Image of a receipt issued by William Campbell Coal Co. on June 3, 1919. At this time the business was being run by William’s daughter Elizabeth Florence “Libby” Campbell as William died in 1914.

Contains clippings and photographs of Bradford West Gwillimbury residents and workers

Summary of an interview with Herbie Hughes in 1994 . The interviewer is Irene Moriarty. Anne Coffey and Joe Saint are also present. Herbie discusses his memories of the area, including from his childhood and from being a local politician. See the Related Descriptions below for the audio.

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 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).

A photograph of W. L. Campbell Drug Store with flags in the window during wartime, taken by Lewis (Lew) Campbell in 1944.

A photograph of the window at W. L. Campbell Drug Store, taken by Lewis (Lew) Campbell in 1938. Buildings that burned down in a fire during the 1950s can be seen in the window’s reflection.

Three photograph backs with photographer stamps. Stamps include one belonging to A. M. Hood, and two belonging to John Stephens, both photographers worked in Bradford.

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.

Photograph of the reception for the opening of a meeting room at the Bradford Public Library, when the library was on John Street in Bradford.

Left to right, standing in foreground:
Ron Simpson (Builder, BWG town councillor 1991-2000, 2003-2014), Maurice Allen (Director of the County of Simcoe Library), Ron Mackenzie (Director of Georgian Bay Regional library system)