Edward & Hannah Bristow were the first settlers in this area, arriving from England in 1832 . By 1834 they had acquired 50 acres of land in Woolwich Township and built a General Store, Tannery and Potashery. This small hamlet became known as Bristow’s Corners. By 1849 Edward had become Postmaster of West Woolwich.

In 1853, the hamlet was officially named Elmira with a population of about 250, and continued to prosper as many Mennonites moved into the area, some from Pennsylvania, in order to escape the conflicts of the US civil war. By 1886 the population had grown to 760 at which time Elmira was incorporated as a Village.

Elmira continued to flourish as a farming and manufacturing centre, and by 1923 has a population of 2,650 and officially became a town. The current population of Elmira is just over 8,000.

Bristow’s Inn was named after Elmira’s founding father Edward Bristow. The property was built as a farmhouse in 1860 on Edward Bristow’s land by Jacob Bowman. The style of the property is referred to as Gothic Revival or Picturesque style, popular for Ontario farmhouses in the 1860's, and is entirely of wood clapboard construction, with the main features being the Carpenter Gothic windows and ornate trim work.

There have been a number of owners over the years, and although he did not own the property, the first mayor of Elmira, Peter Stumpf occupied the property in 1923. The house was designated as a ‘Heritage Building’ by the Township of Woolwich in 1989, and the same year extensive restoration brought the property back to it’s original design, at the same time creating a seven room Country Inn, with modern amenities, and opening for business in September 1989.

In 1991, the Inn received an ‘Award of Excellence’ from the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation for the restoration of the property.