This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
144-146 Bradford St.
The historic Brock Park neighbourhood — and Bradford Street, generally — once had several semi-detached brick homes such as this.
At one time, this area was the centre of manufacturing. The Barrie Tannery Co., the Barrie Carriage Company and the General Electric plant all operated here, creating plentiful industrial employment. Many of the homes in this neighbourhood housed the workers in these factories.
It was also a convenient neighbourhood for Allandale railway workers.
Two railroaders, in fact, were once neighbours in this stout, built-for-two-families structure.
Samuel Allward and his wife, Sarah, lived in the south half of the house. Samuel moved to Barrie from Sarnia in 1890, working as a locomotive engineer for the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), then Canadian National Railway, until he retired in 1925. The Allwards belonged to the United Church and Sam was active in organizations such as the IOOF. When he passed away, he was the oldest surviving engineer working out of Allandale. His funeral was held at his Bradford Street home.
In the north half of the semi lived Timothy and Charlotte Wilson.
Timothy was born in Bridge, Kent County, England, in 1849. When he was 20 years old, he married Charlotte Potts in Harbledown, near Canterbury in Kent. They came to Canada in 1873, first settling in Acton.
Tim started in the maintenance department of the GTR, advancing to foreman after seven years, then to roadmaster at Hamilton, in 1888. As roadmaster, Timothy was responsible for overseeing the rail, ties, tie plates, spikes, rail joints, ballast, drainage and vegetation control within his territory. Transferring to Allandale in 1893, Tim continued as roadmaster, until his retirement in 1919. He also served as warden in St. George’s Church in Allandale for many years. At the time of his death, he was no longer living on Bradford Street, but had moved to another semi-detached home at 44 Toronto St., this time sharing a wall with the future mayor of Barrie, Peter Sinclair.
Although little has changed about this Bradford Street home over the years, almost everything around it has.
