From Holland Street, to Tornado Drive, Bradford West Gwillimbury’s street names are packed full of history.
Amanda Gallagher, a former summer student at the BWG Public Library, delved into the town’s history and presented her research about street names to the BWG Local History Association on May 26.
Gallagher worked in the history room at the library on a catalogue of street names, delving into files, Dorothy Cilipka’s Oldest Street Names in Bradford pamphlet, and working with the archives and the town.
She was able to categorize the town’s street names based on their origins.
Some streets commemorate prominent citizens, famous people, war veterans or significant places.
Holland Street, for instance, was named for 18th-century surveyor Samuel Holland.
Tornado Drive was renamed after the 1985 tornado swept through the Holland Marsh.
And some streets, she said, are “developer-chosen” and may reflect only the developer’s family names or a description of the view.
Gallagher’s research filled 170 pages and provided the answers to several puzzling street names, and identified several errors.
Dimork Court, for example, should be Dimock Court, named for Second World War veteran Flight Sgt. Hedley Dimock.
In fact, Gallagher said, the streets named for veterans “are one of my favourites to research.” More than 50 of the town’s streets are now named for those who served their country, some of whom survived to return home and some who were killed in action.
She shared the story of Archer Avenue, named for Sgt. Matthew Archer, who fought at Vimy Ridge and was killed in 1917.
He grew up in Coulson’s Hill, and he later received the military medal for holding his position and firing continuously for 48 hours. It was, he wrote at the time, “simply my duty as I saw it.”
The presentation was held at the last regular meeting of the history association until September, although the group is planning a Mystery Tour in July and will have a booth at Carrot Fest in August.
