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.

P.E.I. Lighthouse Society Brochures

Here are two brochures of the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society.  The first is current and the second an older one.

The following brochure of the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society is an older one with an old address - see above brochure for correct address and contact information.  I included this brochure for its great images.



West Street Revisited by Ruth Heartz MacKenzie

     I was to the another lecture last evening by the Architectural Institute and Conservation at Beaconsfield Carriage House in Charlottetown.
     The speaker was Ian Scott and the topic Spotlight on Streetscapes of Charlottetown.   Mr. Scott had an excellent presentation with many wonderful of images.
     One of the houses he talked about was Edgewater on West Street, home of Governor Heartz.  His daughter, Ruth Heartz MacKenzie, wrote a booklet about West Street and included photos of their wonderful house.  When I got home last evening I went looking for that booklet and sure enough I had a photocopy of it - here are a few pages that illustrate the grand house Edgewater which burned in February 1931.

Neil MacDonald's Mill, O'Leary

     When I was in O'Leary last week I took these photos. First is a scanned page from the book, "Threads of the Past: A History of O'Leary 1837-1992" - page 253

Below is a closer look at the text from the book, page 253.

     This large house is in the style of Colonial Revival (on PEI we call this house a "Fox House").  The house features, a hip-style roof; wide eaves with brackets; wide eave returns; a plan that's asymmetrical; single-hung windows; and gable 1/2-round window. 

     This house has some modern changes, ie. picture windows, aluminum siding, removed window and door trim and removed verandah and balcony detailing.

Below is the mill.  It features a grambrel roof with west facing gable dormers with round-top windows.  On the front/north end (facing O'Leary Rd) is a double door flanked with single-hung 2-over-2 windows and in the gable a modified palladian window.

Cape Egmont Lighthouse Ownerhip Meeting

Journal-Pioneer Newspaper – Published on January 9, 2012

http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2012-01-09/article-2858906/Cape-Egmont-lighthouse-ownership-meeting/1

Photo: Cap-Egmont Lighthouse - cf. Google Images

CAPE EGMONT – Residents of the Evangeline region will soon be asked whether they wish to take over responsibility for the Cape Egmont Lighthouse and if so which organization should take it over.
            L’Association touristique Evangeline (the local tourism association) will begin serious discussions on these topics during a free information breakfast Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8:30am at the Centre Expo-Festival in Abram-Village.
            To register for the breakfast, contract Bonnie Gallant at 902-854-3663 or at bonnie@rdeeipe.org before Jan. 17.
            The association said the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has identified 47 lighthouses and marine lights, including the Cape Egmont Lighthouse, as surplus and no longer wants them.
            It is first offering them to community groups that would want to assume responsibility for them.
            If no group makes an effort on the lighthouses before May 2012, the government will put the remaining ones up for public sale.
            Believing the Cape Egmont lighthouse has the potential of being developed into a tourists attraction, the ATE is interesting in seeing that the structure is saved.
            It wants to feel the pulse of its community on this matter and has already formed a committee to look at various development possibilities for the site.
            If the community decides to take charge of the local lighthouse, it will get until May to submit an official request containing 25 signatures, notes the ATE.
            Next, the group charged with the project would have a minimum of three years to develop and submit a business plan for the site.  If the plan was accepted by the government, the site would then be transferred to the group.
            During the breakfast, participants will be briefed on all conditions of transfer and legal responsibilities of such a takeover and as well as on results of research that has been done so far.
            Officials will then explain the various steps that need to be taken if the community is ready to accept the challenge.
            The ATE and RDEE Prince Edward Island (the provincial francophone economic development council) have been studying this matter for quite some time; they felt the timing was right to have a discussion about available options for the site with the community.
            These two organizations are ready to continue working on the lighthouse project to ensure its development and long-term success.

We need to Save ALL P.E.I. Lighthouses

     Here's a list of lighthouses that currently don not have community organizations to take the over from the Government of Canada before May 29, 2012 at which they will be slated for demolition and replaced with a post and a light.
     Carol Livingstone, President of the P.E.I. Lighthouse Society ( peilight@pei.sympatico.ca ) sent me this list  from their recent newsletter "The Guiding Light: Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society" 15th Newsletter Issue 2 Jan. 2012.

Here's a message from Carol Livingstone in her email:

...For those who are not already members of the PEI Lighthouse Society, I would like to invite you to join if you are interested in the preservation and promotion of our lighthouses, the artifacts , the stories, etc.  The member-ship is $35. a year. It entitles the member to two issues annually of the newsletter, a 50 % discount for two people at any of the nine open lighthouses (be sure to show your card!), and an opportunity to have imput into the future direction of these historic buildings Cheques can be made out to the Prince Edward Island Lighthouse Society and mailed to it in care of Carol Livingstone, 4290 Route 14 West Point, PE C0B 1V0.  My phone is  902-959-3117 and I am generous in sharing my knowledge about the lighthouses.

     You will find an up-to-date summary of the Island lighthouses as well as other news including a unique erosion control project at West Point Lighthouse.  We hope it will be successful and can be applied in other places. We love to hear from you and can include your pictures, comments, etc. if you wish.

     For those who are interested in learning more about the divestiture of the lighthouses, I urge you to go to www.parkscanada.gc.ca   Click on Heritage Lighthouses of Canada and look up the Petition Process. Remember, the first step is to form a group of 25 adult Canadian to submit a petition to have the lighthouse declared a heritage lighthouse.  I compare it to an adoption process.  The signers do not have to live in the same province as the lighthouse is located. The Coast Guard will still be responsible for the cost of the electricity to operate the navigation light.  It is essential to get the petition in before May 29, 2012.  You can prepare your business plan and do other things after that date.

Don't forget: 

THE LIGHTHOUSES HAVE LOOKED AFTER US FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS

NOW IT IS OUR TURN TO LOOK AFTER THEM.

Keep in touch,

Lighthouse Carol