Saturday, October 27, 2012

Guidelines to Repair/Replace Historic Windows

     I came across this booklet the other day in my collection - it was produced by the City of Charlottetown, compiled and written by Darrin Dunsford of William Chandler Architects Inc.
    Here's the cover and a few pages from within.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

My Island Pictures by A.L. Morrison

     My brother Kerras is always finding Island books that have long been out of print - here's one he recently gave me.  My Island Pictures: A History of Prince Edward Island by A.L. Morrison.  The book was published in 1980.  I like the way A.L. Morrison describes each of his paintings with historic information.  Below is the book cover and a few pages from inside to give an idea of its content.

Warren Cove Range Lighthouse loses its champion


     Woman who protected Warren Cove Front Range Lighthouse can no longer do the work

      CBC News Posted: Oct 21, 2012 1:16 PM AT 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2012/10/21/pei-souris-lighthouse-584.html
The Warren Cove Front Range Lighthouse. (Flickr.com)

A P.E.I. lighthouse that had been adopted by a local community group is once again at risk.
Gena Yeo had been trying to protect the Warren Cove Front Range Lighthouse, at the entrance of Charlottetown Harbour, but she can no longer work to protect it.
"I've had a lot of health issues," said Yeo. "I'm able to go to work and to look after my family but besides that I'm not in a position right now to take on anything else and this would be a big responsibility."
There are about 40 lighthouses on P.E.I. listed as surplus by the Canadian Coast Guard. All but three of those lighthouses had community groups step forward to take charge of them in order to have them remain available to the public.
Yeo had organized a petition that was circulated in the community. She said no one else who signed the petition wanted to take on more responsibility to protect the lighthouse.
"There's legal issues, there's insurance issues, things of that nature that you just don't think about at the beginning," said Yeo. "I feel like I let them down, you know it really upsets me."

Saturday, October 20, 2012

A house for 24 children

    Recently this article appeared in the September 6th, 2012 issue of the West Prince Graphic.  There's no image of the family home, however, I will try to find one.  So for now - imagine a house with 24 children!
     Thanks to Nichole Pitre for sending along this photo of the house spoken of in this article.  The house still stands in Palmer Road.  The horse stable barn is directly across from Immaculate Conception Church where the Funeral Home is today. 

Friday, October 19, 2012

Heritage Prayer

     We were at Cumberland Historic Village this week near Ottawa - in this Knox United Church ( formerly located in Vars, Ontario ) we saw this prayer in the vestibule - it was adapted from a prayer in the old Covenanters' Church - 1804, Grand Pre, Nova Scotia.

"Heritage Prayer"
Father God;

We keep forgetting all of those who lived before us.
We keep forgetting those who lived and worked in our communities.
We keep forgetting those who prayed and sang hymns in our churches before we were born.
We keep forgetting what our fathers have done for us.
We commit the sin, Lord, of assuming that everything begins with us.

We drink from wells we did not find.
We eat food from farmland we did not develop.
We enjoy freedoms which we have not earned.
We worship in churches which we did not build.
We live in communities we did not establish.
This day, make us grateful for our heritage.

Amen

Kitchen Cabinet from West Point House

     My brother Kerras bought this cabinet from an old homestead in West Point - it was built in to a corner.  He had to fix-up and match a few things with it but it is original with its detailing, doors, glass, drawers, etc.       



     This cabinet is for sale.  For information about my brother Kerras' woodwork and folkart see his website: www.birchgate.ca/kerras and http://birchgate.ca/kerras/furniture.html

Souris and Area

     I was recently in eastern Prince Edward Island and took the following photos in and around Souris.
     Below: 1930 St. Alexis Roman Catholic Church in Rollo Bay.  Designed by James Harris, nephew of well-known PEI Architect William Harris. See also: http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/11/legacy-of-james-harris-architect.html
     Below: view of the coastline of the Town of Souris as you drive over the causeway to Souris from Rollo Bay.
 Below:  Souris Town Hall - see their website:  http://www.sourispei.com/about/about.html
    Following renovations to Townhall (designed by Architect Donald MacKinnon, for whom I worked for at the time) a plaque was placed during a visit by Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1989.
 Below: Houses and Buildings on Souris' Main Street.
See also Historic Places for the Matthew and MacLean Store:
http://historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=5983&pid=16304&h=Souris,Pe
     Below:  The Donald Beaton House, built in 1851 - in 1854 he brought his bride Marie Clementine Sobieski MacDonald to Souris - she was the daughter of the Hon. John Small MacDonald.  Donald Beaton was born in East Point in 1816 - he was the grandson of a Charlottetown merchant.  He moved out to Souris in the 1840s to engage in the fishery and shipbuilding. Donald Beaton was a wealthy man and owned considerable acres of land at the time of his death in November 1865 from diabetes - he was 49.  His widow sold a large block of the center of the village in 1876 to Owen Connolly of Charlottetown.  Caleb Carleton Sr. bought the house from Mrs. Beatons estate and it remained in the Carloton family until 1953 when it was purchased by Ray A. Leard.  Above information cf. Ten Farms become a Town: the History of Souris, 1700-1920.  Published in 1986.
      Below: an old, seemingly abandoned home on the corner of High and Prince Streets.
      The house is in the Second Empire style featuring symmetrically placed 2-storey bay windows on the front south facing side.
     Below:  St. Mary's Souris.
From the book, A Faith Walk: Diocese of Charlottetown by Revd Art O'Shea:  In 1901, with an increasing Catholic population, a quite massive new church of Island Sandstone was built, William Harris being the architect.  Unfortunately in 1928 this impressive church burned almost to the ground, leaving only the outer shell.  From the ruins arose in 1930 the beautiful St. Mary's Church of today.
Below: houses on the back streets of Souris.
Below: St. James United Church.  See earlier post in this blog:
http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2012/01/more-pei-churches-for-sale-in-souris.html
Below: these buildings and houses are on the streets that go along Souris' shoreline.
 Below: 1875 MacLean House Inn.
http://www.mcleanhouseinn.com/
See also Historic Places:
http://historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=18476&pid=12409&h=Souris,Pe
 Below: St. Albans Anglican Church.  This church was built in 1980.  See article below.
Tiny Anglican Church holds services in Souris - July 23, 2011
Every Saturday afternoon during the summer months less than a dozen Anglicans gather in St. Alban's Anglican Church in Souris for services. This Saturday the services were led by Richard Ball, a lay minister. The church, erected in 1980 to serve approximately 70 parishoners, sits near site of the original church adjacent to Church Street in the town and close to the edge of a cliff bordering Colville Bay. The first church was built in 1895 under the leadership of Rev. E.T. Woollard. Before that, servces were held in a private home. It was closed in 1919 and later demolished. The land was sold for $300 together with part of the churchyard after the Second World War.
 Below: here's a few old barns, etc. from the area.