Interesting House, O'Leary

     This gem of a house is located on North Street in O'Leary - the interesting detailing would suggest it was built pre-WWII.

Prince County Properties receive protected status

     This is really old new, Published on March 27, 2015 - cf.  Journal-Pioneer newspaper website by Colin MacLean: 

http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2015-03-27/article-4092552/Prince-County-properties-receive-protected-status/1

The Lyle House is an early example of Georgian classical architecture and used to be an inn/post office in Lot 16. Photo submitted by the Government of P.E.I.

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SUMMERSIDE – At the same time the Lyle House was being built in Lot 16, the Battle of the Alamo was raging in Texas and Charles Darwin was forming his Theory of Evolution. 

Since its construction in 1836 the house has by times stood proudly as a hub of activity as an inn/post office and been humbled by the ravages of time as a shed/chicken coop.

It has endured and outlasted history itself and now it, along with four other Prince County buildings, is being protected for future generations to enjoy. 

The buildings have received ‘designated’ status under the Heritage Places Protection Act and have been added to the P.E.I. Registry of Historic Places.

Claude Arsenault, who purchased the house around 2005 and painstakingly restored and renovated it from a dilapidated state, is overjoyed with the designation.

“I’m thrilled, beyond thrilled,” said Arsenault.

“It’s an honour to live in this little house. It was built with a lot of love and care, it wasn’t slapped together in five minutes. The fact that it’s almost 200-years-old is a testament to the quality of the craftsmanship of these post and beam houses.”

Charlotte Stewart, a heritage officer with the provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, said all of these sites are unique in some way and are well worth protecting. 

“It’s great to have these added to the registry, they really are important parts of our history and shows that the owners are interested, and place value on the buildings and want to see them recognized,” said

The Prince County buildings include: the Emerald, Kensington and O’Leary railway stations, St. Anne’s Church in Lennox Island and the Lyle House in Birch Hill. The West River petroglyph site in Bonshaw, Queen’s County, was also listed.

The P.E.I. Heritage Places Protection Act sets out two levels of recognition for homes.

The first, ‘registration,’ is basically honourific, and just signifies that the property has some historic note.

A step above registration is ‘designation,’ which is a means to protect the historic nature of the property. It places restrictions on the property in terms of what the owner can change and forces them to apply for a permit before making changes to the structure.

Properties receive registration and designation on the P.E.I. Registry of Historic Places by nomination and are vetted by a provincial committee which then makes a recommendation to the minister of Tourism and Culture, who makes the final approval.

As for Arsenault, he’s happy to keep living in his now officially historic house, until it’s someone else’s turn to protect it. He takes a transient view of such things.

“I’m 66 years old and I’ve come to the realization that nobody truly owns anything … We’re all just custodians, we borrow things and are kind of in charge of things – for a while,” he said. 

About the buildings:

-       The O’Leary Railway Station was built in 1913/1914.

-       The Kensington Railway Station was built in 1905 and included P.E.I. stones in its construction.

-       The Emerald Railway Station was built in 1924 and most of the community sprang up around it.

-       St. Anne’s Church in Lennox Island is an 1895 Gothic structure, designed by Summerside architect George Baker, who also designed many of the city’s fox homes. 

Over 100 barns blow down in 1930 Winter Storm

     The following comes from, 150 Years of Prince Edward Island Weather: Some weather we're having! 2015 PEI Weather Trivia Calendar by Don Jardine and Adam French with David Weale, and the Climate Research Lab at the University of Prince Edward Island.
     February 16, 1930: "A terrific gale, reported as the worst hitting this area in many years, blew down over 100 barns in Kings County.  Winds hit a maximum of 65 km/h at Charlottetown and 37 cm of snow fell.  Two young sons of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Noade of Launching Place narrowly escaped death when they were feeding cattle in the barn and the barn collapsed.  Large pieces of the barn roof were found on Boughton Bay and shingles were found on Boughton Island, three kilometers away."  

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     It's always nice to have an image with a story - since we don't have one from 1930, here's an old barn at the Stetson's on the O'Leary Rd. in Union (between O'Leary Corner and O'Leary) destroyed by a wind storm in the fall of 2009.

Former MacWilliams Hotel, O'Leary

     The other day I was in O'Leary and stopped to take a few photos of this old house on Main Street.  
     This was the home of the Pate sisters ( L.A.W. Norma June; Marcia, high school teacher; and C.W.A.C. Patricia Joan - all three were veterans of WWII ).  Norma Pate was the last to live here - she died a year ago (see Obituary below).  Last summer the contents were sold at auction.  Word around town is the house will be torn down when the estate is settled.

    The following information about this house comes from, "Threads of our Past: History of O'Leary, 1837-1992"  pages 52-53.
     "In 1915 Percy Turner had a home built to his specifications by Harry Williams who constructed a very fine house in O'Leary.  In 1917, Percy Turner sold his house to James Malcolm MacWilliams and moved to Charlottetown.  Later in Life, Mr. Turner became involved in civic politics and became mayor of Charlottetown for a short term.
    In 1935, Lulu MacWilliams, wife of James Malcolm MacWilliams, decided to venture into the motel business.  Because the MacWilliams house was so large, it easily served the needs of home and hotel.  The clientele consisted of commercial travelers who stayed only 2 or 3 nights.  The hotel could accommodate eight to ten people and would be completely filled by the first part of the week.  The hotel was comfortable, well furnished and had a pleasing atmosphere.  Guest would hurry off from the train at night to be sure to get a room here before it filled up.
    The hotel operated for 12 year until 1947  when it was sold to Jean Pate and her family."

     This magnificent house was built by Henry Wellington "Little Harry" Williams (1866-1934) - he was one of the best carpenters in Prince County in the 1890's and early 1900's.  
     "Little Harry was born in Poplar Grave, P.E.I. - he came from a family of distinguished master carpenters and shipbuilders.  His grandfather, Edward William, was a ship carpenter at the Port Hill shipyards and his maternal Ellis relatives were long involved with shipbuilding in England and in Port Hill.  Little Harry apprenticed under builder George Gard of Alberton before moving to Massachusetts where he worked and studied architectural design.  He married married Effie Ellis (1870-1957) of Conneticutt in 1893.  They later returned to Prince Edward Island and built many impressive buildings in Western P.E.I." cf. http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=19165
     To see more of Little Harry's work see a previous entry in this blog...  http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/09/st-johns-anglican-church-ellerslie.html

     My Great-Aunt Orilla MacNevin (1915-2001) worked here as a maid in the late 1930's.

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NORMA PATE OBITUARY.

Born: Boston on June 24th, 1925  Passed on: February 27th, 2013

At the Palliative Care Unit of Community Hospital, O'Leary, on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, of Norma June Pate, O'Leary, aged 87, veteran of World War, having served in the RCAF (WD), both in Canada and England. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, June 24, 1925, daughter of the late Peter and Jean (Parsons) Pate. Norma is survived by her brother Peter (Marion) Pate, Ottawa, ON., and sister Betty Pepich, Chicago, Illinois. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.  Predeceased by her parents, sisters Marcia and Patricia and brother-in-law Eugene Pepich. Resting at the Ferguson Funeral Home and Chapel, O'Leary, with visiting hours Saturday, March 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral service Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in the chapel. Comrades of O'Leary Royal Canadian Legion will hold a service of remembrance for their late comrade Saturday evening before visitation at 5:45 p.m. Interment to follow at a later date in the Bloomfield United Church Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials, in memory of Norma, to the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) would be appreciated.  www.fergusonsfh.com

cf. http://www.inmemoriam.ca/view-announcement-351198-norma-pate.html

Matthews House, O'Leary

     This was the home of Lloyd (1916-1999) and Velda (1920-1974) Matthew, located on the corner of Main Street (O'Leary Road) and Gaspe Road on the east side of O'Leary.  
     Five years ago this house was destined for demolition and in very poor condition, then along came a new owner who did a complete restoration, returning to its' original splendor!

      Lloyd's father George built this house, he was a lawyer and had his law office on the second floor.

     Here's Lloyd's obituary...http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mnrrvn/Matthews-Lloyd-George.html
     Lloyd G. Matthews passed away peacefully on May 20, 1999 at the Community Hospital, O'Leary, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was born March 5, 1916, the son of George and Emma (Carruthers) Matthews, O'Leary. Like his four brothers, Lloyd served his country overseas during the Second World War. ( Lloyd and his four brothers served oversea in WWII - miraculously, they all returned home )
     In 1935, he opened "The Little Gypsy Tea Room" in O'Leary. He also operated a shore store in Tatamouche, N.S. and in 1947 he joined his cousin in opening a Clothing and Footwear Store in O'Leary. In 1958, he became Post Master at O'Leary Post Office, a position he held until his retirement in 1980.
Lloyd was very active in community affairs having served as president of the Royal Canadian Legion, O'Leary, a Scoutmaster, a member of the Corinthian Lodge, a charter member and fomer president of the O'Leary Lion's Club, a director of A.M.R. and a founding member of Maple House Inc., a sheltered workshop for adults. He was a faithful member and strong supporter of O'Leary United Church.
In his leisure years, he became a skilled craftsman and made many unique articles for the craft industry. For several years he thoroughly enjoyed spending the winter months in Florida as well as other travel and camping experiences during the summer months.
     Precious memories of Lloyd will include his friendliness, his interest in people, his keen sense of humor and his many acts of kindness to family and friends. In the last year of his life he continued to be exceptionally alert and demonstrated his usual keenness of mind as he became computer literate.
     He was predeceased by his first wife, Velda, in 1974. From that marriage he leaves to mourn two daughters: Lloydia Scavuzzo, Summerside, and Nadine (Dale) Dennis, Knutsford; and one son, Kevin, Knutsford. He was a loving grandfather of Melissa (Ashley) Keenan, Crystal and Denice Dennis, Linda and Derek Scavuzzo, and Molly Matthews and great-grandfather to Ashton Keenan and Leah Esser. A son, Gary, predeceased him in 1974.

MacDonald House, O'Leary

     I took these photos of the MacDonald House at 478 O'Leary Road in the Village of O'Leary on April 29, 2010.  It was demolished in the summer of 2010.
     The little gabled house had many nice features from the square bay with narrow, paired, single-hung windows; to the matching roof over the front door /w transom; to the gable window with peaked top trim.

Note the eave bracket trim.

Former Steadman's building in O'Leary demolished

     Another old building was demolished in O'Leary in mid December.  In recent years this old abandoned store has become an eye sore and was recently ordered demolished by Village Council.
     The following is from the Journal-Pioneer newspaper on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.

cf. http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

Equipment claws away at the former Stedman's building in O'Leary Tuesday.  Reacting to safety concerns expressed about the structure, O'Leary Council issued an order in October for the building to be repaired of town down.

FORMER STEDMAN'S BUILDING IN O'LEARY DEMOLISHED

by Eric McCarthy/ Journal Pioneer

O'LEARY - Demolition equipment made quick work Tuesday of a vacant building in the heart of O'Leary's business core.

The former Stedman's department store building, which measured 80 feet by 80 feet and over 60 feet high at the peak, had most recently operated as a liquidation centre.  It had gradually been stripped of its roof shingles and siding in recent months and was no longer in operation.

Its condition had prompted neighbouring businesses to raise safety concerns with the community council.

Council issued a letter to the property's owner on Oct. 22, ordering that the building be fixed or torn down within 30 days.

Equipment moved onto the lot Monday and went to work Tuesday.  Loads of debris were trucked to the former O'Leary dump property for subsequent disposal.  The Main Street property had been a scene of retail activity in O'Leary since early in the 1900s.

Florence Turner, a longtime O'Leary resident, said Bill Kennedy operated a store there as early as 1913 or 1914.  It subsequently burned and Hal Jelley opened a large store there to sell furniture and other merchandise.  When that burned,, Jelley built another store on the property and sold half of it to Denziel MacNeill in 1963.

MacNeill acquire the rest of the building the following year and operated a clothing and general merchandise store for many years.

It went through three more owners since then.  A doctor's office occupied part of the property for about two decades.  There was also a pharmacy in the building a few years ago.

O'Leary Community Council chairman Stanley MacDonald expressed optimism that the owner will see fit to develop commercial space on the prime piece of real estate.

Charlottetown developer and one of the owners of the building, Cliff McQuaid, said he has no plans for the property.  He siad there were plans when they purchased it, and that was to relocate the O'Leary Liquor Store to the site, but those plans fell through.

Equipment claws away at the rear of the former Stedman’s building in O’Leary Tuesday. Eric McCarthy/Journal Pioneer

cf.  http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2012-12-18/article-3142875/Business-building-demolished/1

O'Leary Church of the Nazarene - moved in 1938

     We have alot of church architecture related stories in our local news and media and on this blog.  Here's another - a recent article in the West Prince Graphic, October 31, 2012 issue.  Page 13.   http://peicanada.com/content/west_prince_graphic

The Canadian Potato Museum, O'Leary

     We recently took time to visit the newly renovated and revamped Canadian Potato Museum  http://www.peipotatomuseum.com/index.htm in O'Leary.
     Last winter a major reworking of the museum took place in the form of a large new gift shop and cafe/restaurant; the Community of O'Leary Museum; the Canadian Potato Museum and the new Antique Farm Equipment Museum.  Also on the museum grounds is a heritage walk to visit four local historic buildings - Alaska School; Telephone Office, Chapel, Log Barn.
     Be sure to take time to enjoy the food in the Cafe/Restaurant - they have potato soup, potato biscuits, baked potatoes, hand-cut french fries, potato fudge, etc., etc.
     Adjacent to the Museum is a Community Park with playground, a mini walking trail and picnic tables - easily you can spend the whole day in the area.
     Here's their new new brochure...

See previous posts (Summer 2011) in this blog about the Potato Museum -

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/08/pei-potato-museum-oleary.html

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/08/oleary-telephone-office.html

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/08/alaska-pei-schoolhouse.html

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/08/log-barn-oleary.html

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2011/08/heritage-chapel-oleary.html

O'Leary Train Station for Sale

     I heard on the news last evening that the O'Leary Train Station is for sale.  Currently the station is owned by the Village of O'Leary and rented to a few tenants.  One of those tenants approached the Village to purchase the building.  So to be fair in the sale of the building they are having a third party handle the offers and decide who will be the new owner.  There doesn't seem to be any print information available online yet.

     Here's a photo of the O'Leary Train Station, on the left (the one on the right was the 2nd station, long since demolished), taken from Allan Graham best selling book, "A Photo History of Prince Edward Island Railway" page 79.  The book is now out-of-print but you may be able to find it in used book stores or online at www.abebooks.com
     The ISBN is 0-9687204-0-4.

St. John's Anglican Church, Ellerslie

    Yesterday morning my parents and I attended the morning service at St. John's Anglican Church in Ellerslie.  The church was built in 1899 by "Little Harry Williams" who studied architectural design in Massachusetts.  When my mother was young ( early 1950's ) she came to visit her cousins, the Grants, near here every summer and would attend church with them at St. John's - until yesterday she hadn't been here since.

     As we drove into the community from the Western Road I commented on the number of bull rushes in the ditches - Mom said she remembered going down to the Ellerslie store in the evenings and people would light them on fire for light - for Mom this was an unusual thing as she wasn't accustom to bull rushes - where they lived on the O'Leary Road in Knutsford there were few to no marshes or bogs near their home - this was an uncommon thing to her.

     The following comes from:  A Journey Just Begun: History of the Dicoese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island 1710-2010 by Brian Cutherbertson...
     By the 1880s the church at Bideford had become so dilapidated that a new church had become necessary. By 1893 John England had donated the site and a new church was in the course of erection. However, a Historic Churches of Prince Edward Island draws attention to the craftsmanship of Harry Williams shortage of funds slowed progress and it was not until 1899 that it was ready for consecration, which Bishop Courtney did on 2 July of that year. As already mentioned in the main text, H.M. Scott-Smith In his that is found in the complex shingle patterns on the facades and steeple, and the decorated frieze below the eves and the ornate window hoods that give the facades their depth of character. The interior is no different where the framing of the roof shows the shipbuilding ancestry of the builders, Edward England and Harry Williams. Upon its completion there were donations of communion linen, a church bell, kneeling benches, a new organ, a white spotted marble font and silver communion set with a box to hold it.

 Below:  The craftsmanship of the interior is amazing!

     Harry Williams built many homes and buildings in Prince County.  To name a few, he built the St. Peter's Anglican Church, Foxley River, Lot 11:

 I took these photos about a years ago.

     Also from A Journey Just Begun - the following information about this church...
Sometime before 1851 construction of a church was begun for which the Honourable James Warburton provided the leadership. Bishop Binney consecrated it in 1857. In 1909 the congregation decided to replace St. Peter’s with a new church. The foundation was laid the following year. Harry Williams was responsible for its construction. Although there were delays caused by shortage of funds, the new St. Peter’s was completed by 1914. Harry Williams designed the exquisitely ornamented interior. Immediately upon entering the church nave one’s gaze is drawn upward where fi ve superbly crafted ceiling arches, extending into the chancel with pews on either side capable of seating about 100 persons. The fi nely ornamented stained glass windows, however, probably provide the most outstanding beauty of the interior decor. From the vestibule to the chancel the light passing the light passing through these windows creates a sublime effect that seems to accentuate William’s skilled craftsmanship.

     There are many houses built by Harry Williams in the Tyne Valley area and further west he also built the Webb-MacDonald House in O'Leary.  See below.

     Williams also built the Arnold Wood House in West Cape and the Kennedy Wells House in Cascumpec.