A Hudson Bay Company building, a historic community lodge, and two family homes: meet NL's latest heritage properties.

Heritage NL designates four properties as Registered Heritage Structures

Four historic properties in Cartwright, Pouch Cove, Fortune Harbour, and Summerside have been awarded heritage designation by Heritage NL.  The designations include a Hudson Bay Company building, a historic community lodge, and two family homes. 

The Cartwright Hudson’s Bay Company Staff House was built in 1926 for staff of the HBC under district manager (William) Ralph Parsons (1881-1956). Parsons, a native of Bay Roberts, began as an apprentice clerk with the HBC  in Cartwright at the age of 19 and soon rose through the firm’s ranks. The Staff House is believed to have been built by a crew from Coley’s Point, led by a Greenland, who had previously built a school in nearby Muddy Bay. In addition to staff and visitors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Staff House was home to a Newfoundland Ranger and his wife in the late 1930s.  During World War II the house was rented by the Royal Canadian Air Force for $15 per month, during which time two towers were erected on either side for use in aerial navigation.

The Pouch Cove Clifton Lodge (Society of United Fishermen’s Lodge #46) has the distinction of being the only SUF lodge built in the district of Cape St. Francis. The Lodge was founded in 1900 and named after James A. Clift, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge in St. John’s.  The existing building was constructed from 1924 to 1926 to replace the original lodge that was opened in Pouch Cove in 1900. In addition to voluntary labour and donated building materials, its original construction cost was $700!  In addition to SUF meetings the building hosted Women’s Sewing Circle events, political meetings, trap berth draws, concerts, wedding receptions, soup suppers, dances, movie showings, and various other community meetings, social gatherings, celebrations and events, until the mid 1970s.  

Gillespie/Ballard House in Fortune Harbour was likely built for the Gillespie family sometime between 1830, when the first Gillespie (Mary Gilasby) was recorded in Fortune Harbour, and 1850. The house was purchased by Nellie Ballard, a native of the now-abandoned community of Fleury’s Bight, and has remained in the Ballard family for three generations. The Gillespie/Ballard House is an excellent surviving example of a true “second generation” style of saltbox. Houses of this type resemble earlier saltboxes in form but are generally larger in both footprint and height. On the rear, a continuous roof slope descends from the peak to a one-storey linny. 

Loder Homestead was first settled by John and Mary Ann Loder around 1850 when the couple moved their growing family from the area of Gilliams/Meadows to become Summerside’s first permanent residents. After some success in fishing, sawing, and boatbuilding the family built the present house in the 1860s or 1870s. By the 1930s, the Loders acted as general merchants for the area, and the house was continuously occupied by the family until the mid-1990s.

“The buildings that are designated are important parts of our history,” says Dr. Lisa Daly, Chair of Heritage NL. “They reflect multiple parts of our culture, such as mercantile histories, the fishery, and community partnerships and organizations, demonstrating varied architectural styles that reflect this place, our people, culture, and environment.”

Heritage NL was established in 1984 to preserve one of the most visible dimensions of Newfoundland and Labrador culture - its architectural heritage. Heritage NL designates buildings and other structures as Registered Heritage Structures and may provide grants for the purpose of preservation and restoration of such structures.

 

Remembering the Pouch Cove SUF hall

SUF Parade, Pouch Cove, 1955

Do you remember the concerts and times at the old Society of United Fishermen's hall in Pouch Cove? Did you dance there, or have a reception there? Do you know someone who was a member, or remember parades? Come celebrate the history of the SUF, meet former members, have a cup of tea, and maybe even sample some traditional sweets!

Bring any old photos, member's certificates, or SUF memorabilia, and the Pouch Cove Heritage Society will take photos or scan it, to help record the important place of the SUF in Pouch Cove history.

Thursday, July 18th - Remembering the old SUF hall
7:30pm, Anglican Church Hall, Pouch Cove

Organized by the Pouch Cove Heritage Society and Heritage NL.
Free event

Facebook Event Listing
https://www.facebook.com/events/370007783714726/

Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer, Pouch Cove 1954 #Folklorephoto

028.03.013 Alex H. J. Gruchy, Delcie Squires, and Pearl Squires in front of Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer, Pouch Cove. 1954
Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives 

These two photograph are from the Allen and Pearl Squires fonds at the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives. Allen and Pearl visited his home town of St. Philips, taking 35mm slided in 1954 and 1962. The slides show the couples travels around the Avalon Peninsula including Pouch Cove. The above photo shows the Pouch Cove shop Alex C. Gruchy General Dealer in 1954. Allen Squires and Alex Gruchy served together in WW2 as part of the 166th Newfoundland Field Regiment Royal Artillery. Below is a photograph from Allen and Pearls 1962 visit, showing Allen Squires, Alex and Jean Gruchy with their children and a friends baby.

 028.03.132 - Alex and Jean Grouchy and their son and daughter and friends baby and Allen Squires (in suit) in. Pouch Cove. August 12th 1962. Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.  

Are you from the Pouch Cove area? What do you remember about the Gruchy's shop?

For more information on the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives, contact the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator Julie Pomeroy.

~Kelly

Living Heritage Podcast Ep027 Cod Liver Oil and Mobile Apps.

Gail Everson, formerly a Hudson, she is a lifetime resident of Pouch Cove. Her family owned and operated 3 Cod Liver Oil factories in Pouch Cove, Bauline and Cape St. Francis from the late 1800s until the mid 1960s. Dr. Margot Duley is a graduate of MUN and the University of London where she received a PhD in history. She currently lives in Pouch Cove, a community that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her ongoing writing in Newfoundland history. The Pouch Cove Heritage Society is a non-profit community association founded in 2009 to assist residents of Pouch Cove identify and protect local heritage. Some of the community activities to date include commemorations of the Waterwitch shipwreck and rescue, Pouch Cove Heritage Days, a heritage night with storytelling, a kitchen party, and events to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Sealing Disaster. The committee has conducted many interviews with local seniors, which form the basis of a book on local history. We discuss the work of Pouch Cove Heritage Society including the background history of the community, their oral history interviews, the development of a Smartphone App walking tour of the community, and the community’s book “Home by the Sea”.

Pouch Cove Heritage & Cod Liver Oil

Left to right: Gail Everson, Terra Barrett, Margot Duley.

This morning I had the pleasure of interviewing Gail Everson and Margot Duley of the Pouch Cove Heritage Society for the Living Heritage Podcast. Although this episode won’t air for a couple of months, I wanted to share a little information about today’s interview and a couple of pictures taken this morning.

Gail Everson, formally a Hudson, is a lifetime resident of Pouch Cove. Her family owned and operated 3 Cod Liver Oil factories in Pouch Cove, Bauline and Cape St. Francis from the late 1800s until the mid 1960s. Dr. Margot Duley is a graduate of MUN and the University of London where she received a PhD in history. She currently lives in Pouch Cove, a community that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her ongoing writing in Newfoundland history. Founded in 2009 the Pouch Cove Heritage Society is a non-profit community association which assists the residents of Pouch Cove in identifying and protecting their local heritage.

Gail Everson showing one of her grandfather's diaries.

Our discussion mainly focused on the Heritage Society’s work including the Pouch Cove Heritage Days, storytelling circles, kitchen parties, and a commemoration of the Waterwitch shipwreck and rescue. We discussed how the society created “Our Home by the Sea” which is an extremely popular book about the community of Pouch Cove.

One thing in particular we discussed was the importance of cod liver oil to the community. The importance of this industry led the Heritage Society to create a short video and app with the help of Chris Brookes and a grant from the HFNL. This app can be downloaded on iPhones and android. The listener can choose the armchair option if they are unable to walk through the community itself or the listener can choose to listen by location as they walk through the community of Pouch Cove. Make sure to check out the Pouch Cove Memories app here!

Paid stamp in an account book.

After the interview Gail brought out some of her grandfather’s diaries which included account books with the names of men who purchased supplies such as leather, calico, or overalls and a small book with a list of how much cod liver oil was processed each year. There was note on one page where a man traded cod liver oil for supplies at the Hudson Store. I hope you enjoy the photos and let us know if you have any memories about cod liver oil. Did you enjoy the taste? Have you ever helped process cod liver oil? Let us know in the comments or shoot us an email at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Account book.

Gail Everson and Margot Duley.

Directions for putting preservative with cod livers.

Exploring placemaking, the fishery, and traditional games

In the December 2014 edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) explores membership with the Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN); some thoughts on placemaking; the Outer Battery’s Charles Pearcey is designated as a Provincial Tradition Bearer; HFNL Announces Three Fisheries ICH Projects in Cupids, Pouch Cove, and Labrador; and Sharon King-Campbell declares war! (Don't worry, it is just a game.)

contributors: Dale Jarvis, Sharon King-Campbell

The newsletter is available here in PDF and other formats

Photo: Children playing “World” in Southern Harbour, Placentia Bay, 1987.

Photo courtesy Delf Maria Hohmann.

Pouch Cove Heritage Committee launches new book

Guest blog post from Dan Rubin

On Sunday, May 4th at 2 PM, the Pouch Cove Heritage Committee will launch a newly published book of local stories and images, Pouch Cove – Our Home by the Sea, at All Saints Anglican Church in Pouch Cove. Everyone is invited to attend, to help us celebrate this major achievement.

The book was developed and designed by six members of the heritage group, who have assembled material for a 186-page, richly illustrated history of the communities of Pouch Cove, Shoe Cove and Biscayan Cove from the time of their founding up to the present. More than fifty people contributed photographs, stories and documents for inclusion in the book. With more than 230 illustrations and a comfortable spiral binding, the book is being hailed by readers as a major accomplishment and a milestone for the community.

Pouch Cove – Our Home by the Sea has sections about Early Settlement, Fishing, Sealing, Local Merchants, Losses and Tragedies, Local Agriculture, Veterans, Women’s Lives, local groups and associations, the Pouch Cove Public Library, Schools, Churches and Church groups, The Pouch Cove Volunteer Fire Department, Sports and Recreation, Holidays and Celebrations, Health and Healing. In addition, the Cape St. Francis Lighthouse, Shoe Cove Satellite Tracking Stations, East Coast Trail and Marine Drive Park are highlighted. Collected Stories and Poems and a section of 22 pages of photographs of local families complete the collection. Introductory sections written by Pouch Cove Mayor Joedy Wall, MHA Kevin Parsons and Dr. Edgar Williams set the tone for the rich collection of information in the book.

As Kevin Parsons observes in his Preface, “This book does a wonderful job of highlighting the resilience, kindness and rich history of Pouch Cove and its residents. It is so important that the stories of our rural communities continue to be told, so that our children can know and understand how their parents and grandparents lived, how they persevered as a community through the hard times and how they also enjoyed the good times together.”

Copies of the book are available at local outlets and can be ordered online from www.pouchcoveheritage.org.