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The mid-block building located at 43 and 45 Drury St. was built in the Neoclassical Duplex style in the 1860-1880’s. Leonard Saint bought the building in 1909 from Mrs. Garrett (mother of E. Garrett who owned the Bradford Witness newspaper). Len was in the building trade and he was a brick layer, a plasterer, and a cement worker in Bradford. In 1911, he moved the building twenty feet back from the street, raised it, and put in a cellar as well as a parged, stone foundation. He also added two rear kitchens. There was a garage on the back lot facing Elizabeth Street. The south side of the house was rented to various people. The building stayed in the Saint family until the 1980’s.
The two-storey, four-bay, semi-detached house has a simple form with separated, side-hall entrances in the formal, symmetrical façade. It has a shallow-pitched, gable roof and gable end chimneys. The upper portion of the original, wood-panelled doors is glazed and has multiple lights at the top. This is reminiscent of the transom found in a more ‘’upscale” home of this period. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. Large, 6/6 wood sash windows at the ground floor are original. The upper-floor window openings align with the ground-floor openings and the windows have plain wood frames and sills. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding. The original cladding was stucco on wood lath. According to the 2000 inventory, this building is a modest example of workers’ housing. It also notes that it is in good condition with some original details remaining. (1, 2, 3)

The one-storey house once located on the west side at 44 Drury St. had stucco cladding originally. Many years ago it was the home of Fred McKay, his wife, and son (Bruce). Fred was a retired farmer. He had noted gardens (asparagus, strawberries, raspberries) on a number of lots around town. Fred worked for Thompson Fisher in the old skating rink. He also ran the pool room and sold gramophones over the Campbell’s drugstore on Holland Street. Chris Wren and his family lived here years later. Chris was a store merchant (from Mabel) and a painter and paper hanger. The house was demolished (in the 1990’s?) to make an exit and sewer connection from Joe Magani’s grocery store to Drury Street. (1, 2)

The mid-block structure located at 44 John St. East was built pre-1900 in Amsterdam (on the east side of the Holland River) in the Ontario Vernacular style. It was later moved to this site. This house was once the home of George Ogilvie, a tailor on Holland Street. He had moved here from Bond Head. After his death, it became the home of Dave Ogilvie and his family. When the house was remodeled, the bathroom was redone and stuccoed by Dick Saint, the carpentry work was done by Art Saint, the plumbing was done by Oswald Davey, and Ted Gapp did the wiring.
The two-storey, two-bay house has a rectangular plan with a side hall, an asymmetrical façade, and a medium-pitched, hip roof. An enclosed, entrance porch with a truncated, hip roof is raised slightly above grade. It has a single door and windows on three sides. The porch appears to be a later addition. The house has small window openings, double-hung windows (not original), and plain, wood trim and sills. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding and there is a parged, stone foundation. The original cladding was probably wood. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has few building elements (other than the form) that appear to be original. It also notes that the house probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 2, 3)

The house located at 45 Bingham St. was considered to be relatively new in 1995. (1, 2)

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 one-storey, frame house located at 45 John St. West originally had a kitchen and a woodshed at the rear and a veranda at the front. It was the home of Stan Cairns' parents Isaac and Grace (Fisher). The family lived here before and after World War II. (1, 2)

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 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 mid-block building once located at 49 Drury St. was built in the neoclassical style around 1880. James Currie (a retired farmer, businessman, carpenter and noted gardener) and his wife lived here many years ago. Gilbert Lukes, his wife, and some of his family also lived here at one time.
The two-storey, rectangular building had a symmetrical façade, a centre hall plan, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. It had large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. The large, 2/2 double-hung, wood windows had wood lug sills. Aluminum storm windows were modern additions. The house had symmetrically-placed chimneys at both ends of the roof. The metal roof had minimal eaves projection. There were decorative brick dentils at the cornices and stepped brick corbels at the projecting, end gable walls (firewall-type construction). The building had solid, brick construction. At one time the house had a woodshed (with a toilet inside), a chicken run, and a chicken house attached to the barn (with a horse and cow stable), car garage (and loft above) on the laneway. The house was demolished in June, 1997. (1, 2, 3)

The house located at 49 John St. East (on the northwest corner of Nelson and John Streets) was built around 1860-1880 in the Gothic Revival style. There was once a large garden on the east side and a small drainage ditch north of the laneway. Dave Ogilvie and his wife May (McKinstry) purchased this house around 1920. Dave had a livery stable, a jitney, and a taxi service. He also carried mail between the (railroad?) station, the Post Office and Bond Head. The taxi and jitney went to Newmarket to meet York Radial street cars. The Ogilvie family moved across the street and the building later became a boarding house that was run by Mr. and Mrs. Jones. It eventually became the home of the Morton family (retired farmers from the Scotch Settlement). At the time of this photo (1995), it was the home of Everett and Marie McVety.
The two-storey, rectangular building has a medium-pitched, gable roof and large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. There are 2/2 wood, sash windows that have plain, wood lug sills and wood trim. The ground-floor front window is original. It is possible that the wooden shutters may also be original. There is a Regency-like, wide, front porch. The original porch columns have been replaced with simple, square, wooden ones. This structure has vinyl siding on wood frame construction and there is a stone foundation. The original cladding was probably wood cove siding. According to the 2000 inventory, the simple house is well-maintained and has much of its original character.
(1, 2, 3)