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Alex Sutherland’s bakeshop was located at 27 Simcoe Road for many years. It was later sold to Howard Bowser. Howard converted it into a rental dwelling. The building was eventually owned by a market gardener who had a cement garage and storage building constructed by Len Saint on the property. Neil Lathangue and his wife lived here for a time years later. After they left, Tommy and Bill Whiteside moved in and remained here until they died. (1, 2)

The southwest corner of John and Barrie Streets, which is now recognized as 28 Barrie St., was a vacant lot for many years. When Highway 11 was widened, Allan (Wink) Crake built a service station here. Bill Aikens ran it until his death during WWII. After the war, Mr. Hodgson (a retired O.P.P. officer), and then Frank Adamson, ran it. When the station closed, the pumps were removed and the structure became a Becker's Milk store. It was still in operation when this photo was taken in 1995. (1, 2)

The house located mid-block at 28 John St. East was built in the Edwardian Classicism style around 1850 in Amsterdam (on the east side of the Holland River). It was moved to its current site in Bradford around 1890 by Sam Lukes to provide housing for the staff of his flour mill. His mill was in its heyday at the turn of the century (1890-1910). This structure was the home of Stewart and Ina McKenzie (editors of the Bradford Witness newspaper) in the 1930-60’s.
The rectangular, two-storey building with a centre hall plan has simple details and a hipped, ‘Pedlar’ metal roof (made by Oshawa Roofing). The original porch was significantly altered after the move from Amsterdam. The simple form and composition of the house was then highlighted with a large, classically-inspired porch that has a pediment-type, porch roof addition. A space between the brick pedestals at the porch has been infilled and the original half columns have been replaced by glazing and infill framing. The house has large window openings and the windows are metal replacements. Shutters on the second-floor are not original. The smooth, brick veneer on the wood frame construction was also added after the house was moved from Amsterdam. There is a parged, block foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the building is well-maintained l. (1, 2, 3)

Many businesses have used the flat-roofed structure located at 29 Barrie Street. It was once the home of a farm machinery business run by Reuben Tindall. When he retired, he sold the business to Dick Crake. Dick, who sold machinery and 28 Chevrolet cars, was a bachelor who did not drive. Allen Ceeiry(?) was his chauffeur. Dick had one of the first radios in town and his shop was a popular hangout for farmers and teenage boys who wanted to listen to hockey games. Dick ran the business until he retired. Then John Morden (from Kirkland Lake) started a body, fender, and paint shop at this location which he ran until his death. A businessman from Bond Head ran a blacksmith shop here for a period of time after WWII. (1, 2)

The structure located at 29 Holland St. West was vacant for many years. Howard Bowser bought and restored it as a shop with living quarters upstairs. Ted and Audrey Gapp lived here for a number of years. Helen Bantam ran a ladies’ shop downstairs and lived upstairs. She may have bought it from Bowser. At the time of this photo (1995), it was a barber shop.
The building located at 31 and 33 Holland St. West (on the northeast corner of Holland and Moore Streets) was built around 1880 in the Ontario Vernacular style. It was constructed on the site of the former Edmanson Bakery (33 Holland St. West). The bakery was the origin of the big fire on May 23, 1871 that destroyed much of downtown Bradford. E.P. Snow had a harness and saddle shop at 31 Holland St. West for many years. He lived on the north side of John Street. Later it was bought by Secondo Cavallo, who ran a shoemaking business at this location. He lived on the south side of John Street. Cavallo’s daughter (Aida) ran the business for a few years and then it was sold. Lash Davey and Bill ran a butcher shop at 33 Holland St. West for several years. They had a slaughter house on Piccadilly Hill (Simcoe St. South). James Webb, a butcher and lacrosse player, later ran his shop here. Webb was joined by his son Jim, who eventually took over the business and employed Harold Boyd. Jim originally had an ice house at the back of the property. A freezer locker was built later by Len Saint at the back. The building and business were eventually owned for many years by the Pezzanitti family.
The one-storey, commercial, semi-detached ‘row’ building has a wide, rectangular plan with an asymmetrical organization. There is “Main Street” frontage with a typical, storefront façade located at the street line. A plain façade is characterized by a high, flat, ‘boomtown’ façade with brick dentils. The two-bay façade is dominated above the storefronts by an applied, pressed- metal cornice with stone brackets at each end. Existing doors and storefronts are not original. Wide, glass, storefront windows with stone sills are also not original. The building has masonry construction with brick cladding, a stone foundation, and a flat, built-up tar and gravel roof. According to the 2000 inventory, the modest building is in good condition. (1, 2, 3)

The building located at 30 Holland St. West (on the southeast corner of Holland and Drury Streets) has been the site of many businesses, including Bradford Travel (as seen in this photo from 1995). Many years previously, George Ogilvie, a tailor, moved to this area from Bond Head. He employed five or six cutters and seamstresses to help run his business. It occupied the first and second floors of the building. John Depew moved here years later. He ran a barbershop on the ground floor and lived upstairs with his children (Oswald, Eddie and Georgina). The two boys became barbers and Georgina was a nurse in the Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia. Archie Hammell and his wife Minnie (Spence) opened and ran a grocery store here for a time. Gerry McTavish worked for them, and he and his wife took over the business when the Hammells retired. (1, 2)

The building located at 31 and 33 Holland St. East once housed an implement business run by Frank Allan and his son George. Leonard Saint and Sinclair MacDonald cemented the building and flattened the roof. There were four rental apartments upstairs. In the front there was a large plate glass window, a door, a smaller plate glass window, and another door for bringing in machinery. There was also a counter and parts department. The workshop in the rear had a small and a large rear door. (1, 2)

Allan (“Wink”) Crake, a nephew of Dick Crake, owned the one-storey building located at 31 Barrie Street. When Wink retired, Bradford Public Utilities bought the building and opened its offices here. There was a laneway behind Reuben Tindall’s house to the back entrance for the residents of John Street. (1, 2)
This photograph depicts the exterior of the building after a renovation.

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 mid-block building located at 31/33 Bingham St. was built around 1880 in the Neoclassical Duplex style. George “Duke” Lowe built and rented the north half (31), and he and his family lived in the south half (33). He was a farmer who raised cows and pastured them on a vacant lot on the south side of Centre Street. He also cut marsh hay, raised pigs, had an ice house, and delivered ice. He started the first garbage pick-up in Bradford. Ted Bulpit and his wife and son (Ted) lived at 31 Bingham St. for many years.
The six-bay structure with one-storey (narrow) rear wings is set close to the street. Unlike most Neoclassical buildings which have two storeys, this is only a single-storey dwelling. It has a shallow-pitched, gable roof and a formal, symmetrical façade. The slightly-raised entrances are paired in the centre of the façade and each one has a parged-stone entrance platform with steps. Both doors (not original) are set into high, segmented arch openings with glass transoms. The original glass has been replaced with a solid panel. This building has small window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. The front windows (with high sills) are set into segmented arch openings with plain, wood frames and sills. A 2/2 window at the far north end is original, but the other windows are more recent replacements. The shutters are not original. This building has brick, masonry construction with stucco cladding and a parged, stone foundation. There is a cellar. The bricks used for the cladding were salvaged from damaged sections of the Town Hall after the severe storm of 1878. According to the 2000 inventory, this building is a modest example of workers’ housing with some original details remaining. (1, 2, 3)