Full Walking Tour

Sunderland Museum and Historical Society – 14 Church St N The building at 14 Church Street North was constructed in 1972 as the Brock Township Public Library. Its construction was made possible through a provincial municipal Employment Incentive grant, together with the efforts of the Sunderland Lions Club and many community volunteers. The new library … Read more

Saint Andrews United Church – 10 Church St N The congregation that became Saint Andrews United Church traces its beginnings to about 1852, when Wesleyan Methodist circuit ministers travelled through the countryside conducting services in local homes and barns. By 1871, the congregation was holding meetings in the old frame town hall next door. In … Read more

Sunderland Town Hall – 120 River St Sunderland’s first town hall was a wooden frame building constructed in 1871. In 1906, work began on the present brick town hall on the same site, with George E. Turner serving as architect and supervisor. Construction took two years and cost approximately $6,000. The building is correctly named … Read more

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. 4 Ridge … 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