Photograph of Anita Donald at her desk in the former Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library building at 100 Holland Court. The photo was taken by Heidi Northover on April 29, 2011 as Library staff were preparing to move to the new building at 425 Holland Street West.

Printout copy of a photograph of Heidi (Chard) Northover taken at her desk in the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library. The photo was taken by Siiri Khamis on December 8, 2022, marking Heidi Northover's 35 year anniversary working in the Library.

The building seen in this photo from 1995 was once located at 60 Holland St. East. It was rented to several people over the years, including a relative of Bob McKinstry. Years later, Alec Dutcher moved here from the Clubine farm at the back of town. He had a garden and lawn on the west side of the house. There was a large barn at the back. Alec worked for Bill Sutton (painting and paper hanging). Lou Wyman and his family and mother-in-law later bought the house and it was eventually used as a real estate office before being demolished in the 1990’s. (1, 2)

Sutherland’s Grocery Store was once found at 12 Holland St. West (site of Karen’s and Tina’s Flowers in this 1995 photo). Alec Sutherland was a baker. He had a bakeshop on the south side of Simcoe St. that was run for many years by his daughter Jessie and sister Mrs. Bessie Ryan (and her daughter Betty). They eventually retired and moved to St. Catherine’s. There were living quarters upstairs. William Compton and his wife bought the store and ran it as an IGA grocery store. Gord and Marilyn Compton later took over the store. They built a new store on John St. (where Frank Kilkenny’s house had been). The Comptons’ store eventually moved to what was known as the IGA plaza (located at the corner of Collings Ave. and Holland St. West). As of 2014, 12 Holland St. West is the site of The Holland Bloom florist shop. (1, 2)
The two-storey, commercial, ‘row’ building located mid-block on the south side at 16 Holland St. West was built around 1872-1899 in the Ontario Vernacular style. The second floor had space for offices or living quarters. Whimster and Wilcox operated a clothing and garment store at this location many years ago. Charles Wilson worked for them. John McDowall moved to the area from Midland and ran a clothing store there sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s. He had three children (Norrie, Jack and Pat). They lived in quarters above the Bank of Commerce and later moved to the apartment over the store.
The building has a wide, rectangular plan with a symmetrical organization. ‘Main street’ frontage with a typical, storefront façade is located at the street line. The symmetrical, three-bay façade originally had a high, articulated cornice of corbelled and dentilled brick (typical of rich detailing). Its ground floor was characterized by the rhythm of flat pilasters along the street edge. The existing doors and storefront are not original. Three, large window openings with segmented arch openings and concrete lug sills at the second-floor level have been partially filled. The windows are also not original. Built-up tar and gravel covers the flat roof. Masonry construction with brick cladding has been considerably altered in appearance. It is also no longer the site of Carmen’s Backyard Restaurant, as seen in this photo from 1995. (1, 2, 3)

The structure located at 21 Holland St. West is part of what is known as the Evans Block. The building was raised and Len Saint added a cellar and a foundation. The work was done by Mac Campbell and his team of carpenters. T.W.W. Evans had the building constructed to house his law practice. The upstairs was also used for years by Dr. Ellis, a dentist. The upper floor even served as Bradford Library in the 1930s, run by Mrs. Day. At one time, the offices of Tupling Insurance were also located in this building. In 1957 a fire destroyed several buildings to the east, but this structure was spared. (1, 2)

The Tindall House is located at 7 John St. East (on the northeast corner of John and Barrie Streets). It was built by Isaac Coburn around 1910-20 in the Dutch Colonial Revival style. The house was built for Reuben Tindall (an implement dealer), his wife, and daughter Ida Evelyn (a school teacher). Dr. S. Hecking bought the property after WWII. He moved here from the northeast corner of Barrie and Holland Streets. His office was also in this structure. Its address was 47 Barrie Street. The building was eventually sold (in 1994) to Giuseppe (Joe) Campagnola. He has leased the doctor’s office since then and still owns the building in 2014.
The 1½-storey, two-bay house has a simple form with an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. The building has a steeply-pitched, gambrel roof with a gambrel-roofed dormer. The one-storey wings (reminiscent of the Classical Revival style) are reinterpreted here more modestly as entrance porches. There is an off-centre, hall entrance from an enclosed, front entrance porch. The raised porch has a shallow hip roof and is entered from the front. It has frame construction and is clad and finished as part of the main portion of the house (rather than a separate, attached structure). There are wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. The double window and door are set into rectangular frames of plain wood. The ground-floor and basement windows and the front door are set into segmented, arched openings with concrete sills. Second-storey dormer windows and a bay window are centred within the gambrel form and are offset from the ground-floor openings. This creates a more informal composition common to twentieth-century buildings. The original, multi-paned windows have plain, wood sills and trim. Front, ground-floor and second-floor windows are not original. The roof material appears to be a siding on the steep, roof slope. A wood fascia band, expressing the line of the floor structure between the foundation and ground floors, is common to this style. The house has wood frame construction, vinyl siding, and a textured, concrete-block foundation. The original siding was wood. According to the 2000 inventory, the building is in excellent condition with many well-maintained, original features. (1, 2, 3)

Photograph of Dilys Ward inside her office in the former Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library building at 100 Holland Court. The photo was taken on May 4, 2011 as Library staff were packing up their desks to move to the new building at 425 Holland Street West. Ward worked at the library as the Deputy CEO.

Photograph of Debbie Scott at her desk in the children's program room in the former Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library building at 100 Holland Court. Scott worked in the Library as a children's programmer. The photo was taken on April 29, 2011 as Library staff were preparing to move to the new building at 425 Holland Street West. Scott's husband Brian painted the "Imagine" sign displayed in the 425 Holland Street West library building.

Photograph of Louisa Pinto at her desk in the former Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library building at 100 Holland Court. Pinto worked at the Library as the administrative secretary. The entrance to Library CEO Liz Fenwick's office can be seen on the right. The photo was taken by Heidi Northover on April 29, 2011 as Library staff were preparing to move to the new building at 425 Holland Street West.

Photograph of Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library CEO Liz Fenwick in the doorway of her new office in the new Library building at 425 Holland Street West. The photo was taken on May 6, 2011 as Library staff prepared to move into the new Library building.