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Municipal Reggister of CCultural HHeritage Resources

Listingg Candidate Summmary Repport

9050 Brramalea RRoad Crawford Houuse

Juune 2014

 

  

Property Profile

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Municipal Address 9050 Bramalea Rd (located within Chinguacousy Park)

PIN Number 141720005

Roll Number 10-09-0-024-03300-0000

Legal Description PL 857 BLK W

Ward Number 8

Property Name Crawford House

Current Owner City of Brampton

Current Zoning Open Space

Current Use(s) Vacant

Construction Date c.1925

Notable Owners or Occupants

-

Proposed Future Mitigation

Select all the apply: - Heritage Impact Assessment (as needed) - Archeological Assessment (as needed) - Minimum maintenance/property standards

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1. Description of Property

The former Crawford house and barn are located at 9050 Bramalea Road, on the grounds of Chinguacousy Park. The house is located in the southwestern quadrant of the park, with greenhouses to the west, a barn (petting zoo) to the north, sports fields to the east, and landscaped gardens to the south. The former Crawford house and barn are owned and operated by the City of Brampton, and is currently vacant.

2. Overview of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

The Crawford House located within Chinguacousy Park is a two storey vernacular farmhouse with Craftsman style architectural influence. The house is characterized by a cross gable roofline, partial width porch, multicolour brick, and a string of windows on the first and second floors.

Lot 6 Concession 4E, Chinguacousy Township, was granted by the Crown to a British soldier named Richard Bristol in 1820. By 1823, the lot was changing hands as east and west halves. Robert Crawford obtained the east half of the lot in 1873. He sold it to William Crawford in 1875. The land later became the property of James Crawford. In 1925, Elsie and Herb Crawford bought 100 acres from his father, James. The Crawford family in Brampton stems from Ralph Crawford, who purchased Lot 7 Concession 4E, Chinguacousy Township in 1834 from Henry Pope.

Elsie’s mother, Lizzie Cook, had grown up in a log house built in the 1820s near the base of today’s ski hill. She married a man named Parr, and with their daughter, Elsie, they lived a short distance further north on today’s Bramalea Road.

Using a picture clipped from a newspaper, Herb and his wife, Elsie, started the process of building their new home. Elsie drew up the plans for the house. To have enough money to build the house, they sold a crop of alfalfa seed and a crop of wheat.

They used a team of horses and an iron scoop to dig a hole for the foundation, and did by hand what the horses could not do. They hired a carpenter for ten dollars a day who came out from Toronto on the train weekly during the fall and early winter. The brick-layers arrived in the spring. While the house was being built they lived in a dilapidated mid-1800s frame house with no furnace.

In 1927, Herb and Elsie added 50 acres of land to the farm. They had two daughters. Elsie continued her pursuit as a dressmaker. She also drew up the plans for the new barn in 1939, which is still standing. Herb and his team of horses worked on the widening of

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Highway #7 (Queen St E) in the 1930s for $5.00 a day. In addition to the usual livestock, they raised silver mink and red fox for their pelts, and grew wheat, oats and corn, which was mostly used to feed the livestock.

In 1933, they built a service station on the farm on Highway 7 just west of Bramalea Road. They continued to run the farm until 1946, when they sold it. It was eventually resold to Bramalea Consolidated Developments.

During the early 1970s, the Chinguacousy Township Council purchased 100 acres at the corner of Bramalea Road and Highway 7 (Queen St E) for a major park for the growing community of Bramalea. In 1973, when Peel County became the Regional Municipality of Peel, Chinguacousy Township was split in half, with the northern half becoming part of the town of Caledon, and the southern half, along with the Township of Toronto Gore, joining the town of Brampton. The house was used for the park’s administrative offices and a ‘tea­house’ style restaurant in the summer, while the barn was used as a petting zoo.

The Crawford Farmhouse is a landmark along Queen Street East. The house, barn and surrounding grounds and vistas retain and promote the agricultural and rural character that has been a part of this site since the land was first settled in 1820 by Richard Bristol. The range of structures and features on the property help document and illustrate the early settlement and agricultural history of Chinguacousy and the area, along with the story of Chinguacousy Park.

3. Resources

Miller, Terry. “Chinguacousy Park: the Heritage”. Brampton Guardian, 06 July 2011.

Peel Art Gallery, Museum + Archives (PAMA)

Scannel, Judy. “The Chinguacousy Teahouse”. Brampton Guardian, 10 January 1990: CE3.

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4. Appenndix

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Figure 1: MMap showing CCrawford Houuse located w ithin Chinguaacousy Park ( Source: Brammpton Maps)

Barn

Housee

Figure 2: Bird’s eye vieww showing thee Crawford hoouse and barnn and surrounndings (Sourcce: Bing Mapss)

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Figure 3: Herb and Elsie Crawford (Source: Judy Scannel, 1990)

Figure 4: Herb Crawford on a wagon being pulled by Minnie and Maude (Source: Judy Scannel, 1990)

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Figure 5: Front and side façade of the Crawford House (2007)

Figure 6: Rear façade (2007)

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Figure 7: Side and rear façade (2014)

Figure 8: Barn and silo (2014)

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Figure 9: Barn and silo (2014)

Figure 10: Adjacent greenhouse (2007)

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