Inventory Report: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

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45: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

1. Description of Property Municipal Address 3367 Dundas St West Name (if applicable) McMichael Farm Legal Description PT LT 34, CON 1 TRAFALGAR, NORTH OF DUNDAS STREET , AS IN 645159, T/W 645159 ;

OAKVILLE/TRAFALGAR Location of Property The property is located on the north side of Dundas Street. Bronte St is found further east

and Tremaine Rd to the west. Ownership Private Access Access was not granted. Photos taken from Road September 21th, 2015. (AB, CU) Current Use Residential-Agricultural Existing Designation Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated).

Description: “This property has potential cultural heritage value for its historic farmstead, including the house and outbuildings, historically associated with the agricultural development of Trafalgar Township”.

General Description The McMichael Farm is a former 19th century farmstead on a rectangular parcel of land. It includes: a two storey, red brick, building with hipped roof and gable pediment; a large barn; multiple outbuildings varying in materials, size and use (not visible at site inspection). The buildings are well set back from the road; they are surrounded by open agricultural fields to the north, east and west, and a pasture to the south. Residential subdivisions are located on the south side of Dundas. The property appears to be a working farm, as livestock is kept on site, and the pasture is visible from the road.

Priority Level High

Figure 1: 3367 Dundas Street West (AB, 2015)

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s St.

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LEGEND

3367 Dundas St. W.

Cultural Heritage LandscapeInventory Map

Drawing not to scale

Corporation of theTown of Oakville1225 Trafalgar RdOakville, ONL6H 0H3

Watercourse

Site Structures

Vegetation

Assessment Boundary

Building

CHL Study Area

Heritage District

Heritage Trail

Parkland

Park Trail

Road

Cemetery

Inventory Report: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

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2. Key Recommendations Priority = High

Rationale for priority level:

• High potential for development of surrounding area; • All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in the current

listing.

Recommendations for future action:

• Prepare a full evaluation report to confirm and update the heritage attributes of the property, including landscape elements;

• Depending on the findings of a full evaluation, recommend for Part IV Designation under the OHA; and • Consider initiating a rural properties study to evaluate and consider protection and planning for farmsteads as a

group.

3. Documentation and Inventory of Built Form List of Built Features:

• Two storey, red brick, with hipped mansard roof, overhanging eaves and a hipped dormer on the eastern elevation. Small gable pediment centred over the projecting two storey bay window and decorative brickwork on the exterior. The home is built on the highest elevation on the property;

• Barn: located North West of the main building. Appears to be made of vertical plank wood, a metal roof, and a stone or concrete foundation (not visible at time of site inspection);

• Barn: located north east of main house. Rectangular with gable metal roof and appears to be made of aluminum siding;

• Wooden fence post line the gravel driveway running in a north-south direction; • Metal fences have been added to create a pasture; • Numerous newer small sheds (appearing to be made with metal and/or wood) and garages are present; • Gravel driveway runs north-south direction, east of main house; and • A concrete curbed driveway up to house, off of the main gravel lane way.

4. Documentation and Inventory of Natural Form List of Natural Features:

• Mature trees on property include: Willow, Silver Maple, Honey Locust, Cedar and a mature Horse chestnut next to side door;

• Landscaping out front (south and east elevations) would be a later addition; and • Mature Norway Spruce, Blue Spruce and Pear trees on the property.

5. Design (Typology) ‘X’ all that

apply Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

Designed Landscape “…clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man.”

Inventory Report: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

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‘X’ all that apply

Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

X Organically Evolved Landscape

“…results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed in its present form in response to its natural environment”

Relict Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past.”

X Continuing Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and which the evolutionary process is still in progress.”

Associative Cultural Landscape

“…justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic, or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent.”

6. Historical and Thematic Associations The 200-acre parcel comprising Lot 34, Con I (NDS) was first patented from the Crown to James McBride, who is show on the 1806 Wilmot survey map 1(Figure 3).

Dundas played an important role in the development of the township. By 1877, numerous farms and orchards are present along Dundas Street. The 1877 Trafalgar Township map from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, shows a building and two separate orchards (one located to the north west of the property and the other to the south east),and lists David McMichael under Lot 34, Con I (NDS)2 (Figure 4). In 1891, the population of Trafalgar Township was 4,153 inhabitants3.

David McMichael was born in Pennsylvania, USA in about 1813 and died June 4th 1885 in Halton County.4 He married Jane McBride on October 15th, 1845 in Norfolk, and was listed as a farmer at the time of his death5.

With the development of the automobile, and the continued growth of Oakville, the landscape around Dundas Street has been altered dramatically. The widening of roads and the construction of turning lanes resulted in a loss of numerous historic buildings, as was the case with the village of Palermo, located further to the east.

With the amalgamation of the southern portion of Trafalgar Township into Oakville in 1962, the area continued to see a dramatic change from rural to central suburban core6. By 2009, most of the land south of Dundas St. had been developed into residential or commercial areas. Development along, and north of Dundas St West, continues today. A notice for a proposed plan of subdivision and zoning by-law amendment is present near the home (File No. Z 1333.01 and 24T-11001). Today, the farm is one of a few historic farmsteads that remain along Dundas St. It appears to be a working farm as there are goats being kept on site.

1 Trafalgar Township Historical Society Website. Wilmot Survey, 1806. Access online October 2015, from http://images.ourontario.ca/TrafalgarTownship/2703198/data 2 Pope J, H. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont. Toronto: Walker & Miles. 1877. Accessed online August 2015, from http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php 3 Trafalgar Township Historical Society. Early Ward 5 History. Accessed online October 2015, from http://www.tths.ca/ward5.html 4 Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 40 5 Information extracted from various family tree data submitted to Ancestry.com and The Generations Network 6 Town of Oakville. Heritage Planning, Planning Services. North Oakville Heritage Resource: Review and Strategy. March 2010.

Inventory Report: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

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Figure 3: 1806 Wilmot Survey showing James McBride under Lot 34, Con. I (NDS) (Wilmot Survey, 1806).

Figure 4: Showing house and orchard for David McMichael, Lot 34 Con I (NDS), and relationship to Village of Palermo. (Pope, 1877)

7. Contextual Associations The property is surrounded by open fields to the north, east and west, which may or may not be currently farmed by property owners. There are farmsteads located on either side. The south side of Dundas Street is developed with a residential subdivision and commercial enterprises. There is currently road widening taking place on Dundas Street. Historically the

Inventory Report: 3367 Dundas Street West, McMichael Farm

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property would have been a large working farm with large orchards; however the planted orchards do not appear present although it is possible that some fruit trees remain.

8. Evaluation (O. Reg 9/06)

O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Met (Y/N)

Justification

1. The property has design value or physical value because it,

i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material, or construction method,

N Not shown.

ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or

N Not shown.

iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement.

N Not shown.

2. The property has historical value or associative value because it,

i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community,

Y

The McMichael Farm may be directly associated with the agricultural heritage of Trafalgar Township.

ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or

N Not known.

iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

N Not known.

3. The property has contextual value because it,

i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area,

Y

The area has historically been associated with the agricultural heritage of Trafalgar Township. This property supports the remaining rural character found on the north side of Dundas Street.

ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or

Y The McMichael Farm may be part of a larger agricultural landscape along the north side of Dundas Street West.

iii. is a landmark. N Not shown.

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9. Photographic Documentation

Figure 5: Main building on site, with fences (AB, 2015).

Figure 6: Front yard area, with main building in centre of tree grove, showing multiple buildings on the property (AB, 2015).

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Figure 7: View of eastern portion of property, with main building in tree grove. (AB, 2015)

Figure 8: Metal outbuilding located north east of the main house (AB, 2015).

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10. Analysis & Recommendations Potential Heritage Value:

The McMichael Farm may have heritage value as a representative example of a 19th century farmstead and because of its historical associations with 19th century farming in Oakville. Its heritage value will depend on the integrity of the property (the extent to which it retains original elements of a 19th century farmstead) in comparison with other farmsteads in the Town. The value may lie in the collection of buildings created for agricultural purposes, and their placement on the site and in relation to the road and fields, more than in individual buildings.

Actions:

The McMichael Farm is one of a number of former farmsteads listed on the Town Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest. It may be beneficial for the Town to look at these farmsteads as a group before making decisions about their heritage value and the appropriate means of protection. The Town could consider a heritage designation under Part IV OHA, but this may be an inappropriate tool to protect a Continuing (Evolved) Landscape; such a property may be better conserved through zoning or other planning measures that protect use or function rather than a static element of the landscape.

A ‘high’ priority level is recommended for the following reasons:

• High potential for development of surrounding area; • All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in the current

listing.

11. Sources Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

----Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 40

Ashe, David and Burnell, Joyce. "Oakville Street Names and Landmarks," (London, ON: Burnell Creighton Publishing), 2007.

Bourke, Judith. “Sixteen Hollow – 1820-1880,” n.d., Accessed August, 2015 http://www.oakville.ca/culturerec/is-sixteen.html

Gourlay, Robert. “Trafalgar’s Story, 1817,” Trafalgar Township Historical Society. Summer 2014 Newsletter: 7. Accessed online September, 2015 http://www.tths.ca/Newsletter-Summer2014.pdf

Griffin, George A., Oakville: past and present, Toronto: Griffin & Griffin, 1912.

Pope J, H. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont. Toronto: Walker & Miles. 1877. Accessed online August 2015, from http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php

Town of Oakville. Heritage Planning, Planning Services. North Oakville Heritage Resource: Review and Strategy. March 2010.

Town of Oakville Heritage Register: Section F. Last updated: October 24th, 2014. Found online at http://www.oakville.ca/assets/2011%20planning/hrtg-SectionF-2015.pdf

Trafalgar Township Historical Society Website. Wilmot Survey, 1806. Access online October 2015, from http://images.ourontario.ca/TrafalgarTownship/2703198/data