Bradford is the primary country urban area of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, in Canada. Bradford West Gwillimbury, a town in south-central Ontario, in the County of Simcoe in the Greater Toronto Area on the Holland River. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page It overlooks a beautiful and prosperous farming community, known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe. The Holland River is a river in Ontario, Canada that drains the Holland River watershed into Cook's Bay the southern extremity of Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a Lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the twelfth-largest lake in the province 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.

History

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. Samuel Johannes Holland (1728 &ndash 28 December 1801) was a Royal Engineer and first Surveyor General of British North America. Lake Simcoe is a Lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the twelfth-largest lake in the province 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 War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies Kempenfelt Bay is a 145 km long bay that leads into the Canadian city of Barrie Ontario. The Nottawasaga River is a river in southern Ontario, Canada. 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. Penetanguishene Road now Highway 93, and Simcoe County Road 93, built between 1814-15 from the north side of Kempenfelt Bay (east of Barrie) Georgian Bay (French baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, located in Ontario, Canada.

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 Auld Kirk Scotch Settlement is a historic settlement located in the former township of West Gwillimbury (now Bradford West Gwillimbury)

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. The Province of Upper Canada (French Province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario On January 24 the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada made a grant for the first main road in West Gwillimbury (4 Geo. The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected Legislature for the province of Upper Canada and functioned as the province's Lower house. 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, and 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 becomes a town

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 Northern Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian Railway located in the province of Ontario. The train station was constructed by the Grand Trunk Railway and later used by the CNR. The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American 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.

Early industry

The village of Bradford was established to supply the agricultural interests of its surrounding area, for a brief period in the mid 1800s, lumbering was a major industry, as trees had to be removed in order to commence farming. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber.

In 1824 entrepreneurs John Thorpe and Mark Scanlon obtained a government grant for the construction of a grist mill on a stream north of the settlement, although the partnership was dissolved about 1832, Scanlon built two sawmills in that vicinity. A gristmill or grist mill is a building where Grain is ground into Flour, or the grinding mechanism itself A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters Water power being the only means of motive power at the time, as many as six mills were located on Scanlon Creek at one time. In Thermodynamics, motive power is an agency as Water or Steam, used to impart motion. The family of Thomas Maconchy, one of the early settlers of Guilford, built a sawmill in Bradford at the bridge over the Holland River, in 1840. It was the first mill at that location.

When the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway was constructed, it was said to be through an almost continuous forest for most of the distance from Toronto to Barrie. A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria Sometime after the line opened, Toronto lumber merchant Thompson Smith put up a large sawmill on the river near the Bradford station. First evidence of Smith in the village was 1862 when his partner James Durham cut the Holland River bridge in two, while driving logs to the mill. Log driving is a means of log transport which makes use of a river's current by letting the current move floating Tree trunks downstream to Sawmills It was

Thompson Smith's mill was the second largest in the area, next to the Sage mill at Bell Ewart. Innisfil is a town in Ontario, Canada located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, immediately south of Barrie and 80 kilometers north of Smith added a second mill at Bradford, as well as contracting with Durham's mill in Barrie. Only a decade after the arrival of the railway at Lake Simcoe, pine for the mills was running low. In 1867 H. W. Sage persuaded Thompson Smith to join with him in the formation of the Rama Timber Transport Company, to supply Lake Simcoe mills with timber. The Rama Timber Transport Company was a Canadian canal and railway company that was incorporated in 1868 to construct and operate the Black River & Lake St Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or With logs coming from as distant as Head Lake, Smith put up a third mill, south of the Holland River bridge in 1869. Head Lake is a community located in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario Canada on Head Lake between Uphill (to the west and Norland

Following an example set by American lumberman Henry W. Sage, Thompson Smith established a number of mills at Cheboygan, Michigan. Henry W Sage ( 31 January, 1814 - 1897 was a wealthy New York State businessman philanthropist and early benefactor and trustee of Cornell University Cheboygan is a city in the US state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5295

Bradford farmland - Primarily carrot crops

In 1923, William Henry Day began the drainage system that turned the wetlands of the Holland Marsh into arable land, which now consists of thousands of acres where fresh vegetables are grown.

Demographics

The 2006 Statistics Canada Census lists the population of Bradford West Gwillimbury (the local census unit) as 24,039^[1]. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Statistics Canada (Statistique Canada is the Canadian federal government department commissioned with producing Statistics to help Bradford West Gwillimbury is a multicultural community with backgrounds ranging from Portugal, Italy, Holland, Germany, United Kingdom and Ukraine.

Education

There are 12 schools in the town, including two secondary schools:

• Bradford District High School (Public)
• Holy Trinity High School (Catholic). Bradford District High School is a public english-language secondary school located in Bradford Ontario. Holy Trinity High School is a small Catholic High school in Bradford West Gwillimbury Ontario Canada.

Elementary schools include:
Fred C. Cook Public School
Bradford Elementary School
WH Day Elementary School
Fieldcrest Elementary School
Sir William Osler Public School
Hon. Earl Rowe Public School
St. Charles Catholic School
St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic School
Marie of the Incarnation Catholic School
Mother Teresa Catholic School

There are no university or college campuses in Bradford.

Notable people

• Mike Kilkenny, major league baseball player
• Karleen Bradford, (born December 16, 1936) is a Canadian children's author
• Dan Hall, (born February 21, 1987) is a minor league basketball player

Transportation

Bradford's downtown core is situated at the intersection of former Highway 11 (now, County Road 4) and 88 (now, County Road 88). Michael David Kilkenny (born April 11, 1945, in Bradford Ontario, Canada) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher Karleen Bradford (born December 16, 1936) is a Canadian Children's author. Highway 11 is one of the longest of Ontario 's King's Highways with a current length ( As of 2004) of 1780 Kilometres (1106 mi) County Road 88 intersects with Ontario's Highway 400, a limited-interchange multi-lane major thoroughfare that connects to Toronto in the south and "cottage country" in the north. The King's Highway 400, more commonly known as Highway 400 or the 400, is a key north-south 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of It can be tough to drive through the town on long weekends

Public transit in Bradford is very limited. GO Transit has bus routes that connect the town to Barrie and Newmarket, and Bradford also has a station on GO Transit's commuter train network. GO Transit is the interregional public transit system serving the Conurbation in Ontario, Canada referred to by Metrolinx as the Bradford GO Station is a train and bus station in the GO Transit network located in Bradford, Ontario in Canada. The GO Train service had its first inaugural run through Bradford in 1982. At the time, the commuter train went as far north as Barrie. Over the years the service to Barrie was stopped. This caused Bradford to be a terminus for the commuter trains to Toronto. However, the City of Barrie purchased the rail line north of Bradford with the hope of reintroducing rail service to Barrie. GO Train service resumed as of December 2007 to the city of Barrie. ^[2]

References

"A History of Simcoe County," (1909) by Andrew F Hunter 1863-1940. Volume 1 Volume 2