NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE: 49-51 Main Street North

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE UNDER THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT

IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT AND IN THE MATTER OF the lands in the Town of Halton Hills known municipally as 49-51 Main Street North, Regional Municipality of Halton, legally described as “LT 24, PL 59, EXCEPT PM172; HALTON HILLS ” and known as the George H. Kennedy Family Home. 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town of Halton Hills intends to designate the property at 49-51 Main Street North under Section 29(1), Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter O.18. 

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest: 

The George H. Kennedy Family Home at 49-51 Main Street North in Georgetown is a representative example of a Gothic Revival residential building with Italianate influences within the community. Features extant on the existing building that are consistent with the Gothic Revival architectural style include its one-and-a-half-storey massing, central lancet window beneath the gable peak, ornate wooden bargeboard and wooden finial above the gable peak, and a central entrance, while features consistent with the Italianate architectural style include its symmetrical composition, cornice brackets beneath the eaves of each projecting bay, buff brick quoining and strongly-defined corners, dichromatic brick detailing, and ornate buff brick hood molds and voussoirs over the window openings. 

The subject property has significant historical and associative value due to its connections with the family of prominent community member George H. Kennedy. George H. Kennedy (1836-1901) was the son of Charles Kennedy and Elizabeth Williams, notable 19^th-century settlers in the area. In 1856, Kennedy married Margaret Jane Walker (1840-1914); Walker was born in Ireland and immigrated with her family to Canada in 1849, settling in Georgetown where she lived for the rest of her life. George H. Kennedy served as a member of County Council, Deputy Reeve, and later Reeve of Georgetown, and in 1892 became the Clerk of Esquesing Township following Colonel Murray’s death, a position which he held until 1900. Kennedy was also a school trustee and a member of the Georgetown High School Board, and a Justice of the Peace. Prominent community members, the Kennedy family were also devout members of the Methodist church. 

The George H. Kennedy Family Home would later be owned by both of their daughters. Through probate of will, the subject property was transferred from George H. Kennedy to Margaret Kennedy during her natural life, following which it was transferred to their daughter Maggie Lavina Ann Kennedy (1879-1917). Maggie Kennedy worked as a saleswoman with her brother, Herbert Willis (H.W.) Kennedy. In 1913 the Georgetown Herald reported that H.W. Kennedy’s sister, Miss Kennedy, “…is an efficient assistant in the store”. H.W. Kennedy, who established his mercantile business in Georgetown in 1885, also worked as a realtor, insurance agent, issued marriage licences, and served as Clerk and Treasurer of the Town, in addition to serving as Chair of the Public Library Board and Secretary of the Trustee Board of the Methodist Church. 

Following Maggie Kennedy’s death in 1917, her sister Mary Agnes Charlotte Kennedy (1874-1956), a dressmaker, lived in the home until her death.

The George H. Kennedy Family Home remains part of a collection of several remaining late-nineteenth-century residential buildings along Main Street on either side of the railway corridor in the community of Georgetown. Although there is significant infill development in and around these residential properties, the George H. Kennedy Family Home along with these other residential buildings reflects the evolution of the area from its nineteenth-century European settlement to more dense urban character today, and as such is functionally and historically linked to its surroundings. The George H. Kennedy Family Home is similar in scale and massing to existing surrounding residential buildings and has not been identified as a landmark. 

The heritage attributes of the property at 49-51 Main Street North that contribute to its physical and design value include: 

• The setback, location, and orientation of the George H. Kennedy Home at the northeast corner of Main Street North and Ewing Street in the community of Georgetown in the Town of Halton Hills;
• The scale, form, and massing of the existing original one-and-a-half-storey building with gable roof and cut stone foundation;
• The materials, including red and buff brick, stone wills, and wooden detailing;
• The front (southwest) elevation, including:

• The centrally-located entrance;
• Buff brick string course across the façade;
• Two projecting bays on either side of the main entrance, featuring a buff brick string course, red brick exterior, single segmentally arched window openings with buff brick hood moulds and stone sills, and bracketed wooden eaves; 

• Lancet arched window opening with dichromatic brick hood mould and stone sill; 
• Wooden bargeboard and decorative finial within the central gable peak; 

• The side (northwest) elevation, including:

• The side (southeast) elevation, including:

• The rear (northwest) elevation, including:

The rear additions and porches are not identified as heritage attributes of the subject property. 

The heritage attribute of the property at 49-51 Main Street North that contributes to its historical and associative value includes: 

• The legibility of the existing building as a representative example of a Gothic Revival residential building with Italianate influences along Main Street North in the community of Georgetown in the Town of Halton Hills. 

The heritage attributes of the property at 49-51 Main Street North that contribute to its contextual value include: 

• The legibility of the existing building as a representative example of a Gothic Revival residential building with Italianate influences along Main Street North in the community of Georgetown in the Town of Halton Hills; 
• The setback, location, and orientation of the George H. Kennedy Home at the northeast corner of Main Street North and Ewing Street in the community of Georgetown in the Town of Halton Hills; and,
• The scale, form, and massing of the existing one-and-a-half-storey building with gable roof and cut stone foundation.

Further information respecting the Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest and proposed designation of 49-51 Main St. North (refer to Report PD-2026-042) is available by contacting Laura Loney, Manager of Heritage Planning for the Town of Halton Hills at 905-873-2600 x 2358 or by email at [email protected]

Any person may, by September 13, 2026 (within 30 days after the date of the publication of this notice) serve the Clerk ([email protected]) and Laura Loney notice of their objection to the proposed designation in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, setting out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts.

Dated at the Town of Halton Hills this 14^th day of August 2026.

Laura Loney, Manager of Heritage Planning, Planning and Development, The Corporation of the Town of Halton Hills, 1 Halton Hills Drive, Halton Hills, ON L7G 5G2.