Brant Historical

Our this week features an image taken in 1976 from the Brantford General Hospital, showing the Brantford Carriage Company building and the White Farm Equipment storage area on Pearl Street.

Want to learn more about this area of Brantford? Join Brian on the Usher Street Walking tour this Saturday, June 6th at 10:30am! More information about the walk can be found on the Brantford Station Neighbourhood Association page.

The Brant Historical Society is partnering with the Brantford Station Neighbourhood Association for TWO walking tours this week - the first is TOMORROW night!

Wednesday, June 3rd - 6:30-8:00pm: North Ward Veterans Walk

Join Lillia in front of BCI (120 Brant Ave) and walk through the Brant Ave and William/Albion St. area. Lillia will take you on a journey into the past where you will learn about some of the brave people who made the ultimate sacrifice during the First and Second World Wars who lived right here in our very own neighbourhood.

Saturday, June 6th - 10:30am-12pm: Usher Street Walk

Join Brian at Edward Goold Park (186 Pearl St.) for our second historical walking tour. Brian will guide you through some of the long vanished industrial, cultural and railway history of the Usher St. area. You will learn how our neighbourhood was an industrial epicenter of Brantford with a rich Ukrainian and Hungarian culture for many years and how it all shaped our area.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPwUGNmIh54nVeJuq7EY7DIeVYkYU9iwI8h49mCVTPLph0oQ/viewform

Join us tomorrow night, Wednesday May 27th at 6:30pm for a walking tour of Mount Hope Cemetery (169 Charing Cross St, Brantford)!

Walks are FREE for BHS members and $10.00 for non-members. Email [email protected] to register.

The full schedule of walks can be found on our website: https://brantmuseums.ca/walking-tours/

PLEASE NOTE: The Black Community Heritage Walk scheduled for Saturday May 23 has been CANCELLED due to forecasted rain.

This walk is scheduled for two other dates this spring/summer: Wednesday June 24 and Wednesday July 29, both beginning at 6:30pm.

Brant Historical Society Walking Tours return this weekend!

Join Brian this Saturday, May 23 at 10:30am to learn about the Black Community in Brantford, focusing on the early history of one of the first culture groups to settle in this area. Following the walk, we encourage you to visit the corresponding exhibit at the Brant Museum and Archives!

Walks are FREE for BHS members, and $10.00 for non-members. Email [email protected] or call 519-752-2483 to reserve your spot.

Brant Historical Society Walking Tours return this weekend!

Join Brian this Saturday, May 23 at 10:30am to learn about the Black Community in Brantford, focusing on the early history of one of the first culture groups to settle in this area. Following the walk, we encourage you to visit the corresponding exhibit at the Brant Museum and Archives!

Walks are FREE for BHS members, and $10.00 for non-members. Email [email protected] or call 519-752-2483 to reserve your spot.

Happening TOMORROW at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum of Brant!

There are still seats available for interested attendees! Email [email protected] or call 519-752-2483 to reserve your spot.

The Brant Historical Society's 2025/26 Speakers Series wraps up next week!

Join us at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum of Brant for another presentation by John Bullen from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - this time focusing on "Barriers and Obstacles: Women Pilots Who Blazed a Trail in Canadian Aviation".

The presentation will be hosted at 347 Greenwich Street in Brantford, doors open at 6:30pm with the presentation starting at 7:00pm.

SPACE IS LIMITED! Please email Lillia at [email protected] to register.

For our this week, we are showcasing a photo of Wycliffe Hall that was taken by Park & Co. photographers c.1895-1900.

Wycliffe Hall was built in 1874 and was located at 189-191 Colborne Street, next to what is now the Brantford Public Library. This building served as a location for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and fundraising for the construction of the building began in 1873 with a $2,000 donation from Ignatius Cockshutt. Within a few days, $12,000 was raised.

The 1875 Brantford City Directory described the organization of the building: ground floor, stores; basement at rear, gymnasium; second floor, reading room, papers, periodicals; secretary’s room and parlour; Wycliffe Hall, seating for 900; third floor, Mechanic’s Institute (library) and Sons of Temperance.

In 1961, fire destroyed the buildings along with its shops: George’s electric, Buehler’s Meat Market and Black’s Shoe Store.