Freeman is free on Canada Day - every other day it is open as well

By Pepper Parr

June 28th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

It took the work of a relatively small group of men and women who would not give up saving the station from being sold as kindling,. Others followed the original group and did the scrubbing and painting it took to get the building to the point where it has become a destination point for visitors to the city.

Given that this country was made coast to coast by the railways it is fitting that it too be celebrated on Canada Day.

Sir John A, Macdonald did everything legal and illegal he could to dig out the money needed to get to the point where the Last Spike was driven in on November 7, 1885, at Craigellachie, B.C, marking a momentous occasion — the completion of Canada’s trans-continental railway.

Freeman Station was a part of the railway that took produce from the farm fields around Burlington to retail locations in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe.

For the city it was more than just a railway station. It was a symbol of progress, connection, and community for the people of Burlington. For almost a century, it served as a gateway to Canadian travellers, immigrants, and workers.

This station was built in 1906 by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR).

Volunteers raised the funds to have the structure moved to its final resting place. There is a coin embedded in the concrete – how many people can tell where the coin was placed and what the denomination of the coin is? Put you answer in the comments section.

Today, after over a decade of fundraising and a full restoration by an all volunteer group, Friends of Freeman Station, the station stands in its relocated home on 1285 Fairview Street, open only during our public events, class visits and station rentals.

The original location of the station is but a short walk away on the other side of Brant Street.