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An animal footprint in a building brick. The brick is displayed on a wood mount with a gold plaque. The item was recovered by Bill Patton during the demolition of the Convent in August 1994.

Photograph of Elizabeth “Libbie” Florence Campbell and her mother, Bessie Sutherland Campbell outside of Bessie & William Campbell’s house on Johns Street, c. 1915.

Photograph of Bessie Sutherland Campbell and her children, Elizabeth “Libbie” Florence Campbell and William L. Campbell outside of Bessie & William Campbell’s house on Johns Street, c. 1915. William's dog can also be seen in this picture.

Contains articles and clippings related to the buildings and architecture of Bradford West Gwillimbury, from F-L

The Campbell House (west view) located at 33 John St East. The house was built in 1900.

A decorative plaster point recovered during demolition of The Lukes House/The Convent in August 1994. This house had various owners throughout its history. Most notably, Reverend Egerton Ryerson, Samuel Lukes and the Ursuline Order of the Diocese of London (Catholic sisters).

"Demolition of the old convent on Barrie Street was scheduled to begin this week. The site, north of Frederick Street, will be the home of a new multi-service facility. When it's done in March 1995, it will be 15,000 square feet in size and will accommodate a child-care facility for 150 children. Bill Bowden, property manager for the Barrie and District Association for People with Special Needs and project manager for the new building, indicated the old convent has been totally trashed and nothing remains of any salvageable value. And as yet, there's no official name. "The Common Roof was the local name for the group attempting to get this project under way. It sort of stuck, I doubt if that will be the final, official name of the building," he said. Bowden said the new structure will house a number of agencies providing child-care services such as a daycare, a nursery, PALS resource centre and a number of other social service agencies for the child and family in the Bradford area. The new building will cost in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million. Bowden said the centre will "service in the neighborhood of 150 children each day. Children will be coming and going. Some will be there all day. Some will be there only in the morning and some only in the afternoon." The demolition work marks the end of a lengthy process. The Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association is working with the architect for the new building to include part of the old convent building in the new structure.

A piece of plaster decorative moulding recovered during demolition of The Lukes House/The Convent in August 1994. This house had various owners throughout its history. Most notably, Reverend Egerton Ryerson, Samuel Lukes and the Ursuline Order of the Diocese of London (Catholic sisters).

A piece of plaster decorative moulding recovered during demolition of The Lukes House/The Convent in August 1994. This house had various owners throughout its history. Most notably, Reverend Egerton Ryerson, Samuel Lukes and the Ursuline Order of the Diocese of London (Catholic sisters).

"Farm home owned by Frank and Mima Ritchie. This picture was taken during the 1930's by their son-in-law, Reginald Coker. The farm was owned by the Ritchie family and was worked and operated as a dairy farm first by father Frank Ritchie, and then by his son Milton Ritchie. The farm consisited of 188 acres of land and during the Ritchie era was worked mainly with horses. In 1954, the farm was sold by Milton Ritchie to Elmer Stong. The house was built by Davis Stoddart in 1879. Off the main hall there was an oak circular staircase with an oak banister, which was fun to slide down on in the morning for us kids. There were approximately twenty-five rooms in the home with twelve foot ceilings. It was heated with wood and at time coal, but needless to say, in the real winter of yester year, one always wore sweaters indoors. Window shutters kept it cool in the hot summer months. Inside plumbing was not part of the home during the Ritchie era. The floors of the home were maple. The parlour hosted many events from Saturday night dances to weddings, wakes and funerals. Located off the main upstairs hall, stained glass double doors opened to a balcony overlooking the flower gardens adorning the front exposure. Many garden parties were held in the gardens during June, July and August. Sadly, the buildings fell into disarray after Mr. Stong sold the farmland to developers in 1971. The dairy barn built by Frank Ritchie in 1918 burned in the early 1980's and the house was allowed to deteriorate until it became only the shadow of what it had once been, which is now portrayed in some paintings. Mercifully, it was finally put to rest a few short years ago and another chapter of Bradford West Gwillimbury history became a distant memory." Written by their grandson, Alan Ritchie.