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The two-storey house located at 21 Simcoe Road was built by George Stoddart before World War I. Originally, it was clad in brick and there was a large barn at the rear across the full lot. There was also a 2’-square dumb waiter in the house. It was operated by a pulley system and used to move things from the basement to the upper floors. Mrs. Stoddart and her son (George) lived here for many years. Tom Bell retired from the Bank of Commerce in the 1930’s, and he and his wife and daughter (Dorothy) were next to live in this house. Dorothy lived here until her father died and she was too old to remain. (1, 2)

This two-storey structure is located at 218 Simcoe Road. It is the fourth house on the west side (south of the “Y” in Simcoe Road). Robert Stewart, his wife, and family lived here many years ago. His son George, who married Ethel Waldruff, played lacrosse and was a painter and paper hanger for Billie Sutton. Robert owned 75 acres of land and worked as the town clerk for 25 years. He also farmed (and later rented) his land. Ed Cave and his wife (Ida) and daughter (Violet) moved to this area from Newton Robinson and eventually bought and worked a farm. He delivered milk and had a dairy in town. Ed was a staunch Orangeman who played King Billie riding his white horse at the 12th of July parade. There was a gravel pit on the property. He eventually sold his farm to Mike Sklencar, John Kulha, Steve Brinkos and John Kashmere. They divided the remaining land and sold the lots along Simcoe Road. The large house was converted into four apartments that were used as their living quarters while they each built a house. The structure was still being used as an apartment building in 1995. (1, 2)

The Queen’s Hotel (located at 22 Holland St. West) was built circa 1850, and was originally the Western Hotel. This photo (taken in the fall of 1995) shows the structure just before a major renovation. The hotel went “dry” during World War I. Bradford, like all of Ontario, was experiencing prohibition (even though Bradford had voted “wet”). The building originally had two storeys. A third floor and a flat roof were added later. It was heated with an old steam engine that had the undercarriage removed. The engine first burnt 4’ stacks of hardwood, then coal, and finally, oil. Eventually a new furnace was installed (most likely natural gas). The building was always warm and thought of as a home away from home.
Harry Lang, Celina and their children (Evelyn, George and Audrey) moved here from North Bay and bought the building in the 1920’s. They ran the Temperance House, and a board and dining service at this location. They had long-time help and boarders. Little John Cook ran a shop selling ice cream, chocolate bars, and smokes on the east side (down one step). A bus stop was added when bus service started. Len and Art Saint put a cement addition on the back of the building around 1938. At the rear, there was a chicken house, a roofed, open shed, and a laneway. Another shed ran south, and to the west was an ice house. There was open space to the north before the laneway and a barn for hay and horses. The barn had two stories and below there was a pig sty. North of the laneway there was another open shed, car storage, and a cooking kitchen on the back of the hotel (a little east of the back entrance). Jack Wilson worked for Harry Lang for many years. Mitch Hepburn brought in beer in 1934 and the building opened as the Queen’s Hotel. Businessmen had to chip in to buy a liquor license and Hepburn was the first supplier. Business was excellent and the hotel was really crowded. Before the arrival of the beer, the locals had used it as a place to play dominoes and checkers, and to conduct hunt camp and other organizations’ meetings. (1, 2, 4)

The Queen’s Hotel (located at 22 Holland St. West) was built circa 1850. This photo (taken in the fall of 1995) shows the structure just before a major renovation. The hotel went “dry” during WWI. Bradford, like all of Ontario, was experiencing prohibition (even though Bradford had voted “wet”). The building originally had two storeys. A third floor and a flat roof were added later. It was heated with an old steam engine that had the undercarriage removed. The engine first burnt 4’ stacks of hardwood, then coal, and finally, oil. Eventually a new furnace was installed (most likely natural gas). The building was always warm and thought of as a home away from home.
Harry Lang, Celina and their children (Evelyn, George and Audrey) moved here from North Bay and bought the building in the 1920’s. They ran the Temperance House, and a board and dining service at this location. They had long-time help and boarders. Little John Cook ran a shop selling ice cream, chocolate bars, and smokes on the east side (down one step). A bus stop was added when bus service started. Len and Art Saint put a cement addition on the back of the building around 1938. At the rear, there was a chicken house, a roofed, open shed, and a laneway. Another shed ran south, and to the west was an ice house. There was open space to the north before the laneway and a barn for hay and horses. The barn had two stories and below there was a pig sty. North of the laneway there was another open shed, car storage, and a cooking kitchen on the back of the hotel (a little east of the back entrance). Jack Wilson worked for Harry Lang for many years. Mitch Hepburn brought in beer in 1934 and the building opened as the Queen’s Hotel. Businessmen had to chip in to buy a liquor license and Hepburn was the first supplier. Business was excellent and the hotel was really crowded. Before the arrival of the beer, the locals had used it as a place to play dominoes and checkers, and to conduct hunt camp and other organizations’ meetings. (1, 2, 4)
Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.

This two-storey, frame and cement-clad house is located south of the “Y” at 223 Simcoe Road. Mr. Bruce bought this house and the land (which extended south to the town limits and over the canal) many years ago. A marsh laneway ran east and there was a bridge across the canal for the road to the marsh. The lane circled the house and came out on Simcoe Road. There was a large barn east of the entrance to the property. It had a basement for animals and chickens. Albert Readman and his family (Mildred, Albert Jr., Olive, and Tom) lived in this house for a number of years. Mike Kasik (a market gardener) eventually bought the property. Len Saint built a cement garage and a storage building south of the house on the end of the bank and the lane. (1, 2)

This mid-block structure is located at 23 and 25 John St. East. It was built around 1830-1860 in the Neoclassical Duplex style. Lewis Algeo, one of the first Irish settlers in West Gwillimbury and a retired farmer, once lived in the west side of the building. T. S. Graham lived in the east side in the early 1900’s. James Glynn lived here around 1916. He left it to James Nolan, son of Denis and Catherine Nolan (reeve of West Gwillimbury), his wife Clare(a piano teacher), and their son, Dennis. The east side was also once the home of Miss Dora Noble, a nurse at the new hospital in Newmarket. She lived here with her retired father (James Noble) until he passed away.
The two-storey, six-bay, semi-detached structure has a rectangular plan with a side hall entrance. It has a two-storey, ‘L’-shaped, rear extension and a medium-pitched, gable roof with chimneys set into each gable end. The formal, symmetrical façade has a series of openings arranged equally across the front. It has paired, entrance doors with side halls along the common, party wall. The raised entrances are set close to the street with side stairs and railings that are not original. Each door has a high transom light set into a plain, rectangular opening. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. Equal-sized ground and second-floor windows with high sills are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and lug sills. The windows are not original. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding and the building has a cut-stone foundation with a basement. Originally, the cladding was stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, few original details remain other than the building’s form. It also notes that the chimney is not original. An aggressive fire damaged much of the structure on April 6, 2015. Several residents were left homeless as a result of the fire (Bradford Times, April 7, 2015). The structure has since been demolished. (1, 2, 3)

The building located at 23 Holland St. West may have been owned by George Stoddart Jr. at one time. It had living quarters upstairs. The ground floor once housed a bank (possibly the Imperial Bank) and there was a large vault in the back. The manager was Fred Stevens. He moved to Barrie when the bank closed. This left the Canadian Bank of Commerce as the only bank in Bradford at that time. The Bradford Witness newspaper, under the direction of Stewart and Ina McKenzie, later moved to this location from the Seim Building. (1, 2)
The building located at 27 Holland St. West also had living quarters upstairs. The ground floor housed the practice of lawyers Gardner, Morris and Denney for a while after WWII. Mrs. Marg Fallis lived upstairs for many years before moving to John Street. (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 mid-block building located at 23 John St. West was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was the home of retired farmer Walter King (during and after the war) until his death.
The one-storey, three-bay cottage has a rectangular plan, a centre hall, a symmetrical façade and a gable roof. It had a kitchen at the rear originally. There are single windows (with low floor to ceiling heights) to the primary rooms on each side of the porch at the front. The wood trim is original, but the windows and the door are replacements. Metal supports for the porch roof are not original, but the roof itself may be authentic. The house has wood frame construction with vinyl siding. The original wood siding is probably still under the newer cladding. According to the 2000 inventory, few existing building elements appear to be original other than the building’s form. It also notes that this modest cottage probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 2, 3)

The buildings shown in this photo are located at 21, 23, 25 and 27 Holland St. East. One of the buildings in this row was once a bakery and confectionary owned by Jack Madil. There were two ovens in the rear and a barn at the back of the property. Jack later sold the business to Fred Gowland in the early 1930’s and bought a farm (on the north side of Concession 10, on the west side of Sideroad 10). Fred and his family moved into the living quarters above the bakery. He had a partner and second baker named Bert Hunt. Fred later got a job as head baker at the Penetanguishene Asylum and moved to that area. Bert was left to run the business until he got sick. The business was then closed and the building was sold.
The 25 Holland St. East address was the Liberal Party office for Kraft Sloan in 1995.
The 27 Holland St. East address was the location of a barber shop run by Joe Scotto for over thirty years. (1, 2)