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ser cro- une the ne. eive Looking back Story by Gordon Smith Heritage Halton Hills Photos by Ted Brown The Town of Halton Hills is very fortunate to be home to a number of buildings that are of significant architectural and historical value. To recognize the richness of these structures and to raise residents' awareness of the historical properties that surround them, the Halton Hills Heritage Committee (HHH) has established a Heritage Signage Program. hey Discovering our history through Heritage Signage program The Signage Program is for properties in Halton Hills that were built before 1960. Created in 1999, there are currently 69 properties that are part of the program. The first property to join the program was 45 Charles Street in Georgetown, which was built in 1859 by Walter McKay, who was a local carpenter. Properties in the program are not restricted to Georgetown but can be found throughout Halton Hills, including Acton, Ballinafad, Glen Williams, Hornby, Limehouse, Norval, Scotch Block and Speyside. As part of the program, buildings have a small white sign affixed to them that denotes the year when the property was built and any relevant details such as the person(s) responsible for its construction and their occupation at the time, if available. The program is completely voluntary and interested property owners can apply to Heritage Halton Hills (see page 26). Discovering the historical background of a building is undertaken by volunteers with HHH and the Esquesing Historical Society, who donate their time and skills to research the properties. They are assigned a property and then try to determine the date of construction and its background. As is the case with any archival work using primary documents, this can be an onerous task. Building anything on your own property did not require a permit or permissions before the Second World War. In fact, the Town of Georgetown did not issue its first building permit until 1948. S AUTUMN · 2011 25 S I D E R O A D S O F H A LT O N H I L L S