Below, alongside a busy highway, are some houses reminiscent of the old, Victorian era Ontario.
I took photographs of these fascinating buildings, quietly standing and holding their diminished ground, showing us some of this historical Ontario. It is difficult to get to the buildings, but buses do have stops in front of them, although cars have to make a purposeful detour to get to them. Traffic is heavy, with short reprieves from traffic lights which change to red after several minutes' wait.
The William Chisholm House, which is officially known as the Gardner-Dunton House, according to this site is:
Title: Gardner-Dunton House, BritanniaHere is the screen shot of the house from Google map:
Date Built: Before 1832
Subject: Historic buildings - Ontario - Britannia (Mississauga)
Donor: Planning & Heritage, Community Services
Location: 5520 Hurontario Street, pt. Lot 3 E1/2, Conc 1 WHS
Description: 5520 Hurontario Street. Conc 1 WHS, pt. Lot 3 E¿. Probably built prior to 1832 by William Chisholm, perhaps before Chisholm sold the surrounding land to Joseph Gardner in 1832 for £750. The house, a two-storey, five bay facade Georgian structure, was originally located one mile north on Hurontario Street, but was moved in 1990 to the Peel Board of Education property. Designated under the terms of the Ontario Heritage Act. This is a 1995 photo of the house in its new location.
The building is in a field (I don't think it is farmland), a short distance from the city of Mississauga. The high rises can be seen nearby.
Here is my version of the building, with tulips:
William Chisholm House, Mississauga Ontario
[Photo By: KPA]
The building, as far as I can decipher, is now a designated "heritage" building, and is open for public viewing. It is part of the Peel Board of Education, which I suspect is because there is a public school named after Chisholm, in the Peel school district.
This same bus goes further north, and passes another "heritage" building, also in the middle of a field. I once again go off the bus, to see the building.
The door was locked, but there was a group of children playing in the background. I asked the gentleman who seemed like the supervisor if the building was open for public viewing.
No, it is only open on the week-ends, he said.
"How did you get here?" he asked.
"I was on the bus and I got off to see if I could get find out more about the building."
"Well, I can show you in," he said.
So I got a private tour.
The building is a one-room schoolhouse, which was functioning as such until the 1950s.
Britannia One-Room Schoolhouse
[Photo By: KPA]
Here I am, a good teacher, at the front of the classroom, and sitting down, "a good student" as I said to my guide.
Britannia Schoolhouse Interior
Britannia Schoolhouse Interior
The gentleman told me that a group meets regularly to maintain the heritage of the region, and asked me if I would like to join the Friends of the Schoolhouse.
"Definitely," I said. And took down the information to attend their upcoming meeting.
Here is the site with the information:
The Britannia Schoolhouse.
As well as membership information, the site has fascinating documents, photographs, architecture, and other information describing Ontario in the Victorian era. There is a section called "Fun and Games" which shows how these young children amused themselves as they went through their school days. In the "links" section, there is a long list of Ontario one-room schoolhouses.
And here is more on heritage buildings in the Mississauga area, which also includes the Chisholm House:
Architectural Styles in Mississauga.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------