reeds, sedges, cat tails, bullrushes, mosses, shrubs, trees etc) gradually decompose but accumulate faster than the natural processes of decay are able to proceed.

It takes nature about 500 years to produce 30 cm (one foot) of organic soil. However, as soon as organic soils are drained and reclaimed from nature's water bound grasp, the undeniable fact is, that these soils start to disappear.

This disappearance or subsidence, the gradual loss of surface elevation, has been a chronic problem wherever organic soils have been reclaimed for agriculture. It is a natural process, which cannot be stopped if these soils continue to be used to grow crops. The rate of subsidence for average conditions varies from 1.13 cm per year, depending on water and farm management practices.

Several factors influence the rate of subsidence. Included in this list are: Height of water table, Oxidation, Compaction, Burning, wind, and Water Erosion, Shrinkage and Dehydration.

The Holland-Bradford Marsh, through proper water and farm management has about 40 to 50 years left until most of the 90 to 120 cm of muck and peat will have disappeared.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : Mayor Gordon: "I'll be tough"

"I'll be tough when I have to be tough," Bradford Mayor Roy Gordon said after taking the oath of office in the community centre Monday night.

Mayor Gordon succeeds Joe Maganni Bradford's mayor of 16 years who announced his retirement last fall.

"I want the people of Bradford to get involved in the operation of the town," Mayor Gordon told the 60 people who braved snowy streets to attend the inauguration. "We need to be told if we're doing things right or wrong."

Mayor Gordon, along with the rest of council, was sworn in by lawyer Charles Evans described by Mr. Magani as the "Father of Bradford."

Councillors sworn in were Zyg Fenik, Sandy Hudson, Rick Wright and John Zima. Reeve Ken Wood and Deputy-reeve Milt Hambley also took office Monday night.

Budd Robson, Gordon Bantam, James Church, and Keith Stevens were sworn in for another term on the Bradford Public Utilities Commission.