Description of Historic Place

The Silver Creek Schoolhouse is located at 16419 Kennedy Road on the northeast corner of Kennedy Road and The Grange Sideroad in the Town of Caledon. The one storey red brick schoolhouse was constructed circa 1865.

The property was designated by the Town of Caledon in 2006 for its heritage value under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act (By-law 2006-134).

Heritage Value

The Silver Creek Schoolhouse reflects the early schooling system in Ontario, and is one of the oldest schoolhouses still standing in the Town of Caledon. For over 100 years, this one room school served School Section #3 in the former Caledon Township, an area which included the nearby mill village of Silver Creek and surrounding farms. Built circa 1865, it replaced the original schoolhouse which was destroyed by fire. A number of randomly placed scorched timbers found in the present brick structure are thought to have been salvaged from the original school. The school was closed and converted to residential use in 1963, following the introduction of centralized schooling in Ontario. The property boundary is marked by mature maple trees planted by students in 1897 in commemoration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee.

The Silver Creek Schoolhouse is a good representation of early Ontario schoolhouse architecture. The rectangular, one room building has a rubblestone foundation, red brick exterior and medium pitched gable roof with returned eaves. A projecting brick vestibule on the south end facade has a matching gable roof with returned eaves, its gable peak adorned with decorative fretwork. The vestibule has two south-facing doors, representing separate girls and boys' entrances, each with flush transoms. Each side facade has three two-over-two paned windows with rounded heads; two smaller windows also with rounded head are located on the south end wall, flanking the vestibule. A circular window medallion is located in the south end gable peak. The windows and doors are decorated by radiating voussoirs in buff brick. Decorative buff brick is also used for quoins on both the schoolhouse and vestibule. In 1988, the belfry and bell were restored on the south end of the roof.

Source: Town of Caledon By-law 2006-134.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the Silver Creek Schoolhouse include the:
- maple tree rows marking the site boundaries
- one storey red brick exterior
- medium pitched gable roof with returned eaves
- rubblestone foundation
- projecting vestibule with twin doors and transoms
- decorative fretwork
- buff brick voussoirs and quoins
- large two over two paned windows with rounded heads and radiating voussoirs
- small multi-paned windows with rounded heads and radiating voussoirs