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"The annual meeting of Bradford's Mechanics' Institute was held in the Council Chamber, on Monday evening last, May 6th. ..."

"The new Board of Management of the Public Library met after the annual meeting. On motion Mr. E. Garrett was appointed chairman for the year. ..."

"The annual meeting of the Public Library was held in the Council Chamber on Friday evening. The attendance was small, as usual. The Treasurer, Mr. Jas. Driffill, presented his report, which showed that the receipts for the year were $354, and the expenditure $310.17, leaving a balance on hand of $44.37. ..."

"The new Act respecting the regulations of Public Libraries calls for a meeting on the second Monday in January for the election of a Board of Directors. Accordingly a meeting of the members of the Bradford Public Library was recently held in Mr. T.W.W. Evans' office." ...

Article written by Edmund Garrett on his departure as Editor of the Bradford Witness

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 Bradford Witness decided to release a series of articles from local townspeople on the history of certain events in Bradford and West Gwillimbury's time. This week, the history of the Bradford newspapers are the topic.

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)

Article featuring the centennial anniversary of the Bradford Witness's merged partner, the South Simcoe News.
"One hundred years ago, in 1865, the first issue of The South Simcoe News was published in Bradford and that is the centennial anniversary being marked by this issue of The Bradford Witness and South Simcoe News, but newspaper life in this town began before 1865."

The caption of this photograph follows:
"Business Men of Bradford of Twelve Years Ago [1894]
Top Row (from left to right): W.J. Walker; J.H. Driffill; Jas. Driffil; E.P. Snow; H.C. Barry; J.H. Davey; S.J.W. Sutherland; Dr. L.H. Campbell; E. Garrett.
Second Row: A. Thompson; H.S. Broughton; Robt Stewart; Jas. Clarke; Wm. Campbell; R.J. Barry; Wm. Kilkenny; John Bemrose, sr.; E. Boddy; Jas. Mills.
Third Row: J.H. Hockridge; C. Elliot; R.F. Green; T.S. Graham; J.S. Boddy; G. Ogilvie; John Bemrose, jr.
Front Row: B. Hulse; E. Driffill; W. Scott; H. Parker; J.G. Cook; W.L. Campbell; A. Sutherland; W.W. Ellis."