Bradford is the primary country urban area of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, in Canada. It overlooks a beautiful and prosperous farming community, known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe. Within the municipal boundaries are a number of smaller communities, including: Bond Head, Dunkerron, Green Valley, Pinkerton, Fisher’s Corners, Newton Robinson, Coulson and Deerhurst.
Bradford Ontario Canada
1919 Location Holland St.
The eastern boundary of Bradford is the Holland River, named for Samuel Holland first Surveyor General of British North America, who passed this way on an exploration from Toronto to Balsam Lake, by way of Lake Simcoe, in 1791
For several years the Holland River and Lake Simcoe provided the only means of transportation. Holland Landing was the northern terminus of Yonge Street. The military route to Georgian Bay during the war of 1812, crossed Lake Simcoe to Kempenfelt Bay, then by the Nine Mile Portage to Willow Creek and the Nottawasaga River. The Penetanguishene Road built between 1814–1815, from Kempenfelt Bay, provided an alternate route to Georgian Bay, however, early settlers also used this route to get to the frontier of Simcoe County, bypassing the areas of West Gwillimbury and Essa townships.
The first settlers to cross the Holland River arriving in the fall of 1819, were three Irishmen-James Wallace, Lewis Algeo and Robert Armstrong. This was about the same time as the Auld Kirk Scotch Settlement was established, however, the pioneers of West Gwillimbury were mostly Protestants from Northern Ireland.
The new settlers sent a petition to the province of Upper Canada early in 1824, stating they were separated from the settlements of Yonge Street, by an impassable swamp. On January 24 the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada made a grant for the first main road in West Gwillimbury (4 Geo. 1V., chap 29). The contract for the first Corduroy road across the Holland Marsh, was completed by Robert Armstrong and his sons in the fall of 1825. Connecting with other contactors sections and the previously constructed road from Kempenfelt Bay, the road became known as Penetanguishene Road. Later Yonge Street, now, Simcoe County Road 4.
The original road (Bridge Street) did not curve onto Holland Street, but continued straight to what is now Scanlon Ave. near Colborne Street, from there the road continued north while another road led southwest to the Scottish settlement. It was at this junction that the settlement was first established. William Milloy, formerly of Coulson’s Corners, built a small log tavern there in the fall of 1829. Other businessmen included James Drury, merchant; James Campbell, shoemaker and Thomas Driffel, blacksmith. John Peacock, an old soldier from London, England, had settled as a merchant and became the first postmaster in 1835.
Bradford was incorporated as a Village in 1857, with a population of about 1,000 people. Only a few years prior to this, the Northern Railway of Canada was built through the town. The train station was constructed by the Grand Trunk Railway and later used by the CNR. Bradford was incorporated as a town in 1960.
The Downtown Core has survived two fires. The first, on May 23, 1871, destroyed upwards of one hundred homes including all of the business part of the village except two hotels being consumed. However, a new downtown area arose where most buildings were made of brick. Today many of the buildings still exist and make up the downtown core. The second fire was in the 1960s with damage only to the northwest corner of the intersection at Highway 11 and Highway 88.
One of its famous historical landmarks that still operates to this day is the Village Inn Hotel. Its architect was E.J. Lennox, one of Toronto’s foremost architects who also built Toronto’s Old City Hall, the West Wing of the Ontario Legislature – Queens Park, and the King Edward Hotel. The Village Inn is situated at the crossroads of Highway 88 and Highway 11, and is the landmark at the four corners of Bradford. Food, lodgings, and hospitality serve as its trademark. This history goes back to the 1900s, to horse and buggy days, when the Village Inn was a favourite meeting place for local residents and travellers en route for other parts of the country. The building survived a couple of fires including the great downtown fire of 1957. In 1980, it was hit by a crane that was trying to negotiate the intersection. It has since been extensively remodeled.
Bradford West Gwillimbury Ontario Canada 