Pleasant Valley Memorial Church celebrates 30th anniversary

     On Sunday, September 11, 2016 the Pleasant Valley Memorial Church (formerly Pleasant Valley Methodist Church 1876-1925 / Pleasant Valley United Church 1925-1986 ) celebrated it's 30th anniversary of being a memorial church.
     Pleasant Valley United Church was closed in 1986 to amalgamate the Breadalbane Pastoral Charge into one newly expanded church in Breadalbane.  Two churches were closed Rose Valley United Church (now used as a summer home) and the Pleasant Valley United Church (at the time had 60+ children in Sunday School).

     The following article appeared in the Guardian Newspaper on Sat., September 10, 2016.

Church holds celebration marking 30 years being closed

     "A shining white church along the busy Route 2 highway, complete with flowerbeds, is holding a celebration this weekend to mark 30 years of being closed.  It will take place this Sunday at the church, starting at 2:30pm.  There will be music from a harp and small-pipes ensemble, plus a talk about the church's history and future.
     The congregation was devastated in 1986 when the United Church decided to amalgamate churches in the Breadalbane/Cavendish pastoral charge.  
     It meant closing churches in Rose Valley and Pleasant Valley to focus on the creation of a modernized Central Trinity Church in Breadalbane.
     Not to be sidestepped by decisions on high, a local group led by Dorothy Smith went to the United Church board and asked for permission to continue caring for the Pleasant Valley property.
     After some struggle with dis-belief, the group proved it could raise money for maintenance by contacting family of former members of the congregation, mostly living away, and raised enough to meet requirements set out by the United Church administration.
     Years later, the Pleasant Valley group received a massive donation from a family estate in the U.S. to help with restoration work."

Pleasant Valley Memorial Church - shingling complete

     The new shingles are all on the south of the church.  Note the scaffolding is still standing there - that's not part of the architectural detailing.

     Ricky Ellis of West Point has done work here for years - he specializes in Island church renovations and painting.  Below are two other churches he's carried out work on.  The first is St. Marks Anglican Church in Milton (designed by Wm. Harris) before & after- the church was completely re-shingled in 2008; the second image is of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Alma.

Pleasant Valley Memorial Church ready for new facade

     This week the Pleasant Valley Memorial Church, located on Rte. 2 in Pleasant Valley is having it's south facade re-shingled.  

     With the shingles removed you can see the outline of the original front porch/entry - similar to that of the 1864 South Granville Presbyterian Church (see photo below).  It's not known when the porch was removed and the new tower/entry built on. 

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     Below is an early 1920's photograph of Pleasant Valley hill in which you can see the Pleasant Valley Methodist Church (c. 1878) on the far left facing north; next at the bottom of the hill is the road to the community of Elliotts; up the hill on the left is the Methodist Church Manse (later home of Jennie Sharpe-Sherman); across the road is the home of Isaac and Catherine Sharpe (c. 1860/ moved 1999 nearby to Smith Rd., current home of Arnold Smith); at the bottom of the hill on the right is the Pleasant Valley School with outhouse; and coming up the hill behind the spruce tree is the Methodist Church horse barn - a safe place for your horse while you were in church.
    In the 1950's the church was moved across the road and up the hill eastward and now faces south.

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     OK - back to the existing church's facade.  There's lots to observe on these old hemlock boards - some near 17" wide, saw marks, old nails, etc.

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Here's a few photos I took around the church in September 2013.

     In 1986 the church was closed and became a memorial church - they have a summer service and occasional special services.

Arnold's Kitchen

    We were to Arnold's the other evening for a birthday party when I took these photos of his country kitchen - he has a great kitchen.  When he restored the house he intentionally didn't put light switches in the kitchen, all switches are beside the doorways/openings in adjacent rooms.

     Here he is busily working in his kitchen/pantry.  Note the anitque clay coloured upper cabinet to the left - many of the details on this cabinet were used in the new cupboards.  He and I built the clay coloured base cabinet to match a hutch he has.

Pleasant Valley Hollow

I came across this photo the other day.  It was taken in the late 1920's of Pleasant Valley Hollow looking west on Route 2 Highway.  In the photo from left-right:  Pleasant Valley Methodist Church; Methodist Manse; the Sharpe Farm; Pleasant Valley School; and behind the spruce tree across from the church is the horse shed belonging to the church.

The Sharpe House was built about 1860 ( on the top right of the photo ) by Robert and Jane (Jeffery) Sharpe.  Robert originally settled in Margate and following the death of his first wife he married Jane Jeffery of St. Eleanor's and moved to Pleasant Valley.  The origin of the community's name is unknown and Alan Rayburn has no reference for it in his book, "Geographical Place Names of P.E.I." other than its location from Charlottetown, however, at an auction sale on the property in the early 1980's a Bible belonging to the Sharpes was purchased by a relative and inside was written, "Pleasant Hill Farm".

Here are some recent photos of buildings found in the photo above.

Below:  Pleasant Valley United Church - formerly Pleasant Valley Methodist Church.  Built in the 1870's.  The church was moved to its present location, across the road and east up the hill in 1948 when the road was rebuilt - raised and widened.  When the amalgamation of the pastoral charges of Breadalbane and Cavendish took place in the late 1980's this church was closed to become the Pleasant Valley Memorial Church.  Special services are held here each summer along with the occasional funeral.

 Below:  The 1911 Sunday School Register from Pleasant Valley Methodist Church.

 Below:  The Sharpe House in March 1999.

Below: The Sharpe House being moved about 1-1/2 miles from Rte. 2 Hwy onto the Smith Farm on the Smith Road in November 1999.  At the time the owners had built a new bungalow right up beside the old house and were intending to tear the old house down if no one came forward to move it away.

 Below:  Sharpe House before and after.

Below: The family of Issac and Catherine (Nicholson) Sharpe.

 Above:  Isaac and Catherine Sharpe.

 Above: 2 of the 5 Sharpe sisters - Cassie and Mina.

Above: Isaac Sharpe standing on the sandstone doorstep - one hundred years later the doorstep is still at the Sharpe-Smith home.

 Above: Harold Sharpe.

Above: Cassie Sharpe with her dog.

Below: Irene Sharpe (wife of Harold) the last of the Sharpes to live in the house.  She died in 2011 at age of 105.

Below:  The Sharpe-Smith House today in it's new location completely restored.  See also: http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.com/2011/01/arnolds-house.html
http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.com/2011/12/connector-by-jane-ledwell.html

Below: The Pleasant Valley School on the MacKinnon Property - it was pulled to the back of this property and used as a barn probably around the time of School Consolidation in the mid 1970's.   Over the years the building rotted into the ground and by the early 2000's it had collapsed.