Part IV Heritage Designated Properties

6162 Main Street “Mansion House Hotel”

Second Empire Architectural Style built 1879-1880

Designated March 20 ^th , 2024 by By-law 2024-028-DS

Elijah Miller had this hotel constructed in 1879-1880 to serve travellers arriving at the adjacent train station. The hotel had all the latest amenities including central heating, electric lighting, hot water, and a grand formal dining room. It was considered among the finest hotels north of Toronto. The building is a landmark in Stouffville and was restored in 2020-2021.

77 Mill Street “Bruels-Stewart House”

American Four Square (Edwardian) Architectural Style built 1911

Designated November 19 ^th , 2019 by By-law 2019-115-DS

This building is the only known American Foursquare dwelling made entirely of concrete block in the Community of Stouffville. It was constructed by William Bruels for Ella Stewart in 1911 with block produced by the North American Cement Block & Tile Company in New Gormley. The dwelling is representative of the American Four Square design with a  simple, but formal appearance, symmetrical square layout and reserved yet refined ornamentation.

19 Civic Avenue “The Old Clock Tower and 19 on the Park”

Romanesque Revival Architectural Style built c.1895 (19 on the Park) and 1931 (Clock Tower)

Designated November 5 ^th , 2002 by By-law 2002-169-DS

19 on the Park was originally constructed to serve as a concert and dance hall on the upper floor with a market space on the ground floor. It has undergone a number of conversions of use over its time including a garage, silent theatre, movie theatre, bowling alley, the municipal offices, and finally as a theatre and venue space. It has long been a hub of the community.

The clock tower was originally constructed to replace an earlier wooden hose tower for the fire station that was originally on this site. The fire station housed the municipal offices on the second floor and the library, and later jail cells, in a room to the rear. The building was demolished with the exception of the clock tower in 1967. The clock tower and 19 on the Park remain as significant landmarks and part of the Town Square in the village core of Stouffville.

6528 Main Street “Stouffville Memorial Christian Church”

Gothic Revival Architectural Style built 1874

Designated February 28 ^th , 1995 by By-law 95-39

Stouffville Memorial Christian Church was originally constructed as a congregational church in 1874. It was built to replace the congregation’s original church on the south side of Main Street, east of Cemetery Lane which was built in 1842. The architect for the church was James Smith, who designed the building in the gothic revival style, common for churches at this time. The peaked windows, capped buttresses, and steeply gabled roof and height of the building are meant to draw the gaze heavenwards.

12140 Tenth Line “Kester House”

Vernacular built c.1850s

Designated December 6 ^th , 2016 by By-law 2016-147-DS

This building was likely built in the 1850s by Leonard Kester and sold to John Vanzant in 1858. The Vanzant family are early settlers in the Stouffville area, having purchased property from Abraham Stouffer in 1839. The dwelling itself was a simple 1.5 storey vernacular building that has gone through significant alterations. It is primarily designated for its vertical plank construction which is rare within Stouffville. The original pine flooring in the dining room and front room and stone foundation are also still in place and in good condition.

3291 Stouffville Road “Bruce’s Mill”

Industrial timber frame Mill built 1858 and Gothic Cottage

Designated July 20 ^th , 2021 by By-law 2021-072-DS amended December 13 ^th , 2022

Originally the site of the Sherk saw and grist mill in 1827, the current mill was constructed in 1858 by Robert and William Bruce, salvaging timer from the original Sherk Mills. The mill transitioned from a water wheel to a turbine around 1900, and then back to a water wheel in 1912. This water wheel is still in the wheel house on the west side of the building with a cast iron flume from the millpond to the wheel house. The mill was used as a grist mill, which ground grain into flour, with much of the 19 ^th  century mill equipment still within the building. The surrounding landscape contains the embankments of the mill pond, concrete gravity dam, forebay tank, flume, mill race, and the “given” road to access the mill. The mill attendant’s house, built in a Picturesque Gothic style, is also still on the property though has been relocated away from the mill closer to Stouffville Road.

13525 McCowan Road “Lemonville United Church”

Vernacular built 1869

Designated December 6 ^th , 2016 by By-law 2016-148-DS

The Lemonville Methodist Church begain in 1854 with services held in a frame school house. In 1856, the original church building was constructed near the present site with the first ministers being part of the Methodist circuit, preaching at Lemonville as well as a number of other churches in the area. In 1869, the existing church structure was constructed with a foundation of unwanted granite boulders from local farms and a timber superstructure and framed construction over this. The building was likely built by the local community. It remains a hub of the local community.

15336 Ninth Line “Churchill Baptist Church”

Gothic Revival Architectural Style built 1872

Designated June 9 ^th , 1997 by By-law 97-88-MU

Churchill Baptist Church is the landmark that identifies the small community of Churchill at the intersection of Ninth Line and Aurora Road. The community derives its name from the Hill family as well as from the position of the church atop the hill. The church is a simple gothic revival style, constructed by the congregation with lumber donated from a local resident, Will Badgerow, and flooring from the Flint factory in Stouffville. The church is a simple frame building with decorative arched board and batten siding and simple entry portico. The neighbouring cemetery began in 1929 and contains a rare metal grave-marker.

14732 Woodbine Avenue “Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum”

Varying Architectural Styles and Construction Dates

Designated March 12 ^th , 1996 by By-law 96-40-DS

The Museum complex is constructed around the original Vandorf Schoolhouse (b. 1870) with a number of structures being relocated to the site, including the Bogarttown Schoolhouse (b. 1857 Lot 31, Concession 3), the Log Cabin (early 1800s, Lot 22 or 23, Concession 7), the Barn (1800s in Scarborough, reconstructed on site 1983), the Brown House (b. 1857, Lot 2, Concession 10), and the Outhouse (unknown, Lot 30 or 31, Concession 5).

The Vandorf Schoolhouse was converted to a police station in 1957 with the lockers of the officers and the dark room still in the basement prior to becoming the first building of the museum in 1979.

The Bogarttown Schoolhouse is one of the oldest examples of a brick school house remaining in Ontario and has been restored with many of its original features still intact.

James Brown was a Reformer who fought on the side of William Lyon Mackenzie at Montgomery’s Tavern and fled to the United States. He soon returned and lived a peaceful life at this property. The papers to incorporate Stouffville as a village were signed in the dining room in 1877.