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Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : You'd be hard pressed to find two people who have shown their love for Bradford West Gwillimbury more than George Jackson and Barbara Verney over the past 20-plus years. The duo were recognized by the Ontario Heritage Trust for their hard work preserving and commemorating the history of the town at a town council meeting, where they each received recognition. Ms Verney received a certificate of achievement through the 2008 Heritage
Community Recognition Program for her outstanding volunteer contributions. In 1990, Ms Verney put her love for the town front and centre when she volunteered as secretary at the first meeting to organize the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association. Two years later, she became president of the association and continued in that role until the end of 2008. She has received recognition for her volunteer work in the past, including a provincial award for volunteers older than 65 in 2002. Much like Ms Verney, Mr. Jackson has been busy doing his part to help preserve the heritage of Bradford West Gwillimbury. In 1987, when he was a member of the Bradford Library building committee, he promoted the inclusion of a local history room. In 1990, he was founding president of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association. For three years in the late 1990s, Mr. Jackson worked with two architects to compile background information for the book, Inventory of Historic Buildings in Bradford, Ontario. For this work and much more, Mr. Jackson received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Heritage Trust.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
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Concession :
Description : On March 17, BWG Council recognized the contributions of two long-time residents to Ontario's heritage, presenting a Certificate of Achievement to Barbara Verney and a Certificate of Lifetime Achievement to George Jackson, on behalf of the Ontario Heritage Trust and the 2008 Heritage
Community Recognition Program. Barbara Verney was co-founder of the BWG Local History Group. Through her involvement with the Group, the Town's HEART Committee, IODE and Gwillim Group, she helped organize walking tours of historic Bradford, bus tours of the Holland Marsh, displays on the anniversary of Hurricane Hazel, and the installation of the statue of Elizabeth Gwillim Simcoe and historic plaque in Bradford during the Sesquicentennial. She was the Town's Co-ordinator for the Bicentennial of Yonge St. in 1996, and has won numerous awards for her community involvement and voluntarism. Mayor Doug White Called George Jackson the "godfather of BWG history." Also a founder of the BWG Local History Group, Jackson is a volunteer, an historian, and an author.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : At just half a kilometre, it wasn't much of a trip. But for a very old homestead, it was an incredible journey. George Elliot House, built in 1861 on then endless acres of farmland north of Toronto, was tugged slowly buy surely to a new location yesterday. It is to be restored and renovated into semi-detached dwellings by Habitat For Humanity volunteers, then turned over to two families who will put in at least 500 hours of "sweat equity" labour to secure ownership. The 360-tonne gothic-style house had become surrounded by new homes in northeast Brampton. The builder Metrus offered it for free if Habitat For Humanity agreed to do the move to a double lot up Tobram Rd. that Metrus was donating. After weeks of preparation, the exquisitely quoined brick farmhouse was lifted yesterday onto a huge platform of steel I-beams atop mammoth rubber wheels. By mid-afternoon, the house had rumbled into place after a three-hour trip. Hundreds of Habitat volunteers were joined by local politicians and dignitaries, including Toronto Argonauts head coach Mike "Pinball" Clemons. Clemons said Habitat's style of volunteerism brings the community together. "The best kind of giving is simply elbow grease," he said.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : That was the advice of Dr. Neil Watters, speaking to the Scotch Settlement Historical meeting last Saturday afternoon. He reminded those in attendance of the many contributions the Osler family made to the community of Bond Head, South Simcoe, Canada, and in the case of Sir William, to the world-wide field of medicine. In April 1837, the family came to the village of Bond Head, on the edge of the Canadian wilderness, surrounded by forest, where bears and wolves roamed. Dr. Watters noted that visitors from abroad still come Bond Head to visit the church. He urged Governments to meet the challenge: "Find some way to preserve Osler Church!" Dr. Watters, in his own way, is establishing a precedent in Town - taking the initial steps towards the designation of the log house on his property on the 12th Line, as a Heritage property. The log house, built in 1834, is a rare example of an original log house built by the first settlers in West Gwillimbury and is the first property to be designated since the Heritage Committee was formed by 18 months ago.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : There comes a time with every project when the decision is made that this is the end. The first chapter of the History of West Gwillimbury - WEGWHIST project - is off to the printer, and we have 2 other chapters almost ready to send. We have other chapters that still need some work, but we will be using only material at hand. This means the end of our research. We thank the many who provided a story and pictures of their families, unfortunately that did not provide us with a story, and thus there will be no mention of them in the families chapter. The West Gwillimbury History project is a volunteer effort, involving a team with a variety of skills and talents who have written, photographed, organized, arrange, edited and prepared the book for the printer.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : The WEGWHIST (West Gwillimbury History Project) team is happy to report that significant progress is being made, in the writing of the History of West Gwillimbury Town-ship. During recent after-noon sessions at the Bradford Public Library, the team collected family photo heirlooms to include in the book. The response has been overwhelming. The photos, and the unique stories that seem to accompany them, have provided a new source of information that has been truly inspiring.

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
Lot :
Concession :
Description : WEGWHIST, the West Gwillimbury History Project, is nearing completion, but there are still some families to be tracked down. The Project is looking for descendants or relatives of the following pioneering families: Holmes, McArthur, Bannerman, Fisher, McKeeman, Jeffs, Armson, Boddy, Whiteside, Draper, Kidd and Rogers. Are these your family names? Do you know the history of your family in West Gwillimbury? Can you help fill in the gaps?

Municipality :
Community : Bradford West Gwillimbury
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Concession :
Description : Attention, writers! Do you love to write! Enjoy history? Have some free time? Then the WEGWHIST History of West Gwillimbury Project would love to hear from you. WEGWHIST has been collecting the stories of those who have settled or moved to the former Township of West Gwillimbury. Family stories, genealogies, farming records, old photos have been and are being collected by the team of volunteers - but someone who is skilled in the writer's craft is needed to help put it all together, in a readable form for publication.

Municipality :
Community : Innisfil
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Concession :
Description : Other than the sound of wind blowing off the bay, or the hum of traffic, the long-abondoned Allandale Train Station sits in silence. But at one time, the station was a hub of activity characterized by the roar of steam engines, the laughter of passengers and the clickety-clack of wheels. As a teenager growing up in the early 1920s, John Smith vividly remembers the hustle and bustle of the Allandale Station. Back then, the yards were busy 24 hours a day, with several passenger trains arriving and departing daily. To accommodate such high volumes, miles of tracks surrounded the station. A large coal field sat just east of what is now the Southshore
Community Centre. The Allandale Train Station opened in June 1905 at the estimated cost of about $45,000. As the "flagship" station of the Grand Trunk Railway, the building was designed to offer passengers the very latest in modern day comforts. The tastefully designed building, which combined contemporary railway architecture and Italian design elements was considered to be one of finest stations in the porvince. The curved station, which was later purchased by Canadian National Railways in 1919, consisted of three sections, the depot, the dining hall, and offices. Each building section is linked with a covered breezeway. In the early days, the ladies waiting room occupied the front of the depot. The charmingly decorated room with spacious bay windows offered passengers a commanding view of the waterfront. To give the female passengers more privacy, there was a curtained alcove which separated this room from the general waiting area. Fell, who started working in the restaurant at the age of 16, said the dining area was divided into two parts. A fine dining room, which was known as the finest place to eat in Barrie, occupied one side of the building, and sat about 60 people. Al Burns, a retired railroader with 43 years experience, remembers the first time, he laid eyes on the building. It was back in 1944 when he was 19. But what was once a beautiful landmark is now a waterfront eyesore. The station was vacated in the mid-1980s because of lack of use of train transportation.

Municipality :
Community : Innisfil
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Concession :
Description : The INNISFIL Historical Society meets on the third Saturday of the month. The next meeting is on April 21st 2001. We meet at Knock Commujnity Centre 7756 10th Sideroad at the 9th Line, INNISFIL. Bill Warnica was the guest speaker in March. He spoke on the Myers family of INNISFIL. Before Stroud was called Victoria, it was Myer's Corners, named after the first to settle there, David Myers. The Myers were originally from an area know as Palatinate, now part of Rhineland-Pfaltz, part of Germany. Through the late 1600's and into the early 1700's, the Palatines were exposed to many hardships, decades of war and religious persecution. During the revolutionary wars, the Indians fought alongside the English in their fight with the Americans for their independence. One massacre occured about 1780, that devastated the community of German Flats, Killing many including Catherine Wolff's parents and grand parents. Catharine's grandmother was mistaken for dead and was scalped but survived and lived another 12 years. Catherine lived with the Wolever family until as a young woman she married Captain Myers. Captain Myers is listed as being charged with desertion on two occasions and appears to have gone off, leaving Catherine with three children. About 1806 George Frederick Hanning Werneke married the widow Catherine Wolfe.