Top 3 Abandoned Places In East Gwillimbury

There are so many abandoned places in East Gwillimbury! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in East Gwillimbury. Browse through all abandoned places in East Gwillimbury

1. Holland River Diversion Locks

The East Humber River system (Holland River Diversion) was suppose to be an extension from Lake Simcoe off of the Trent waterway system. The waterway was in construction from 1906-1912 when the Prime Minister cancelled the construction due to cost.

The river system was suppose to go as far south as Aurora, servicing Tannery(a)s in both Aurora and Newmarket.

I grew up in the area and have always seen what remained of this waterway, so decided to finally go out and document with some photographs.

Lock #1 is located in the town of Holland Landing at the corner of Mt. Albert Rd. and Yonge St.

Lock #2 & the Reservoir (Rogers) is located on Main St. just north of Green Lane.

The swing bridge is located on Green Lane just East of Main St.

Lock #3 is located off of Main St. and has been filled and integrated into the park/path system in Newmarket.

The photos show the state of the waterway system as of 10/10/10.

2. Old Bathurst Road Section

Bathurst st north of Greenlane dead ends, but you can still walk down the single lane dirt road. At the bottom of the hill is an old bridge over a small river. You can walk further and come out at bathurst st again.

3. John Wright House

Called the John Wright House by the township, built 1885 - probably by his son, John Jr. The Wright family held onto and farmed the entirety of this property (lot 23 and some lot of 24) until 1934. The property eventually left Wright hands for good in 1953, when the remainder that hadn't been subdivided was sold to Robert and Evelyn Lewis. The Lewis' got out in 1970.

Absolutely beautiful house - in fact, this may be the sexiest little piece of old Ontario architecture I've ever found abandoned. Many original features of the house are still (mostly) intact - old sash windows, built-in wood stove oven, stained glass, original floorboards, exposed plumbing, and that oh-so-fancy bargeboard!

Seems as though it was probably owned/rented by a young-ish family before being abandoned. There was still some kids toys and alike near the pool, but the biggest tell was the height markers on the wall upstairs that conveniently marked the ages of everyone lol. "Mom: 26, Dad: 27, Georgia: 4". The date is screwy, but it's either 2004 or 2014. The house was lived in atleast until 2014, so it's possible it was the latter. We've got the same markers in my house from when me and my brother were growing up. It was pretty nostalgic feeling.

Some things to watch out for... I did not make it into the attic (that ladder is all sorts of broken), but I was able to get my camera up to take pictures and it didn't appear there was much. Just something to consider for the next person that breaks their back trying to climb the thing.The pool is FUBAR. I've never seen such a demented pool. The cement around it is crumbling into the ground so be careful where you step.

I was here in November of last year and it was completely open. Parking at the cemetery and walking in from the road worked perfectly. You get cover from the bush pretty quick. Assuming it's still unboarded this is a super easy explore and totallllly worth the 10 minutes it takes.

I put this FM2 because there was quite a few antiques still lying around. Nothing too fancy, but figure its better be safe than sorry.