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THEN & NOW: 200 Bayfield Street

Free Methodist congregation worshipped in this building before moving to their current location on Cundles Road East in 2004

This ongoing series from Deb Exel at the Barrie Historical Archive shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day. 

200 Bayfield Street

Driving down Bayfield Street, south of Grove Street, from the late-1940s until about 1970, you might miss this modest stone building nestled in an area of established homes.

This was the Free Methodist Church of Barrie, first constructed on the west side of ‘198’ Bayfield Street in 1947.

Its neighbor, just across Dalton Street at 190 Bayfield, the graceful former home of the Creswickes, a well-known family that was well-acquainted with tragedy.

The Free Methodist Church, through the magic of street renumbering was also known as 202 Bayfield in the 1950s and, by 1961, the address finally became 200 Bayfield St.

In 1965, after major renovations, the Free Methodist Church was officially dedicated, but it wasn’t long before the property next to the church was purchased and a new, larger facility built and in use by the end of 1971.

The congregation worshipped in this building and neighbourhood for about 30 more years, before moving to their current location on Cundles Road East in 2004.

The building at 200 Bayfield is now Barrie Veterinary Hospital.