Station Agents House, Cardigan

     Here's the Station Agent's house in Cardigan.  This was a standard design built in many Island communities with a train station.  I have identified about a dozen agent houses still remaining.  
     I took this photo last week when visiting Cardigan.

     Below is an excerpt from, Highlights of Cardigan Area By Beth Brehaut, Page 8:

"The station house, which housed the station agent, was built when William Flynn was the agent between the late 1890's and the early 1900's. Noel Wilson was the last station agent in Cardigan and he purchased the station house for his home after the station closed."
     See also a previous post in this blog on other Station Agent Home's on the Island...

http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.ca/2014/07/station-agents-house-1904.html
     Charlottetown architect, C.B. Chappell, designed this house in 1904 - the drawings below came be found at the Prince Edward Island Public Archives & Record Office.

Public Archives 2014 Almanac & Miscellany Celebrating 1864

     There's a new Almanac from the Public Archives - here's information and the link.

January 16, 2014 

http://www.gov.pe.ca/newsroom/index.php3?number=news&newsnumber=9405&dept=&lang=E

Public Archives provides a glimpse of the Island’s past

Tourism and Culture

A new almanac from the Public Archives and Records Office will provide readers with an overview of life on Prince Edward Island 150 years ago and will be a great addition to the 2014 celebrations, says Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Henderson.

“This new almanac gives a month by month accounting of important events that occurred here on the Island in 1864 and explores different themes including land issues, major towns and even fashion,” says Minister Henderson. “It is an excellent resource for history buffs and for anyone that has an interest in learning about life on Prince Edward Island in the mid-1800s, or keeping a diary of events and activities in 2014. It also aligns perfectly with one of the primary goals of the 2014 celebrations – honouring the past.”

One thousand copies of The Public Archives 2014 Almanac and Miscellany Celebrating 1864: A look at Prince Edward Island in the Year of the Charlottetown Conference will be published by the Queen’s Printer. Copies will be made available for borrowing from all public libraries on Prince Edward Island and will be given out at special heritage events throughout the year. A free, downloadable, electronic version of the Almanac is also available on the Public Archives and Records office website.

“Staff at the Public Archives conducted an intensive search of records to locate references to the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 and other important events held throughout that year,” said Provincial Archivist Jill MacMicken-Wilson. “The intent of the project is to make Islanders and visitors more aware of the important events of 1864 and the celebrations of 2014, and to perhaps introduce Islanders to the lost practice of record keeping in almanacs.”

Not only does the almanac provide a glimpse of the Island’s history, but it also gives individuals an opportunity to keep records of events in 2014. A monthly 2014 calendar is provided in each chapter as well as several blank pages for record keeping. There are also advertisements from 1864, diary entries, photos, clippings from various publications and other items from the Public Archives.

To celebrate, the Public Archives is holding a draw to give away 200 hard copies of the 1864 Almanac. To enter simply send an email containing your name, address and phone number to almanac@gov.pe.ca. The draw will be made on Heritage Day in February.

To download a pdf or e-book version of the Almanac, visit www.gov.pe.ca/archives.

      Also see Guardian newspaper article online...

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2014-01-16/article-3578799/New-2014-almanac-celebrates-1864-Charlottetown-Conference/1

McNichol-Best House, Cardigan

     The previous post of the Dundas farm may have a connection with the Best family (of Banting & Best, inventors of insulin).  Here's another connection the Best family has to Prince Edward Island - it's a house and property purchased by Dr. Best in Cardigan in 1973.

     The McNichol House of Cardigan is featured in H.M. Scott Smith's book The Historic Houses of Prince Edward Island on page 128.  ( sorry for the fuzzy photo - my scanner is not working - I took a photo ).  I will note a few excerpts from the book below to explain this house.
     The house is situated on the Cardigan River...It's a large rambling, multi-gabled house built partially of Island sandstone with multi-paned windows and a slate roof...It was built in c.1920 as a summer residence for James McNichol, a United States Senator from Philadelphia, and his wife, the former Margaret Donahue of Cardigan.  Senator McNichol died just prior to its completino.  In 1973 it was sold to the renowned Dr. Charles H. Best, co-discoverer of insulin.  Dr. Best died in 1978, but his daughter-in-law lived here after 1983.

     Below are drawings from the Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Record Office website.  http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/P0002287.jpg

Chapel Street, Tignish - 1911

     Here's a postcard of Chapel (Church) Street in Tignish - this comes from the McCord Museum website.  http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/collection/artifacts/CP824?Lang=1&accessnumber=CP824

     Below is a close-up look at the Catholic Mutual Benevolent Association Hall (C.M.B.A) located on Chapel (Church) Street.  Built in 1900, it was destroyed by fire in 1952 along with the O'Brien-A'Hearn Hotel to the left.  This photo comes from the Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office (PEIPARO) - an accession number was not provided. 

     The C.M.B.A. Hall has some interesting detailing from the store front styling on the main level with large windows and double doors complete with transoms; to the large central dormer with round top window and gingerbread trimming.  In the middle of the roof, being the focal point, is a tapered cupola topped with a railing and tall weather vane - there seems to be a clock on the front and round vents on the sides. 

     Below is a page from the book telling about the C.M.B.A. Hall, "Photo Historica" by Henry Gaudet.  Thanks for the info Reg!   Click on the image to enlarge.

   Below is another photo from McCord Museum's post card collection, this is St. Simon and St. Jude Roman Catholic Church 1906, also on Chapel Street.  The church was built in 1859.   http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/collection/artifacts/CP825

Digitized Architectural Drawings from PEI Archives

          The Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Record Office (PEIPARO) has a great collection of architectural drawings digitized and available online.  See below information, descriptions of the site and a few samples of drawings from their website:

http://www.gov.pe.ca/archives/index.php3?number=1020536&lang=E

Digitized Architectural Plans

            The following selection of architectural plans have been digitized from the holdings of the Public Archives and Records Office. Many of these properties are still standing today and several are registered historic places. Where available, links to the property descriptions in the PEI Historic Places database have been added to this page. To access these descriptions, simply follow the PEI Historic Places link under the property listing. A brief description of each plan on this page can be seen by hovering over the thumbnail images. Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions of the plans.

Alberton Train Station.  Chappell & Hunter, 1904. Acc3607/File 2 

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/P0002326.jpg

Summerside. 193 Fitzroy Street, proposed MacLennan-Hunt House. W. C. Harris, 1876. Acc33466/HF73.102

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/P0002304.jpg

Government House, Charlottetown. Isaac Smith, 1834.  Floor plan, 1856. 

Acc3466/HF72.41.3 

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/P0002264.jpg

Mrs. James P. McNichol garage, Cardigan. Chappell & Hunter, 1919. 

Acc3607/File 120

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/P0002285.jpg

Harry T. Holman retires after years of preserving the past

     The following article appeared in the Guardian newspaper on March 2, 2013 by Jim Day.   http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2013-03-02/article-3188968/Harry-Holman-is-retiring-from-government-after-years-of-preserving-the-past/1

     Congratulations and thank-you Harry for all you have contributed!!!

Harry Holman, who at 65 is set to retire April 8, grew up

in Charlottetown with a tremendous interest in history.

     Size, substance and surliness allow Harry Holman to easily stand out in a crowd.
     The tall, intelligent Charlottetown resident’s bow ties simply serve as punctuation to his standoffish public persona.
     Holman concedes his trademark attention-garnering ties are purely an affectation — just another way to separate him from the masses.
     “I’ve always liked the look of bow ties because they make me look different,’’ he said.
Well-known heritage activist Catherine Hennessey seems to relish sizing up a man she considers marvelous for his many achievements and maddening for his consistently off putting manner.
     “Just the walk of him, you can tell that there’s an arrogance there that you have to deal with,’’ said Hennessey.
     “And I sometimes bring him bread to buy his affection. You have to buy his affection.’’
     Still, Hennessey is clearly in awe of Holman’s talents as a writer (she thinks he is a great one) and as a speaker (very impressive on this front as well, she notes).
     Then, of course, there is Holman’s impressive run with the province, first as provincial archivist and director of libraries and then for the past 13 years as director of culture, heritage and libraries.
CLICK HERE FOR SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT HARRY HOLMAN
     He was responsible for arts and heritage policy and programs of the government of Prince Edward Island. He oversaw the Heritage Places Initiative Program for P.E.I., which now leads the country in the number of places listed on the Canadian Register of Heritage Places per capita.
     He drafted provincial Heritage Places Protection Act, Archives Act, and Archaeology Act.
     For years, he managed a full range of archives and library services through a network of community-based information centres and online applications.
     He boasts of culling together an array of valuable information that had been haphazardly scattered in different locations into a centralized “one-stop shopping’’ for everything from land records to legal records, and from government documents to genealogical documents.
     Holman, who at 65 is set to retire April 8, grew up in Charlottetown with a tremendous interest in history. His maternal grandmother, he recalls fondly, would talk to him “about what used to be here.’’
     Holman says he was honoured to be able to soak up the personal history of people across P.E.I. as he listened in on conversation after conversation around kitchen tables. In his adult years, he would continue his “eavesdropping on our past,’’ then share his observations through writings and presentations and provide advice and recommendations to ministers, deputy ministers, Executive Council office and the Treasury Board.
     “I think there is an innate interest in our past,’’ he said.
     “We have,’’ he added, “a healthy cultural environment in P.E.I.’’
     During his days of being a not terribly athletic youth who liked to read and hike, Holman was often left to his own creative devices.
     He was one of six boys in a family that grew by another five children after his father remarried a couple years following the death of Holman’s mother when Harry was only 12.
     His late father was prominent businessman Alan H. Holman, who was the last to work in the family business R.T. Holman Ltd. department store. Harry says his father dissuaded all of his sons to try to carry on in a family business in which the future did not appear bright. None would go on to pursue a career in retail.
     Harry says he and his brothers were far from coddled, noting that his father was not at all involved in his life or that of his brothers.
     “I think it made me somewhat independent,’’ he said.
     “Like my dad,’’ he added, “I think I don’t suffer fools gladly.’’
     It took some time for Harry to put his finger on what he would do with his life. He went to five different universities before finally getting a degree.
     “I waffled around for a long time,’’ he said.
     Theatre grabbed his attention early on with his most memorable role being Tom Wingfield in a production of The Glass Menagerie at the Prince of Wales College.
     He would later go to school at Ottawa Carleton where he performed on stage with Canadian actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd. While Aykroyd went on to enjoy great success on television and the big screen, Holman turned to the past to make his mark.
     After earning a law degree, the closest he came to legal work was working with the federal government where he administered departmental responsibilities under federal access and privacy legislation.
     He convinced his wife, Brenda Brady, to leave her job as chief librarian at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa to return to their native P.E.I. so he could take on the role as provincial archivist and director of libraries with the Government of P.E.I., a job he held from 1989 to 1999 before moving up to the position as director of culture, heritage and libraries for the next 13 years.
     “The whole heritage business is a complication,’’ noted Hennessey.
     “It’s built so much on emotion and love and everybody thinks that everything they have is very precious. Harry has to come down with the hard hand some time and say ‘yes, it’s good, but it’s not that precious. There’s 2,500 spinning wheels out there.’’’
     Retirement next month certainly will not see Holman sitting idle. He plans to continue doing a considerable amount of writing, including commissioned work and maintaining web sites on sailing.
     Boats will gleefully consume a good deal of Holman’s time as well. He has a great passion for sailing his 20-foot boat. He also builds small boats having already constructed seven dinghies and dory boats to date.
     Holman likes to dive into murder mysteries and books about “every day things,’’ like a book he read a while back called “The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance.’’
     He acknowledged that the book is not run-of-the-mill. Then again, neither is Holman.

     Here are a few tidbits about Harry Holman:
• Married to Brenda Brady. The couple has a daughter, Constance, who is studying cognitive sciences at McGill University.
• He has five brothers, including Guardian columnist Alan Holman, as well as James, John, David and Philip. He also has four stepsisters and a late stepbrother.
• He has written extensively, but certainly not exclusively, for The Island Magazine with articles including The Belfast Riot and The Island’s First Brewery.
• His professional memberships and associations include the National Advisory Board of the Osgood Society for Canadian Legal History, board member of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, member of the Heritage Canada Foundation and associate member of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

     I came across this photo on the back cover of "An Island Past" by Harry Holman.  Published by Square Deal Publications.  1978.  ISBN 0-920078-13-3.  

     Excellent photo Harry!!!!!