This structure was originally a shed located on property owned by Tom Saint. It was moved to its current site at 25 Bingham St. (south of Centre Street) onto property owned by George “Duke” Lowe. After the shed was restored as a house, Duke married Mrs. Storey. Their four children (Clara, George, Dorothy and Betty) joined Mrs. Storey’s previous children (Charlie, Jack, Roy and Harvey). It later became the home of Ted and Clara Brockwell for a number of years after WWII. (1, 2)
The house, which is currently found at 26 Colborne St., was moved to this site many years ago. It was originally located across the river on the west side of Federal Farms Road. The west entrance to Queensville passed through the property. The one-storey, T-shaped house has a living room, two bedrooms, a front kitchen and a smaller room behind. North of the kitchen there was a sloping roof and a long narrow room that was used as a bedroom. Lorne Church, his wife, and their children (Jim, Marion, Aileen, Jack, Gordon and May) once lived here. Lorne worked at Lukes’ mill. There was a shed behind the house for cars and wood. It was later moved into the garden and converted to a greenhouse for plants to be grown on Mr. Bruce’s marshland property. In addition to farming for Mr. Bruce, the boys delivered milk in a small wagon in the early 1930’s. (1, 2)
The house located at 59 Drury St. was considered to be new when this photo was taken in 1995. Bill Aitkens (Aitken?) had a horse stable on the property many years ago. (1, 2)
This mid-block building is located on a sloping lot at 112 Frederick Street. The structure, which was once the home of the Chantler family, was built on a sloping lot pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. The existing Frederick Street appears to be built at a higher level than the lot, indicating that this house was built before the street was paved or town services were installed. The one-storey, three-bay cottage has a square plan with a centre hall. A box hall was typical for this style. It has a saltbox roof, a symmetrical façade, and a single door at the grade-level entrance. There are small window openings with low floor to ceiling heights and plain, wood trim and sills. Double-hung windows are not original. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding. The original siding was likely wood. There is a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, few of the existing building elements appear to be original. It also notes that this modest cottage probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 2, 3)
The two-storey, frame building in this photo (from 1995) was once located at 52 Holland St. East. It and sat on a narrow lot and had long sheds at the back. Several families lived here over the years, including Joe Graham, his wife, and sons Leonard, Ogil, Weldon, Gilford, Leeson and Donald. Joe was a semi-retired farmer from the Cookstown area and he ran a farm on Concession 6 on the south side (west of Simcoe Road). The boys had a butcher shop and Weldon trucked, hauling coal for the dredge on the big canal and fill for the dam from Simcoe Street. Harold Boyd eventually bought the property. He had Sinclair MacDonald remodel the structure and add a rental apartment upstairs. Harold’s daughter and her family lived in the rental apartment before the building was demolished in the 1990’s. A plaza was later built on this (and the adjoining McLain) property. (1, 2)
The two-storey, frame building located at 36 Holland St. East was clad in cement in 1927 by Len Saint. Miss Sarah McDonnell, accompanied by her sister, ran a boarding house here. The frame building located at 38 and 40 Holland St. East was bought many years ago by Mr. McWilliams. He remodeled the structure and put the entrance for the upstairs apartment on the east side (42 Holland St. E.). He died many years ago and Mrs. Mary McWilliams (a sister of William Hirlehey) and her son Bill lived in the apartment. Bill worked on the marsh and in a hockey stick factory. There were two shops downstairs. There was a shoemaker and leather shop for years at 38 Holland St. East (on the west side of the building). There have been several other businesses here including Joyce’s Curio Shoppe (as seen in this photo taken in 1995). (1, 2)
The mid-block building located on the north side at 79 Holland St. East was built in the 1890’s in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. The house was built by Mr. Watson for Ed Coombs, his wife and children (Walter, Victor and Evelyn). Ed had moved into town from a farm (on the southwest side of Concession 6) during WWII. He was on the town council and became a reeve. He ran a coal and wood business for years. After Ed’s death, the business was taken over by his son Victor. There was a garage for cars, but Ed did not drive. He had a horse stable and loft above for a single horse that was used to haul one ton of coal. Walter worked all his life for Rogers Coal Co. in Toronto. He lived in the Walker House Hotel until it was demolished. The two-storey, three-bay house has a symmetrical façade, a centre hall plan, and a medium- pitched, hip roof with a wide overhang. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling dimensions. The house has arched window heads with stylized keystones and narrow, second-floor windows. It also has a unique, stylized masonry treatment complete with belt course, corner mouldings, and window surrounds. The two-storey, central-bay element was modified in the twentieth century. There is pressed-block construction with replacement siding at the central bay and a parged, block foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has been maintained well. It also notes that the ‘modern’, central bay with aluminum siding and soffits is not sympathetic with the original design. (1, 2, 3)
The two-storey, frame house located at 89 Holland St. East was the home of Tom and Mary (Harman) Saint for many years. The structure was moved across the river to this site from the Thompson Smith Saw Mill (at Amsterdam) after it closed. A crawl space under the back kitchen was replaced in 1936 by a cellar under the front part of the house. It was dug by Jim (Dummy) Peters, Donald Campbell, and Joe Saint using pick-shovels. They then poured an 8” concrete wall. An oil furnace was installed after the front cellar was completed. It replaced the wood-fueled cooking stove previously used as a heat source for the house. Tom owned the property from Holland St. through to John Street. There was a lane behind the house that led to a woodshed. At the bottom of the lot there was a shed for a wagon, buggy, implements, etc. Upstairs was a loft for hay and on the east side there was a horse stable. Tom was a stone mason, brick layer, plasterer, and cement layer. He used a horse to haul his materials. Six children (William, John, Sadie, Leonard, May and Jane) were raised in this house. Sadie married Walter Reeves, a lacrosse player and a one man/one dog police force. Sadie lived at home and Dorothy married Harvey Marks and stayed in the family till 1989. A front porch and a car port at the back were eventually added. The lot at the back was sold to William Smith. (1, 2)
