Thank you to the Albion Bolton Historical Society for the stories behind the images of the wrapped signal boxes in downtown Bolton. Peel Region installed the wraps on the September long weekend. The photographs were chosen through collaboration between the Society and Town of Caledon. Credit for the images goes to the Region of Peel Archives.
WARBRICK HOUSE
• Box location: East side of Queen Street North, facing the Humber River
• Built by tannery owner James Warbrick around 1848
• Water was piped to the house from a spring further up the hill
• The house was demolished around 1990
• It was replaced by a condominium townhouse development
• Photo taken c.1938
QUEEN STREET LOOKING NORTH
• Box location: Northwest corner of King and Queen Streets
• Photo taken c.1940 from the middle of the four corners
• West side: Jaffary’s store, former John J. Bell’s residence and
shoe making shop, Queen’s Hotel
• East side: Leggett Pharmacy and the Rutherford Block of shops
IMPERIAL BANK OF CANADA
• Box location: Southeast corner of King and Queen Streets
• This bank opened in 1909, replacing the earlier Balmoral Hotel
• In 1955, Imperial Bank of Canada merged with Bank of Commerce
and became Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• This building was replaced by a modern CIBC branch around 1975
• Photo taken c.1910
ONTARIO HOTEL
• Box location: East side of Queen Street North across from Sterne Street
• Built around 1870 by William McKee, operated by various innkeepers
• Stabling and drivesheds could be accessed through the driveway at left
• One of six hotels within a two-block radius in the 1870s
• The hotel was destroyed by fire around 1912
• Photo taken c.1910
BOLTON CREAMERY
• Box location: Northeast corner of King Street East at Mill Street
• The building’s construction date is unknown
• The creamery was owned and operated by Max Dobrow
• Running water was piped from a spring on the north hill
• The operation included an egg grading station
• The building was demolished in 1967
• Photo taken c.1932
BALMORAL HOTEL (former Masonic Arms Hotel)
• Box location: Southeast corner of King and Queen Streets
• The hotel was built c.1848 by James Johnson
• It was replaced by the Imperial Bank of Canada branch
• Photo taken c.1908, shortly before the building was taken down
LOOKING WEST ON KING STREET
• Box location: King Street East at Old King Road
• Cattle being herded through Bolton
• A visual example of the importance of the surrounding agricultural land
• On left: L to R: Dodd’s Carriage Works and Masonic Arms Hotel
• On right: R to L: Orange Lodge, H.A. Rutherford store, Jaffary’s store
• United Church steeple is visible in the distance
• Photo taken c.1895
BOLTON FLOUR MILL
• Box location: North of King Street, east of what is now Humber Lea Road
• Humber River flowed behind the mill
• Bolton’s first grist mill was built upstream, by George Bolton, in 1822-1823
• This structure, built by James Bolton Jr. in 1846, replaced the early mill
• It was demolished in 1968
• Photo taken c.1915; the mill was then owned by Arthur McFall
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