Erected c. 1875, this home is built of red brick, is three bays wide and has a rectangular plan. A noteworthy feature is the central bay that projects slightly and which has a projecting porch, the roof of which is supported by two chamfered posts. Other features of the home include: buff brick quoins, voussoirs with decorative stone keystone, decorative wood frieze, and paired brackets typical of the Italianate style.

The 1893 Collector’s Rolls note that Reverend Alfred Grandier lived in the residence with George and Martha Mercy; Reverend Grandier was a minister at St. Paul’s Methodist Church.

Alderlea, meaning meadow of Alder trees, is an exceptionally well-preserved heritage building, built in 1867 at the height of the Victorian era. It is one of the finest examples of Italianate villa architecture in Ontario. The property also holds tremendous landmark status on an elevated terrace overlooking Gage Park.

Alderlea's original owner was Kenneth Chisholm, one of Brampton's most important citizens. Chisholm was a member of the provincial legislature and owner of several successful businesses, among them a dry goods store and sandstone quarry at the forks of the Credit.

In 1944 the Royal Canadian Legion purchased Alderlea, knowing that they would need expanded facilities following the end of the Second World War. In 1947 the Legion expanded their facility by creating a large 2-storey addition to the house. In 2003 the City of Brampton purchased the house, and is currently developing plans to restore this Brampton landmark.

The cultural heritage value of 15-19 Main Street North is related to its design as a nineteenth century commercial building. It is one of the oldest surviving commercial blocks in Brampton, and a fine example of Italianate commercial architecture with classical features. 15-19 Main Street North is a three storey brick building divided into six bays with a bell cast mansard roof over the southern three bays and a flat roof over the northern end.

The rear wall is unusual because of its odd angle, which was built in this manner because it formed the back wall of the Etobicoke River bank. A door that was used to let water out of the building after any flooding also characterizes the rear wall; the door has since been bricked in.

The property also has historical or associative value as it reflects the work of Richard Blain, founder of Blain’s Hardware and a politician committed to public service in Brampton and Peel County. Blain’s Hardware, along with Harmsworth Paint and Wallpaper, are some of the City’s oldest stores. It is also believed that the building was home to Orange Hall and the Golden Star Lodge.

One of Canada’s most colourful Cabinet members in the government of Prime Minister Robert Borden was Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence during the First World War. Although Hughes may be remembered for his military involvements, he left his mark on Brampton through his decision to erect the Brampton Armoury on Chapel Street in 1915. The Armoury became part of a network of 56 armouries that were built as part of a nation wide project during the First World War. The Department of Militia and Defence built the Brampton Armoury as part of a national campaign. Between 1912 and 1915 dozens of drill halls and armouries were built across Canada. The Brampton Armoury was built under what was known as a “Type B standard plan”. The Armouries in Oshawa and Montmagny, Quebec are very similar in style and form. The property has been the headquarters of the Lorne Scots Regiment since 1936.

Situated at the southeast corner of Queen and Chapel Streets. The Carnegie Library was constructed with a donation of $12,000 from American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. The cornerstone was laid in 1906. Between 1881 and 1917 Carnegie financed the construction of 156 free libraries across Canada and thousands more around the world. Like most of Carnegie’s libraries, this building is an example of the classical Beaux Arts architectural style, and is characterised by an elaborate entranceway along with heavy, classically inspired ornamentation. The addition running east along Queen Street was built in 1952 and was called the Fenton Memorial wing. In later years, the Brampton Board of Trade occupied the building. Today it is owned and used by the City of Brampton, and the Brampton Concert Band (established 1884) rehearses in what was once the children’s section of the library.

The granite Cenotaph honours those who served and died in the First and Second World Wars, as well the Korean War. Mackenzie Waters, a Toronto architect, designed the monument in the late 1920s. In 1931, Waters was an associate architect for the design of Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Cenotaph was unveiled on July 4, 1928 by Lord Willingdon, Governor General of Canada.

The Central Public School is one of the oldest surviving public schools in the downtown. Associated with the early development of public education in Brampton, the Central School site was continuously used for educational purposes for nearly 130 years.

Overcrowded conditions continued in the old Central Public School well into the twentieth century and by 1916 the current Central Public School had opened its doors to students, although it was not in its completed form until the 1920s.

Ellis and Connery – a well-known Toronto architectural firm – conceived of the design for this Brampton school. The focal point of the building is a square headed main doorway framed by carved stone with an overhead transom, which compliments the series of six-foot high windows located on either side. The datestone cut into the lintel crowning the doorway is one of many Classical features used on the building to connote civic enterprise, regularity, and order.

The site and building continue to serve the Brampton public as a community centre. The Brampton School Board named several schools after Agnes Taylor, Ms Beatty, Ms Flemming and T.M. McHugh who were either teachers or principles at Central Public School, in recognition of their longstanding contributions to the community.

A very prominent landmark, the church at the corner of Queen and Elizabeth Streets has its roots deep in the history Brampton. Constructed by local craftsmen, the cornerstone was laid in 1875 and the church dedicated in 1876. Christ Church is the third home of the Anglican Community in Brampton, succeeding a previous building on Joseph Street which, in turn, had replaced an earlier timber frame structure on John Street near Chapel Street. The Parish is considered to have been established in 1851 by the appointment of the Reverend William Guise Tucker. In 1884 the Episcopal, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Churches joined to form the Methodist Church of Canada and the Methodist Episcopal Church was dissolved. In the same year the Church of England purchased the building at the corner of Queen and Elizabeth Streets from the surviving trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church and converted it to suit Anglican worship needs. Having played an important role in the histories of two denominations in Brampton, this church has a special significance to a great many of Brampton’s residents.

The Church is a rectangular building of red brick with contrasting buff brick buttresses and cut freestone caps. The main body is made up of five bays, each with a tall lancet window between the buttresses. The west end has a bell tower with a steeple. The west face of the tower contains the main door into the church surmounted by a tall pointed Gothic window. The chancel at the east end of the church was added in 1884 and at the east end of the chancel one can see the memorial window which was placed in the old church on Joseph Street in 1871 which was moved to the new church with the congregation in 1884.

The Dominion Skate Building (former Copeland-Chatterson Loose Leaf Ledger Company) is a rare and well-designed industrial complex. The building exhibits influences from the Chicago commercial style or Chicago School (this being the first and best example constructed in Brampton) with Neo-Gothic design influences introduced in a later phase of construction.

The building was constructed in two phases beginning in late 1905. The first section originally consisted of a single one-storey building with a rather low street profile. The section facing Railroad Street served as the administrative offices, while the factory component ran down Mill Street North. The factory section features large 'Industrial' windows designed to let in generous amounts of sunlight and fresh air to the factory floor.

The second phase was built in 1914 and involved the construction of a second storey over the Railroad Street offices. This addition is strikingly decorated in comparison to what was built in 1905.

The property is part of a larger and significant industrial grouping that includes the former Hewetson Shoe factory just to the north, along with the CNR railway station and railway lines which runs in front of the Dominion Skate building. Collectively these elements form an important cultural landscape.

The property is associated with the emerging industrialization of Brampton at the turn of the last century. It is also associated with prominent individuals, including R.J. Copeland and A.E. Chatterson, inventors of the innovative loose-leaf ledger systems, which were manufactured in the Brampton plant. Copeland-Chatterson held patents on more than 170 office and record keeping products. Some 90 of these patents originated in Canada. The factory is also the first example of an outside manufacturing company establishing a branch plant into Brampton.

This church was built in 1876 to house the Town’s growing Baptist congregation. The round-headed windows on the west face emphasize the height of the building, and contribute to the impressive character of the Main Street South streetscape. The church is set further back compared to the other buildings on the block because the Etobicoke Creek once ran between the front of the building and Main Street.

For many years Brampton survived without a park. Public celebrations and large gatherings were either held at the Fair Grounds on Elliott Street or on the Athletic Grounds at Rosalea Park, but both were considered far from the centre of town and lacked the shade of trees. The cemetery also had a park function.

In 1902, the Town of Brampton purchased 2.4 acres from the grounds of the Chisholm estate, Alderlea. That same year William J. Gage purchased 3 ¼ acres, part of the Elliott estate that stood immediately to the north of Alderlea. He presented 1.7 acres of the property to be added to the proposed park. Brampton residents who generously supported the need for a park collected $1,054.00 so that extra land could be purchased to complete the area.

A park committee consisting of members of the town council was appointed. Many trees were removed and gravelled walkways prepared. Furthermore, all underbrush was removed and the land was levelled and seeded. W.J. Gage opened the park on Dominion Day (Canada Day) 1903.

Over the following years a bandstand was erected and the Horticultural Society volunteered to properly label all the trees for the information of the general public. In 1955 the Kinsmen’s Club of Brampton added a wading pool and in 1971 Brampton received the Flower Fountain from Benson and Hedges Tobacco Company. Gage Park is a well-used park and a truly unique part of Brampton.

The congregation of Grace United Church can trace its origins to the years preceding 1822. For many years the congregation worshipped in a number of places, continually outgrowing their accommodations. By 1846, the growth of the congregation had been so great that, once again, a more commodious house of worship was required. On December 23, 1865, the present lot was purchased and a new church opened for services in 1867.

Although it is not known who designed the core of the church, Jesse Perry, a local bricklayer and stonemason who had also worked on St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, was the builder. Some documentation of the time indicates that Perry could have been the architect because the church was a simple rectangular form with a steeple and did not require special engineering; therefore, a seasoned mason could have constructed it from his own plans. The original structure was enlarged in 1870, 1887, 1924, and most recently in 1959/1960.

Many of Brampton’s important families are connected to the Grace United Church. Among them are: the Wrights, Armstrong’s, Coopers, Brydon’s, Bulls, Archdekin’s, and William Davis, the former Premier of Ontario.

Built c. 1870, Haggertlea was one of the most impressive homes in its day. John Haggert was the founder of the Haggert Brothers’ Foundry and original owner of this mansion. As the town’s first mayor, it was his industry that played a major role in Brampton’s initial growth. The industry fell prey to bankruptcy in 1891. The Haggert Brothers played an important role in the initial development of Brampton in the mid-to-late 1880s. Haggertlea is representative of the industrial growth and subsequent building boom that took place in Brampton during the late 1800s and is an example of a handful of estate houses with extensive landscaped grounds built in Brampton in the mid 19th century. Haggert’s estate is contemporary with Kenneth Chisholm’s “Alderlea” and George Wright’s “Castle”.

Built in the Second Empire style, a rare architectural style in Brampton this solid structure is broken up by the many window openings, including dormers in the characteristic mansard roof. Part of the home’s beauty lay in its terraced lawns and bowling greens, which stretched down to what is now George Street. The main house, all of which is left of Haggertlea, still retains the basic architectural features of its original form.

This late 19th Century building has been home to the Harmsworth family’s decorating business for more than a century. The family purchased the building in 1904, after a fire destroyed their previous location on Queen Street West. While the building does retain much of its original character, the original red brick exterior was replaced with the present stucco cladding in 1954. The original voussoirs above each of the windows are hidden behind the stucco, except for the keystones, which are incorporated into the new façade.

This impressive buff brick building was constructed around 1860 in the French Second Empire style, distinguished by its bell cast shaped Mansard roof and arched windows. In 1897 the building was sold to Doctor David Heggie, who used the building as his office and residence. Doctor Heggie was the local coroner and physician for the County Jail. It is said that a holding cell with iron bars was erected in the basement to hold prisoners awaiting treatment. The Brampton municipal offices moved into the building about 1911 and remained there until 1965.

100 Queen Street West is a well-preserved 20th Century home, and a rare example of the Tudor Revival style that was popular from the 1900s to the 1940s. Tudor Revival relies on faithful emulations of historical styles. This eclectic style is often referred to as “Jacobethan”. The distinguishing characteristics of a Tudor revival home are: its false half-timbered wall surfaces, tall and small-paned windows, a recessed entry, a small porch projection, and wrought iron ornamentation. The most evident indication about the homes architectural style is the use of half-timbering on the front gable.

The property also has historical value, as it is most commonly associated with Orton O.T. Walker, a long time Brampton citizen and businessman. He served the Brampton community as an optometrist on Main Street South for many years, and was the Master of the Masonic Lodge. In 1934 Walker enlisted in the First World War and served overseas. The home is also associated with the Dale family, as they owned it from the mid 1940s to the early 1960s.

Built in 1854 this building was Brampton’s first municipal building and was originally used as the village’s market hall. It also served as the fire engine house. There were originally three archways facing Chapel Street. The second storey has a ‘long room’ and by 1860 this space was used as the Village Council Chambers.

In 1874, the first meeting of Brampton Town Council was held in this building. Council met here until the turn of the century when it relocated to the Heggie Block on Main Street South. The forty-foot hose tower was built in 1862 so that fire hoses could be hung to dry. The tower also held the fire bell. Just prior to the outbreak of the First World War the building became used exclusively as a fire hall.

The Park Royal Apartment was the first apartment building to be erected in Brampton, and was built in 1939 for Dr. Robert James Hiscox, owner and publisher of the Peel Gazette.

The Park Royal is a rare example of the streamlined Art Moderne style, a major architectural movement stemming from the Art Deco style popular in the 1920s and 1930s. It is essentially ""one of a kind"" in Brampton in terms of style and form. The architect, Robert W. Hall, made every effort to ensure their building was "in vogue" and thoroughly "modern".

This group of historic buildings along Wellington Street reflects Brampton’s establishment as the seat of the County of Peel in 1867. It is one of the most significant public building complexes in Ontario. The jail and the courthouse were both designed by Toronto architect William Kauffman, and are among the few remaining examples of his work. The stone for these two buildings was quarried locally from the Etobicoke River Valley at the south end of the City. The county courthouse is a highly eclectic building with a distinctive, onion-shaped cupola. It is situated on a grassy knoll overlooking what was once the bank of the Etobicoke River.

The registry office, situated between the jail
and the courthouse, is a good example of a
late 19th century civic building. Alexander
and Congdom, a Streetsville architectural
firm, designed the building in 1890 and
it served as the registry office until 1959.
In 1967, the building was converted into
the Peel County Museum and Art Gallery.
Today it is a key component of the Peel Art
Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA)

Along a narrow band of property skirting the frontages of 58 and 62 Main Street South, a surviving remnant of the Etobicoke Creek retaining wall is still visible. This concrete retaining wall was constructed in 1914 to control the flow of the Etobicoke Creek. The creek once meandered through the core of downtown, its banks overflowed repeatedly throughout the first 150 years of Brampton’s history. It has left an indelible imprint on the cultural heritage and identity of the City. This remnant of the retaining wall indicates the location of the Etobicoke Creek prior to its diversion in the early 1950s.

St. Andrew’s traces its roots to 1848 when Brampton area Presbyterians appointed their first minister. Construction of the current building commenced on 1 July 1880 and was completed by October of 1881. The current building is constructed of Credit Valley stone quarried from a site in Caledon owned by Kenneth Chisholm. The design is the work of the Toronto architectural firm Gordon and Helliwell, a pair well known for their church commissions in Toronto. The interior of the sanctuary is based on the ‘Akron Plan’, a semi-circular pew arrangement with a gallery of the same shape, named for a church in Akron Ohio where it was first used.

This building has cultural heritage value on many levels: it displays the talents of its architects for designing a sanctuary and auditorium that, for more than 100 years, have provided a useful and beautiful facility, it reveals the skills of the Brampton tradesman who built this edifice, is a testament to the long standing contribution of Presbyterianism in the Brampton area, and it is an important Brampton landmark.

The history of this parish dates back to sometime before 1865, when the Guardian Angel’s Church was built on Centre Street. A fire destroyed this church in July of 1878 and with it all the records of the parish up until that time. The following year the parish renovated a church that had been home to one of the Presbyterian congregations before it merged with the other local Presbyterian Church. The parish used this building until 1910, when a new church was built on John Street. The first priest to be appointed in Brampton, was appointed to this church in 1919. In 1964 St. Mary’s moved into its present home on Main Street South.

St. Paul’s, which was the second Primitive Methodist Church to be constructed in Brampton, is a massive structure faced in rusticated Credit Valley Brownstone. William J. Gage laid the cornerstone on June 6, 1885. The Church was designed by Toronto architect W.J. Mallory. The roof is constructed of multicoloured slate. Large stained glass windows in the north, south and west ends of the building display a fine decorative pattern. The church’s pipe organ was manufactured by the Casavant Freres Organ Company of St. Hyacinth, Quebec, one of North America’s most prominent pipe organ makers. The building became home to the Methodists when they joined the United Church of Canada in 1925.

The Boyle House, which now serves as the manse for St. Paul’s, was originally the residence of a local family who operated a pharmacy in downtown. The Mansard roof is characteristic of the French Second Empire style. Situated between two prominent landmark churches, the Boyle House contributes to one of the most impressive and visible heritage streetscapes in Brampton.

The Brampton station was built in 1907 by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), which was later acquired by Canadian National Railways (CNR). The building was subsequently taken over by Via Rail, and is now used by Via and GO Transit for passenger service.

The GTR experienced an era of remarkable profitability at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, which led the company to rebuild many of their stations, including this one. This larger and grander structure represents the optimism of the company, as well as the aspirations of the local community. Rail connections in Brampton facilitated the existence of several commercial enterprises, including flower cultivation for widespread markets.

The station combines the wide-arched opening of the Romanesque Revival with certain details of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The general organization of the facades and the disposition of internal spaces adhere to a pattern that GTR stations followed at the time.

Brampton’s growth and prosperity are intrinsically linked to the development of the railway. The first railway era in Brampton coincided with the provisions of social institutions, the consolidation of church congregations, and the selection of Brampton as the county seat. During the second railway era, additional social and municipal infrastructure emerged, as did large-scale industry. Significant industries such as Haggert’s Foundry established themselves. Perhaps most indicative of the role of the railway is the cluster of warehouses and businesses around the station grounds. Many of the industrial buildings can still be found today, among them the Hewetson Shoe Factory and Dominion Skate building.

This bell was installed in the clock tower of the Dominion Building located at 8 Queen Street East in 1913. John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough, Leicestershire England, cast the bell. The bell was removed from the clock tower, restored and installed at this location by the Benson and Hedges Tobacco Company as part of the company’s contribution to the centennial celebration of the Town of Brampton, 1873 – 1973.

The Dominion Building is one of Brampton's most prominent downtown landmarks and was designed by Thomas Fuller, the Chief Architect for the federal Department of Public Works. In the 1860s, Fuller oversaw the design and construction of the original Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

The Dominion Building was built to house Brampton’s post office and customs house. The street façade was constructed in heavily textured stone, a feature commonly associated with the style of architecture known as Romanesque Revival. The brick annex at the rear served as the Weights and Measures and Examining Warehouse. Originally a caretaker had an apartment in the topmost storey. Directly above the third storey windows you can see the Royal Arms carved in stone. The domed clock tower was added in 1914, and in later years the Police Department operated in this building.

This large three storey home was erected between 1890 and 1892 on a lot that extended to the corner of Church Street East and Union Street. The house has a combination of elements from the Queen Anne Revival and the high Victorian Gothic styles, giving it an eclectic appearance. The high roof displays a unique roof design in three of the four gables. In the upper area of the gables surrounding the single square window, are wooden panels in which are carved flower motifs in two alternating patterns. Below, is the ‘fish scale’ single pattern, a design that is fairly common in many of Brampton’s older homes.

The civic, religious, and commercial heart of old Brampton radiate from this intersection.

In the 1830s a crossroads hamlet began here. It was known as “Buffy’s Corners” after William Buffy’s Tavern located at the northeast corner of Queen and Main Streets.

John Elliott laid out a village plot and began selling lots in 1834. Between 1850 and 1884 Elliott, along with other landowners such as John Scott, George Wright and William Wilkinson, laid out plans of subdivision near this central point in town, launching the gradual urbanization of Brampton.

The establishment of the Haggert Foundry and Dale Estate Nurseries, as well as the introduction of the Grand Trunk Railway through Brampton in the mid 19th century, contributed to Brampton’s economic growth and prominence. In 1867 Brampton was chosen as the County Seat and soon large civic buildings and prominent homes were being erected.

The Hewetson Shoe Factory is one of Brampton’s last early industrial buildings and is also architecturally significant. The Hewetson Shoe Company Building stands as an example of early 20th Century Industrial Architecture.

The property also has historical or associative value because it was home to the J.W. Hewetson Shoe Company, a major employer in the City of Brampton for over sixty-five years. The company also had a strong connection with former Premier William Davis, who is regarded as one of Brampton’s most famous citizen’s. J.W. Hewetson was his maternal grandfather and Davis was named after him. As a child, William Davis lived with his parents and Hewetson grandparents in “The Castle”, the stately Gothic Revival style mansion on Church Street West.

Known as the Flower Town of Canada during the early 20th Century for its numerous flower-growing operations, Brampton was also a large shoe-manufacturing centre at this time. In addition to Hewetson’s, there were at least three other substantial shoe-manufacturing operations. For several decades, the shoe manufacturing industry was the largest employer in Brampton after flower growing. Today, however, with the demolition of the William Shoe Factory and the burning of the Haggert Block, the Hewetson Building is one of the last reminders of this industry in Brampton.

‘The Mill’ has a long history and has undergone many changes over the years. Originally built as a planing mill and ash factory, the main building fronting onto Queen Street was sold toward the end of the 19th century, and converted into a woollen mill. The second building at the rear of the property (now adjoined to the main building) was added in 1910, and functioned as a warehouse. In 1922 the buildings were sold, and a picker room was added in 1933. Products of the “Brampton Knitting Mills” went to such notable clients as the British military during the Boer War and the Canadian military during the Second World War.

All of three of these buildings/additions are representative of the industrial architecture of their time, but subsequent renovations have changed the buildings’ character considerably. Windows and doors no longer feature the voussoirs, keystones or round-headed shape that once distinguished them, and the façade which once boasted a false-front giving the appearance of an extra half storey, has been changed considerably. A glass atrium and a passageway connecting the two buildings have also been added.

A rare building style in Ontario, 227 Main Street North is one of two octagonal houses in Brampton. At this location is one of two octagonal houses in Brampton. This roughcast house was built c. 1880 and is alleged to have been designed by William Bird since he has been connected with the construction of the other octagonal house in Brampton. This two-storey home displays an excellent state of preservation. Wooden piers with shallow, horizontal grooves frame each side of the house while each façade contains flat windows with shutters.

The Prairie House was designed by architect F. R. Berry, and incorporates many features of the Prairie School architectural style, influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and others. The Prairie School style emphasized sweeping horizontal features, overhanging eaves, and a lack of ornamentation. This tradition shared common elements with the International Style being pioneered in Europe, and has also influenced contemporary architectural styles.

This home also has significant associative value as it is affiliated with the Hewetson family, namely Alfred Hewetson and his wife. Alfred Hewetson was a great visionary. He sought to integrate his social ideals into the operation of the Hewetson Shoe Company by turning the company into a cooperative where workers shared in the profits. Had it been achieved, this would have been a significant innovation in the business realm. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1928. His wife, Rosa, redirected her attention to helping artists and craftsmen suffering during the Great Depression. Together with her second husband Herbert Spencer Clark, she started the Guild of All Arts in 1932 and for the next 50 years they welcomed artists to their Scarborough Bluffs estate and collected Canadian and International contemporary art. The Guild hosted many famous guests and was used as a naval training base and military hospital during World War II. The estate was sold to the Province of Ontario and is currently maintained as a park. They also donated over 300 works from their art collection to the Ontario Heritage Foundation to ensure that their collection could be in the public domain for the enjoyment of future generations.

Once owned by the Stork family, this house was home to George Bull and later the McClure family who converted it to a funeral home. Christopher Stork was a well-known businessman in Brampton during the mid-to-late 1800s and also served in municipal politics. Although changes have been made to accommodate the funeral home in the 1930s and 1970s, the home still has some interesting features. The home is an important part of a row of estates along Main Street South that characterise the streetscape. Features of the home that are still intact include the dormer window on the third floor, paired brackets at the eaves, and the bay window.

"The Castle" at 34 Church Street West is a remarkable example of high Gothic Revival architecture. It remains one of the most prominent landmarks in the City and has helped to shape and define the character of the surrounding neighbourhood for more than 150 years.

This important building was the work of architect William Hay (1818-1888), an internationally recognized architect working mostly in the Gothic Revival style. The Castle was one of Hay's first commissions after establishing his Toronto practice in 1853. He stayed in Toronto for the next ten years and designed St. Basil's Church, St. Michael's College, an extension to the first Parliament Buildings on Front Street, and Oaklands, the massive Avenue Road estate of Ontario's first Premier, John Sanfield Macdonald. Hay also designed the Halifax estate of brew master Alexander Keith, Keith Hall. Toward the end of his life, he restored St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, the seat of world Presbyterianism.

“The Castle” was built in 1853 for George Wright, a Brampton businessman and politician. The property is reminiscent of an English manor house - presumably designed as such, to imply that its occupants were both successful in business and tremendously influential. The massing of “The Castle” retains considerable heritage character despite the loss of a rear wing, distinctive side tower, belvedere, and the brick façade being covered by siding.

Subsequent property owners were even more prominent in both local and provincial affairs: John A. Thistle, George Williams, J.W. Hewetson and Grenville Davis. The Castle was also the childhood home of the Hon. William Grenville Davis, Premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985.

The house and grounds together form one the most important urban cultural landscapes in the City. It is extremely rare to see the grounds of any large Victorian estate survive virtually intact to the present day, in the core of any municipality. Hedgerows and groupings of mature conifers and deciduous species - some dating to the mid 19th century, form a tremendously important open green space in the core of the City.

"The Veteran was carved in 2005 from the trunk of a dying red oak that had stood for over a century. It was created to mark the National Year of the Veteran.

The statue is modelled on Bill Bettridge, a decorated veteran of the Second World War and survivor of Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings in Normandy, France that lead to the end of the war. It stands in silent tribute to the many men and women of Brampton who served and continue to serve our nation in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions around the world so that we may live in freedom and peace.

The Veteran looks toward the Brampton Cenotaph, a reminder to all of Brampton’s citizens that we have a duty to honour the service, sacrifice, and memory of all veterans. Artist: Jim Menken"