Showing 137 results

Picture of the Bradford Municipal Offices, which held the Town Clerk, Council Chambers, and Fire Department at the old Town Hall on Holland St E.

Ad for D.F. Porter, merchant tailor of Bradford in 1909.

Advertisement of Dr. William H. Porter, Surgeon Dentist of Bradford.

There was a vacant lot located at 11 Holland St. East after the big fire of 1871. Dennis Nolan built an addition to his Model T Ford dealership (located at 9 Holland St. E.) on this vacant lot. Len Saint used cement to build the new structure and Art Saint did the carpentry. The cars arrived at the railroad station in boxcars and then were brought to this new building. There was a display room at the front. At the rear was another service department with a door on the west side leading to the laneway at the rear. In time, Jim Armstrong and Fred Gregory opened a garage at this location. Charles Roberts also ran it and had a taxi business. Armstrong sold the building to Patchett, who turned the upstairs into a bowling alley (while also still running a taxi business) with a garage in the back. (1, 2)
There was also a vacant lot located at 13 Holland St. East after the fire of 1871. Russell “Curly” Curtis (from Newmarket) married Aileen Church and they built a butcher shop here after WWII. Years later it became the site of the Simpson order office (which was run by Mrs. Fallis). (1, 2)

The buildings shown in this photo are located at 21, 23, 25 and 27 Holland St. East. One of the buildings in this row was once a bakery and confectionary owned by Jack Madil. There were two ovens in the rear and a barn at the back of the property. Jack later sold the business to Fred Gowland in the early 1930’s and bought a farm (on the north side of Concession 10, on the west side of Sideroad 10). Fred and his family moved into the living quarters above the bakery. He had a partner and second baker named Bert Hunt. Fred later got a job as head baker at the Penetanguishene Asylum and moved to that area. Bert was left to run the business until he got sick. The business was then closed and the building was sold.
The 25 Holland St. East address was the Liberal Party office for Kraft Sloan in 1995.
The 27 Holland St. East address was the location of a barber shop run by Joe Scotto for over thirty years. (1, 2)

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. 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. Joe Scotto barbered at 40 Holland St. East (on the east side of the building) for a number of years before moving across the street to “Rusty” Worfolk’s property at 27 Holland St. East. 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 article accompanying this photograph gives a quick history of B.B. "Ben" Collings' life and business. By this point, his furniture and undertaking business was only four years old (starting in 1902) and the storefront is shown in the photograph, located on the south-west corner of Holland and Drury Streets. The post office is opposite. It was said in the showroom, there would "be found some of the nicest furniture one could wish to place in his home."
Starting in 1897, Ben spent four years studying the mattress making trade in Toronto.

This portrait is of George McDonald, a stonemason and contractor of Bradford in the early 1900s. An article with a short biography accompanies this picture. McDonald worked on the A.E. Scanlon's law office and the Presbyterian Church.

This portrait is of Herbert E. Watson, a dentist of Bradford. An article with a short biography accompanies this picture. It notes his dentist office was on the upstairs of the Kilkenny block of Holland Street, meaning his office was beside the Kilkenny Furniture store.

The original building located at 4 Holland St. West (on the southwest corner of Holland and Simcoe Streets) was built in the 1840’s and was situated on land originally owned by James Drury. He was one of the early immigrants who reached Upper Canada. Drury rented the corner lot to Thomas Driffill (a blacksmith), who opened a hardware store at that location. The lot was later sold to Robert Cooke, who leased the property to Driffill for another 20 years. Thomas Driffill became the village of Bradford’s first reeve when it was incorporated in 1857. The great fire of 1871 destroyed all but the building’s foundation. It was rebuilt incorporating the intact, old vault and locally-made bricks. Thomas Driffill bought the building in 1885, eventually retired, and left the business to his sons, Joseph and James, who eventually sold it to Andrew Thompson, Driffill's partner. It became Thompson's Hardware. A series of different owners and different types of enterprises followed. William Barron bought the building in 1946 and relocated his hardware business to this site. He made several renovations, including adding a new stone façade, new plate glass windows, and an elevator to facilitate deliveries to the tinsmithing shop upstairs. He retired and left the business to his son Norman. The building later became a motorcycle shop, and eventually, for several years, the Winchester Arms Restaurant. (1, 2, 4, “Four Holland Street West: A Short History” by Lorraine Philip - Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library, Local History Collection).