A historic intersection in Barrie’s downtown has roots that go back almost 200 years.
The brick-road intersection known as the Five Points marks the meeting points of Bayfield Street (named after Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield, a hydrographic surveyor with the Royal Navy), east and west Dunlop streets (probably named after Dr. William ‘Tiger’ Dunlop), and Clapperton Street (named after British naval officer and explorer, Commander Hugh Clapperton).
What is now referred to as the Five Points began when a survey line was drawn, dividing what was then known as Vespra Township Concessions 4 and 5, which became Mill Road, the most direct route in 1825 from Kempenfelt Bay and lumber mills in Midhurst.
The section of Mill Road was the western boundary of the village at the time and in 1833, during the first survey of Barrie, it was renamed Bayfield Street and resulted in a traditional four-point intersection.
In 1832, David Edgar was granted 60 acres of land on the west side of Bayfield, which was not actually in the village of Barrie. He created a new street which he dubbed Elizabeth Street — which was changed to Dunlop Street West in 1952 — thus creating a unique five-point intersection.
Eventually, motorized vehicles would make horse-drawn carriages obsolete making the intersection a busy place, especially in the summer.
According to reports, on the 1937 Civic Holiday weekend, approximately 4,000 cars an hour rolled through Five Points.
Of course, cars aren’t the only action seen where the five streets come together.
Although you wouldn’t notice it during the current COVID-19 pandemic, the area around Five Points is typically a beehive of human activity.
The all-direction walk signal, which gets people safely across the intersection, was the brainchild of the City of Barrie’s first mayor Willard Kinzie, who, with his own quick pace, determined there would be minimal time between the Walk/Don’t Walk signals ... something to which anyone familiar to the timing can attest.
“It’s a very unique intersection and always has been,” says Tracy Baker, owner of Zu Zu Fashion Boutique on Dunlop Street East, whose shop is within 100 metres or so of Five Points. “There is a lot of fascinating history there that goes way back.
“Of course, with COVID-19, it’s very quiet and the construction (on Dunlop Street East) started a while back and made things quieter as well,” she adds. “But things are coming together quickly and we look forward to when things are done.”
Susanne, who didn’t want her last name used, says the intersection is an important part of the city.
“I am from Barrie and so is my mother and my grandfather, whose last name was Curtis, and an engineer for the railroad,” she tells BarrieToday while standing on the corner of Clapperton and Dunlop East. “So we have a lot of history here. I feel like we might be related to half the town.
