Barrie, 1836 to 2026: a timeline
From the Crown's survey of the Oro lots to the election just held: the years Barrie became a village, a town and a city, the councils that ran it, the railway, the annexations and the town life its history columns remember. 106 entries, each linked to the page or column it comes from.
Sources: City of Barrie, Members of Barrie Councils, 1837 to 2022 (updated November 2022), for its milestones and its reeves and mayors, the milestones in its own words; the annexations of 1982 to 2026 from their statutes, as Barrie's annexations sets them out; the 1837 jail and court house site from the Quarter Sessions minute A. F. Hunter quotes (A History of Simcoe County, 1909, vol.
Before the village, 1836 to 1853
A district seat on the bay: the Crown's survey of the Oro lots, the first families, the jail and court house, the first newspaper north of Toronto, and the petition to leave Vespra.
- 1836
Wellsley Richey inspects Oro Township lot by lot for the Crown; parts of its first concessions are in Barrie today.
Early Barrie: 1836 → - 1837
Walton's directory lists 28 heads of families in Barrie.
Early Barrie: 1837 → - 1837
On May 10 the Home District's magistrates approve lots in Barrie as the site of a jail and court house for the new District of Simcoe.
Early Barrie: the district seat → - 1841
The jail on Court House Hill opens.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1846
Allandale, a mile south of Barrie in Innisfil Township, is settled by John Boon, Collingwood Harris, N. King, Bernard Sheridan, Wm. Hamill and Thomas McMahon, the 1872 county gazetteer records.
Early Barrie: Allandale → - 1847
The Magnet, the first newspaper published north of Toronto, begins on August 6.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1849
A brick grammar school is built on the northwest corner of Blake and Rodney streets.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1851
More than 1,000 people now live in Barrie, and they petition to separate from Vespra Township and become a town.
The City's milestones → - 1853
Barrie's village status, with a reeve rather than a mayor, is proclaimed, to take effect January 1, 1854.
The City's milestones → - 1853
The railway from Toronto opens to Allandale on October 11, a mile short of Barrie; passengers finish the trip by bus.
Early Barrie: the railway → - 1853
Barrie's police is a force of one: Chief Joseph Rogers, whose beat is the whole of Simcoe County.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday →
The village, 1854 to 1870
A reeve and council of its own, the farmers' market and the drill shed, the railway at Allandale and then across the bay, and Barrie's first wardens of the county.
Reeves: Jonathan Lane (1854); Thomas David McConkey (1855); David Morrow (1856); Henry B. Hopkins (1857); Robert Simpson (1858); Thomas David McConkey (1859–1863); William David Ardagh (1864–1871)
- 1854
Barrie's first municipal election. Jonathan Lane is elected the first reeve.
Mayors and reeves → - 1856
Council's books of minutes and by-laws burn in a fire at the home of the town clerk, George Lane.
The City's milestones → - 1857
The town sets up stalls and weigh scales for a Saturday farmers' market, at today's City Hall.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1860
Thomas David McConkey, Barrie's reeve, is the first warden of Simcoe County from Barrie; three more follow by 1907.
Barrie's wardens → - 1861
Dr. A. Pass, Barrie's first doctor and a past councillor, dies.
The City's milestones → - 1865
The “Barrie Switch”, the branch across the head of the bay from Allandale, opens on June 21 after twelve years of fighting.
Early Barrie: the railway → - 1868
A drill shed is built on the six acres Archibald Thomson offered the town in 1867, today's Queen's Park.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday →
The town, 1871 to 1895
Incorporated with a mayor and three wards, then five: the great fires of 1871 and 1875, the gas works, the collegiate and the new post office.
Reeves and mayors: William David Ardagh (1864–1871); Robert Simpson (1871–1872); William Fuller Alves Boys (1873–1875); Robert Simpson (1876); William David Ardagh (1877–1881); Henry Sewrey (1882–1886); Charles Hammond Ross (1887–1888); F.E.P. Pepler (1889–1891); Alfred E.H. Creswicke (1892–1894); John M. Bothwell (1895–1896)
- 1871
Barrie becomes an incorporated town, divided into three wards: St. George's, St. Andrew's and St. Patrick's.
Mayors and reeves → - 1871
Robert Simpson, a brewer, is elected Barrie's first mayor.
Mayors and reeves → - 1871
The first big fire recorded in Barrie, on the night of June 24, reduces the Glebe Block on the south side of Dunlop Street East, from Five Points to the Post Office Square, to ashes.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1872
The county gazetteer gives the new town a population of 4,000; the Northern Railway's branch into Barrie dates from 1865.
Early Barrie: 1872 → - 1875
Another fire, on June 17, lays waste everything from Five Points east to Owen Street and up to Collier Street.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1875
The longest-standing of Barrie's fire halls opens, on the corner where one was lost two years before.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1878
The Barrie Gas Company's works at the east end of Dunlop Street, today's Kempenfelt Drive, are built to bring “town gas” lighting to the town before the end of the year; they run until 1939.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1879
H. B. Spotton oversees the building of what becomes Barrie Collegiate, on the grammar school's corner.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1881
Fire destroys all but the walls of the Central School.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1884
On October 8 the cornerstone of the new post office is laid on the Gore lot at the foot of Owen Street, the square that is now Memorial Square.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1886
The first wooden drill shed burns; a new drill hall is built on Mulcaster Street two years later.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1887
Barrie's wards go from three to five: St. Patrick, St. Andrew, Victoria, St. David and St. George.
The City's milestones → - 1890
Flooding on June 5 destroys downtown Barrie.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1891
The Mechanics' Institute opens its first permanent home at 17 Owen Street on January 27, with men's and ladies' reading rooms.
Then and Now, BarrieToday →
Allandale to the Second World War, 1896 to 1945
Allandale joins as the sixth ward; the first hospitals, the Carnegie library, the armoury and the base at Borden; a clock tower and a cenotaph; the Depression years with no elections.
Mayors: John M. Bothwell (1895–1896); Dr. Samuel M. Wells (1897–1899); George A. Radenhurst (1900–1901); William Alves “Pro” Boys (1902–1904); Donald Ross (1905–1906); John Henry Bennett (1907–1908); James Vair (1909); Thomas Beecroft (1910–1911); Alexander Cowan (1912–1914); John Franklin Craig (1915–1917); Dr. Robert J. Sprott (1918–1920); John Little (1921–1923); John Franklin Craig (1924–1926); Walter Norris Duff (Jan. to May 1927); William A. Lowe (May – Dec. 1927); Duncan Fletcher McCuaig (1928–1931); John Franklin Craig (1932–1934); William J. Blair (1935); Herbert G. Robertson (1936–1941); Donald F. MacLaren (1942–1944); Peter A. Sinclair (1945–1946)
- 1896
Barrie annexes the Village of Allandale, which becomes the town's sixth ward.
Early Barrie: Allandale → - 1896
The Grand Opera House opens.
Then and Now, Debra Exel, BarrieToday → - 1897
The Barrie General Hospital opens on June 22, with 13 beds, at 63 High Street.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1900
The Northern Advance reports that Barrie's councillors are now to be called aldermen.
The City's milestones → - 1901
The Barrie Tanning Company opens its building to the town council and the public on September 26.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1903
The new Royal Victoria Hospital opens on March 5 at 76 Ross Street.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1905
The Grand Trunk Railway builds the present Allandale station, following the curve of the shoreline.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1907
The new South Ward School, later King Edward, opens on January 3.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1908
The Railway YMCA officially opens on May 19.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1908
Barrie's first kindergarten class opens at the Central School.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1913
Barrie celebrates its Diamond Jubilee, the town's 60th anniversary.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1914
A fire on August 4 spreads from a garage at Mulcaster and Dunlop Street East to the offices of the Barrie Examiner.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1915
On June 5 the post office's new clock tower strikes the hour for the first time.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1915
Barrie's new armoury, at the southwest corner of Queen's Park, officially opens on November 7.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1916
The military base at Borden officially opens, on land the Grey and Simcoe Foresters cleared.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1916
The collegiate institute on Blake Street, new parts and old, burns in December in a three-hour fire.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1917
The new Carnegie library opens on January 2, before its scheduled completion.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1918
The new Barrie Collegiate Institute is built on Agricultural Park land.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1922
The soldiers' memorial at the square, today's cenotaph, is dedicated in June.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1926
The Ku Klux Klan brings its road show to Barrie in June.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1927
Sirens, church bells and explosions start Barrie's celebration of Canada's 60th birthday at 7 a.m. on July 1.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1928
For the first time, the municipal election is held in December instead of on the first Monday in January.
The City's milestones → - 1935
No municipal election is held, because of the economic depression.
The City's milestones → - 1936
No municipal election is held, for economic reasons.
The City's milestones → - 1937
No municipal election: every civic office but one is filled by acclamation.
The City's milestones → - 1938
No municipal election for a fourth straight year: every civic office is acclaimed, one of them decided by the flip of a coin.
The City's milestones → - 1938
Hamp Fralick opens Barrie's first Canadian Tire store at Dunlop and Mulcaster streets.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1940
No municipal election: the mayor and council are returned by acclamation, and three vacancies are filled without an election.
The City's milestones → - 1945
On V-E Day in May, with the restaurants closed, the Barrie Active Service Club and Canteen has one of its busiest days.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday →
After the war, 1946 to 1958
The first woman on council and the first woman mayor, Highway 400, the Memorial Cup, the centennial, CKVR and the push to become a city.
Mayors: Peter A. Sinclair (1945–1946); Grant Kelvin Mayor (1947–1949); Dr. James Edwin Wilson (1950); Marjorie Hamilton (1951–1952); James Walter Hart (1953); Heber E. Smith (1954); Robert Eldon Greer (1955–1956); Willard L. Kinzie (1957–1958)
- 1946
Mary Laurie becomes the first woman on Barrie's town council.
The City's milestones → - 1947
Barrie's first supermarket, Loblaw's, opens on Bayfield Street.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1947
Council lets Bell install the town's first outdoor telephone, at Maple Avenue and Elizabeth Street.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1948
A public holiday at noon on November 10 marks the opening of the “new” town hall.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1949
Barrie's first Santa Claus Parade goes through town on Tuesday, November 22.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1951
Marjorie Hamilton becomes Barrie's first woman mayor.
Mayors and reeves → - 1951
Highway 400 to Barrie opens on September 6, after almost six years of construction.
Remember This?, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1951
The Barrie Flyers win the Memorial Cup, and the town holds a celebration and parade.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1953
Barrie turns 100, and nine days of celebration begin on August 1.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1954
Heber E. Smith becomes a member of Parliament.
The City's milestones → - 1954
Mining engineers stake claims around Little Lake, in search of uranium and oil.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1955
CKVR goes on the air from Barrie at noon on September 28.
Then and Now, Debra Exel, BarrieToday → - 1955
M.M. Hamilton resigns from council and becomes a judge.
The City's milestones → - 1956
On January 1 the Barrie police department comes into being once again.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1956
Mayor Eldon Greer opens the new bus terminal.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1957
Barrie's first Winter Carnival is held on the ice of Kempenfelt Bay, February 15 to 17.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1958
The town passes By-law 2349, applying to the Ontario Municipal Board to make Barrie a city.
The City's milestones →
The city, 1959 to 2002
Simcoe County's first city, separated from the county: longer council terms, the plaza and the lost station, the tornado of 1985, the annexations of the 1980s and the jail's closing.
Mayors: Willard L. Kinzie (1959–1961); Lester E. Cooke (1962–1967); Robert Sidney Bentley (1968–1969); Lester E. Cooke (1970–1972); Dorian Parker (1973–1976); Ross Alexander Archer (1977–1988); Janice Ruth Laking (1988–2000); O.J. (Jim) Perri (2000–2003)
- 1959
Barrie becomes a city, Simcoe County's first. The offices of reeve and deputy reeve end, and the six wards become four, with three members each.
The City's milestones → - 1959
Barrie formally separates from Simcoe County, becoming a separated city.
The City's milestones → - 1960
Council terms become two years long, replacing annual elections.
The City's milestones → - 1961
The Barrie Shopping Plaza opens in the spring, with parking for 1,050 cars.
Then and Now, BarrieToday → - 1963
The Barrie Station is demolished.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1968
The City buys the Barrie Country Club's 80-acre golf course on Sunnidale Road.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1972
The council elected for 1972 serves a one-year term; terms go back to two years in 1973.
The City's milestones → - 1979
Barrie Tanning Limited closes.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1982
Barrie annexes land from the Town of Innisfil, to the south, on January 1 under the Barrie-Innisfil Annexation Act, 1981; a second Innisfil round under the same Act follows on January 1, 1987.
Barrie's annexations → - 1982
Council terms become three years long.
The City's milestones → - 1984
Barrie annexes land from Vespra Township, to the north, on July 1 under the Barrie-Vespra Annexation Act, 1984, after litigation that reached the Supreme Court of Canada.
Barrie's annexations → - 1985
Ed Harper becomes a member of Parliament.
The City's milestones → - 1985
A tornado strikes Barrie on May 31.
Remember This?, Mary Harris, BarrieToday → - 1985
The Roxy Theatre stops showing movies and becomes a nightclub and concert venue.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 1995
J.N. Tascona and A.E. Carroll leave council for higher office; the City's list says both “became Members of Parliament”.
The City's milestones → - 1995
The old drill hall is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Then and Now, Deb Exel, BarrieToday → - 2000
Brian Norton is appointed a justice of the peace.
The City's milestones → - 2001
The Barrie Jail closes to prisoners.
Then and Now, BarrieToday →
On this site's record, 2003 to 2026
Councillors instead of aldermen, four-year terms, the first elections and meetings this site holds in full, and the annexation of 2026.
Mayors: O.J. (Jim) Perri (2000–2003); Robert J. Hamilton (2003–2006); David (Dave) Aspden (2006–2010); Jeff Lehman (2010–2022); Alexander (Alex) Nuttall (2022–2026)
- 2003
The first election in this site's certified results record.
Results since 2003 → - 2003
The official title of a council member changes from alderman to councillor.
The City's milestones → - 2006
Patrick Brown resigns from council on becoming a member of Parliament.
The City's milestones → - 2006
Ontario lengthens municipal council terms from three years to four, starting with the council elected in 2006.
The City's milestones → - 2010
Barrie annexes 2,293 hectares of Innisfil, the Hewitt's and Salem lands, on January 1 under the Barrie-Innisfil Boundary Adjustment Act, 2009.
Barrie's annexations → - 2013
The first council and committee meetings in this site's record of the City's eScribe minutes.
Every meeting since 2013 → - 2015
John Brassard resigns from council after being elected the member of Parliament for Barrie–Innisfil.
The City's milestones → - 2019
Doug Shipley resigns from council after being elected a member of Parliament.
The City's milestones → - 2026
Parts of Oro-Medonte and Springwater become part of Barrie on January 1, the fifth substantial annexation in its history, and the city votes under new ward boundaries.
The 2026 annexation → - 2026
Barrie elects its council and trustees on October 26; the new council takes office November 15.
The 2026 results →