Woodstock is located in the heart of South Western Ontario, at the junction of highways 401 and 403, 50 kilometers east of London and 60 kilometers west of Kitchener. Woodstock is the largest municipality in Oxford County, a county known for its rich farmland, and for its dairy and cash crop farming. As well as being “The Dairy Capital of Canadaâ€, Woodstock also has a large industrial base, much of which is related to the auto manufacturing industry.
In 1792, Sir John Graves Simcoebecame Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and made plans for the development of the interior of Upper Canada. He envisioned a series of town sites linked by a military road and a system of rivers and canals, providing inland access during an era when commerce and settlements depended on major waterways. London, Chatham, Dorchester and Oxford were designated town sites with London as the defensible capital. The military road stretching from Burlington Bay through Woodstock to London provided an overland supply route for the safe movement of troops and settlers. Simcoe named this road Dundas Street after Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
To
speed development in the sparsely populated interior of the province, Simcoe
granted whole townships to land companies who were obligated to bring in
settlers. Simcoe passed through the area now known as Woodstock and noted it a
suitable “Town Plot” and settlement began here in 1800.
In the 1830s, a different group of immigrants were encouraged to settle in Oxford to ensure this community’s loyalty to the British crown. British naval and army officers placed on half-pay looked to the colonies for a new career at the conclusion of military service. The first to arrive was Alexander Whalley Light, a retired colonel who came to Oxford County in 1831. He was joined by Philip Graham in 1832, a retired captain of the Royal Navy, and Captain Andrew Drew, on half-pay from the Royal Navy, arrived in Woodstock to make preparations for his superior, Rear-Admiral Henry Vansittart, also on half-pay. Half-pay officers went to considerable lengths to clear their chosen parcels of land.
Admiral Vansittart commissioned Colonel Andrew Drew to build a
church (Old St. Paul’s) in a new area of Oxford that was known as the
“Town Plot”. The men later quarreled, which led to the construction
of a second church known as “New St. Paul’s”.
73 Wilson Street – Italianate/Second Empire – type of mansard roof with dormers, paired cornice brackets, bay window, window hoods50-52 Wilson Street – 1856 – Italianate – symmetrical two story, red brick on face, yellow brick on sides, double unit, trunked hip roof with five-sided roof over second story bay, doors have segmental transoms500 Dundas Street – the current City Hall was constructed of pink sandstone in 1901 as a post office; for over one hundred years it has been the center of the municipal and social life of Woodstock. The corner tower has four clocks. It housed the local government and served as lecture hall, opera house, and assize court. It is basically eighteenth-century Palladian architecture.723 Dundas Street – Old St. Paul’s Church – 1834 – The red-brick church was designed in the Gothic Revival style – lancet windows, dichromatic brickwork. The front elevation has a classically-inspired cornice return, a semi-circular transom over the main entrance door with a brick pediment and pilasters. The tower has a hexagonal cupola with louvered, pointed-arch openings. The base of the cupola is decorated with a dentil trim and bracketed cornice. The low-pitched, timber-frame roof is an example of construction methods used during the 1830s. Old St. Paul’s was closed in 1879 (when New St. Paul’s opened) but re-opened to serve the Anglican community in 1882.Finkle Street – The Oxford Hotel, located across from Market Square and the Town Hall in Woodstock was built in 1880 as “The O’Neill House†in Romanesque style. It saw guests such as Oscar Wilde and Reginald Birchall.39 Victoria Street – c. 1877 – Neo-Classical cottage – 1½ story, buff brick, hip roof, dormer, wooden lintels and brackets support window sills, wood shutters, three-panel double door on storm porch45 Victoria Street – c. 1854 – Italianate, two-story buff brick with red brick quoins, trunked hip roof with Neo-Classical pediment above the front entrance; wide cornice with small brackets ending with larger paired brackets at the corners447 Buller Street – Colonial Revival – 1½ story red brick and white siding, symmetrical, gambrel roof, large three-light shed roof dormer, center door has side lights445 Buller Street – fretwork, oval window in main gable, round window in small gable467 Buller Street – c. 1848 – Italianate – full 2 story, white brick, single unit, asphalt shingles, hip roof, projecting eaves with single brackets, segmental shape windows, a one-story bay window is topped with twin windows on second floor, off-centered door has semi-elliptical transom, small porch roof protects this area, shutters on windows across front of house126 Graham Street – c. 1860 – Second Empire – symmetrical three-story white brick, mansard roof, dentils, decorative cornice with large brackets, two-story bay windows flank entrance, decorated cut stone lintels, rough faced stone lintels second floor, dormers have decorative wooden frames, large front door is flanked by transom and side lights, an open portico protects the entrance – now Park Place Retirement Centre
