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    Dr. Joseph Henry Oliver Home – 128 River St This three-storey home was built about 1904 and became the residence and medical practice of Dr. Joseph Henry Oliver, one of Sunderland’s longtime country doctors. Oliver began his working life as a teacher. After completing high school in Uxbridge, he taught at S.S. No. … Read more

St. Mary’s Anglican Church – 134 River St St. Mary’s Anglican Church, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Sunderland, was constructed in the spring of 1874. The red bricks came from the Cannington brickyard and were supplied by William Wetherall and John Wakelin. The masonry work was carried out by William Bacon, Charles Spearin … Read more

Dr. James McDermott Home – 160 River St Dr. James McDermott was born in Tecumseh Township, Simcoe County, one of eleven children in a family whose parents had emigrated from Ireland. He and his wife, Jane Campbell, had three daughters: Edith, Josephine and Annie. Dr. McDermott began serving the Sunderland community about 1870 and continued … Read more

The Fogg House – 198 River St In 1904, Thomas Fogg, the prosperous owner of Sunderland’s Nipissing Hotel at River and Church streets, purchased this half-acre property from Julius St. John for $300. Three years later, in 1907, he built a substantial new home here for his wife and daughter. Remarkably, the original 1904 deed … Read more

The Blacksmith Shop – 135 River St Blacksmith shops were once an essential part of life in Sunderland, serving the horses, wagons and farm equipment on which the surrounding agricultural community depended. Several blacksmiths operated in the village from the mid-1800s onward. One of them was Dan McIntyre, whose blacksmith shop stood here at 135 … Read more

The Nipissing House Hotel – 123 River St The arrival of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway in the late 1860s helped transform Sunderland into a busy commercial centre, bringing travellers, merchants and new business to the village. The Nipissing House Hotel was built in 1870 near the corner of River and Church streets to serve … Read more

The Old Drug Store – 108 River St Before becoming Sunderland’s drugstore, this building housed other businesses. A 1910 map shows a barber and tailor shop here, operated by Arthur Brether. Before the First World War, James A. “Jimmy” Anderson purchased Harry Baldwin’s drugstore, then located in the McDermott Block on River Street. Anderson subsequently … Read more

Fresh Mart – 97 River St Commercial activity at this location dates back at least to the beginning of the twentieth century. Sunderland’s 1904 fire insurance map shows a hardware store operating in this building. In 1929, Wilford Haney purchased the property immediately west of the Beale Block and established a business selling farm implements … Read more

Stop 4 Variety – 111 River St By the early twentieth century, this building was home to a grocery and bakery operated by Baker Thompson and later by his son, James W. Thompson. Both men were members of the Sunderland Business Club in 1926. A photograph from about 1912 shows the building with a small … Read more