PLANT HOUSE*

Possibly Sydney’s oldest building has new owner

Steve Wadden – Cape Breton Post

* These were the same Plants whose offspring resided in Alder Point for many years and some are still living in Cape Breton.

A woman walks past 96-98 Charlotte St., Sydney, in this May 2010 file photo. The building may be the oldest in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

SYDNEY – A resident living just around the block from a historic piece of Sydney’s past has purchased the building in the north end neighbourhood. Esplanade resident Lexena Campbell bought the rundown rooming house at 96-98 Charlotte St., which is possibly the oldest building in the city, from Scottish Kings Real Estate Ltd. The building is currently under a demolition order by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

The Old Sydney Society was unsuccessful in its bid to buy and restore the property for residential or commercial use. A study of the wood tested at a dendrochronology lab indicated some trees used in the construction of the home dated back to the early 1780s.

The society has named the building Plant House, in honour of its first occupant, William Plant in 1786.

When reached for comment Monday, Campbell didn’t want to talk about her purchase.

“I’m just not ready to say anything yet,” she said.

However, the Cape Breton Post has learned she contacted the Old Sydney Society once the deal was complete.

“We have received (email) verification from the new owner of 96-98 Charlotte St. that they have purchased the building … and that they are considering their options over the next few weeks as to what they will be doing with the building,” society president Donnie Ward said.

“They haven’t told us what their options are, and in reply to this letter I have said that we hope one of their options is the preservation of the building.” – Donnie Ward

“They will be prepared to discuss with us their plans for the property when they finalize their plans.”

Ward said the tone of Campbell’s email seemed to indicate a willingness to work with the society to save the historical aspects of the building.

“They haven’t told us what their options are, and in reply to this letter I have said that we hope one of their options is the preservation of the building.”

The society made a detailed presentation to CBRM council last month in order to delay demolition to see if it could secure the purchase of the building. The deferred demolition order will be brought before council again June 15.

Last summer the upper floors of the building were extensively damaged in a fire which killed a 58-year-old woman.

A structural analysis of the boarded-up duplex noted the building was structurally unsound and wasn’t worth repairing.

Note: Here is a note from Jenny Pearo to me concerning this house that once belonged to Samual (2) Plant:

Hi George:
Dad and I attended the dedication in the cemetery yesterday.  It was well attended with many people dressing in period costume.  The model of the first Anglican church in Sydney Mines, made by Dave and Tish  Boutilier, has amazing detail – especially the inside with pews, altar and pot belly stove. 
The original church on Shore Road is long gone however; the original rectory is located next to the cemetery and is now a private home.  It was extensively renovated last year however;  maintaines the outside look and charm of the 1800’s. 

The cemetery on Shore Road has many graves of prominent first settlers of both Sydney Mines and North Sydney.  Samuel Plant (2) and his wife are both buried there.  You had a story in your blog a while back about the Plant families.  Samuel (2) was the son of wealthy William and Sarah Plant from England, who settled in Sydney, and was prominent in shipping along the Northside of the harbour.  In the past few weeks there was a story in the Cape Breton Post that a home located in the North end of Sydney, near Cossitt House, was built by William and Sarah Plant and could possibly be the oldest house in Sydney. 

OBITS – JUN 21, 2010

 

Obituaries for June 21st, 2010

Nina Lorella Ashford

Published June 21st, 2010

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James Russell Richards

Published June 21st, 2010

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Camilla (Shaw) McDonald, RN

Published June 21st, 2010

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James Colin ‘Collie’ MacDonald

Published June 21st, 2010

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Sister Edna Elizabeth Cormier

Published June 21st, 2010

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ST PAUL ISLAND

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                     St. Paul Island, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Discover the unspoiled and majestic coastline along the rugged north coast of Cape Breton Island from our dive base located in Dingwall on the scenic Cabot Trail. This particular part of Cape Breton is steeped in a rich and mysterious history. Between the tip of Cape North and the coastal community of Ingonish lie the remains of over two hundred shipwrecks and 14 miles off the coast is St. Paul Island with over 350 recorded shipwrecks.
Cape Breton Island is located at the extreme north east end of Nova Scotia on the rugged coast of eastern Canada. The island is 110 miles in length and roughly 87 miles across at its widest point. The whole of the island with the exception of the northwest coast, is in indented by deep bays and inlets often terminating in excellent harbours. The summer months from June to September provide the best window of opportunity for scuba diving and searching for shipwrecks.
It was on the morning of June 24, 1497 that John Cabot and his son Sabastian Cabot landed on the beach in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Aspy Bay and called the island “prima terra vista”. There is evidence that the Portuguese explorer Fagundes arrived in 1521 and attempted to settle Ingonish and St. Annes Bay. However old records recently unearthed in Spain now show that the Basque actualy crossed the Atlantic Ocean in pursuit of whales and discovered the lucrative fishing grounds of the Grand Banks. It is also believed that they also discovered and named the island of Cape Breton and they even penetrated the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 100 years before Columbus discovered America.
But the history of Cape Breton goes back much further than that. In fact over 900 years ago (that we know about at this time) there were other inhabatants over those years that included the Maritime Archaic Indians, the Vikings, the Mic maqh Indians and possibly others. According to certain ancient Icelandic manuscripts, or Saga (as they are called) the whole of the eastern coast of America from Greenland to Nantucket, was discovered by Norweigan rovers in the tenth century, soon after the settlement of Iceland and Greenland. The country called Helluland, or Slateland in the Saga, was evidently Newfoundland; that called Markland or Woodland, was Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.
It is stated in the Saga that frequent voyages were made during the eleventh and twelfth centuries to various parts of the newly-discovered countries and that in 1347, a vessel returning from Markland with a cargo of wood was wrecked on the coast of Iceland. As Cape Breton is the nearest land to Iceland which produces any wood, it is reasonable to conclude, if the Saga are worthy of credit, that the island was well known and visited by the Norsemen at least 600 years ago. There is a great deal of research that records English, French, Spanish and Portugese ships exploring and even attempting to settle parts of Cape Breton Island throughout the 15th, 16th and 17th Century. Some even wrecked here. With a history dating back over one thousand years, Cape Breton Island is one of the oldest and most historical parts of the world and historians speculate there may be in excess of 1000 ships wrecked on Cape Breton Island alone.

                      

 

 

 

 

 

               St. Paul Island (aerial view)

  One of the earliest recorded shipwrecks (that we know of at this time) to occur on Cape Breton Island was the 70 ton English warship the Chancewell which wrecked on June 23, 1597. Historians and scholars have narrowed the suspected site of this wreck down to two possible areas: St. Anns Bay or possibly near Ingonish. To date it has never been found and while not a treasure ship, its historical significance is of paramount importance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Scott Fitzgerald, since 1996 the museum have used his expertise and his boat the “Meg and Kel” for all their day trips and expeditions to St. Paul Island and around Cape North.

Cape North and Aspy Bay

Cape North lies at the north eastern extremity of Cape Breton Island and rises abruptly as a rocky headland to a height of 1100 feet. It has no shallow water at its base, but around to the eastward at Money Point a few rocks show themselves. To the Mic maqh Indians Cape North was called Uktutunook or “highest mountain”. Other versions like “Cape du Nord” and “Cape North” are simply descriptive names given to that area and the beauty of the landscape cannot be overstated. Cape North was first settled in 1812. Similarly, Aspy Bay was known as Wegwaak or “turning suddenly”. The French knew the area as Havre d’ Aspe or D’ Achepe which may have been patterened after the Mic maqh word for codfish, apaqo or apago.
To the Basques who fished in these waters, it was Pic d’ Aspe after the Pyrenean mountains of the same name. Regardless of it’s origins it is easy to see how the English arrived at the name “Aspy Bay” although the orgin of their other name for the region, “Egmont Bay” is unknown. However to mariners, it can be particularly treacherous and in addition to the topography, a pecular phenomenom at Aspy Bay gave early sailors an extra reason for caution.
The bay is over 8 miles across and 4 miles deep. Along its shores, Atlantic storms have swept a mass of fine sand, which forms a beautiful beach. At places this sand is found to be of a black color, very heavy, and possesing a metallic lustre, and is to all appearance, iron in a comparatively state. It is probably on this account that compasses will not work properly at any part of this bay, in consequence of which if proper notice be not taken, much property may be lost. In the month of September, 1882, two large steamships took shelter in the bay during a stormy night, and in the morning, the Captain and one of the crew came ashore, seeking assistence, assurring the people that his compass was of no service to him.
Nestled in the heart of Aspy Bay is the coastal fishing community of Dingwall. One of several settlements on Aspy Bay, the name “Dingwall” originates from Scotland, which was the supposed birthplace of the much-maligned King Mac Beth. Norse in origin, the name “Dingwall” comes from Ting (parliament) and Voir (valley). From there, a thousand years ago, the Vikings governed the north. These Vikings also crossed the Atlantic and roamed the shores at the top of Cape Breton Island. They got word back to Europe by way of the Norse sagas, which spoke of Vinland and Markland. About 800 years later Scottish settlers came to these shores.
On old maps from the early 1800’s it was known as Young’s Cove. Among the first settlers and grantees for land was Walter Young in 1827. Later in the late 1870’s a Mr. Robert Dingwall who kept a small general store there, made an application for a post office, and suggested to the government that the place be named Dingwall. By provincial statute, chapter 55 in 1883, the name of Young’s Cove was changed to Dingwall. Today fishing and tourism are the main industries. Dingwall is also where one of the richest shipwrecks in this hemisphere occurred, the ship was called “Auguste” and it wrecked in a vicious winter storm back in November of 1761.

CONTACTS

Now that I have expanded my BLOG coverage to include all of Cape Breton Island I am confident more people will want to join and provide me their e-mail addresses. The difficulty I have of course is finding them. So, if you know someone who either lives in Cape Breton or away and you think they may be interested in reading from time to time about Cape Breton, please send me their e-mail address.

Also, you may be harbouring stories and genealogical backgrounds that may be of interest to others. By all means send them to me for review and just maybe we can get them out to others to enjoy. Thank you,

Caper

OBITS – JUN 18, 2010

Obituaries for June 18th, 2010

 

 

Mary McPherson

Published June 18th, 2010

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Lenora ‘Pearl’ (Vokey) Gallant

Published June 18th, 2010

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Jim Doyle

Published June 18th, 2010

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Rita McGillivary

Published June 18th, 2010

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TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH

SYDNEY MINES — A church anniversary will be honoured, Sunday, by one Anglican couple’s special project.

Julie Collins – Cape Breton Post

Dave and Tish Boutilier are shown with a replica they made of the original Anglican church in Sydney Mines.

With this year marking the 300th anniversary of continuous Anglican worship in the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Trinity Anglican Church in Sydney Mines will mark the anniversary with a heritage service, Sunday  at Trinity Cemetery, Shore Road.People who attend the service are encouraged to dress in clothing from that time period.

During the service, Dave and Tish Boutilier will unveil a replica they built of the original Anglican church, which opened in 1843.

“We started work on the replica in January,” said Dave. “We built it to scale from pictures of the original church. It was time-consuming, but we didn’t stay at it for long periods of time. We enjoyed the challenge of making the replica.”

The interior of the church includes the pews, pulpit, the baptismal font and the lectern.

“We picked stones from Indian Beach for the cobblestone walk and they fit perfectly,” he said. “We are members of Trinity Anglican and wanted to do something that would mark the long history of the church and commemorate this significant anniversary of the Anglican diocese.”

The model will be blessed and permanently displayed at Trinity Anglican Church, Queen Street

OBITS – JUN 19, 2010

Obituaries for June 19th, 2010

Vivian Jessome

Published June 19th, 2010

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Phyllis Matheson

Published June 19th, 2010

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Raymond ‘Sandy’ Blackwood

Published June 19th, 2010

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Anthony ‘Tony’ Hawrylak

Published June 19th, 2010

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Sadie Long

Published June 19th, 2010

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Daniel MacKinnon

Published June 19th, 2010

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Pauline ‘Polly’ Penny

Published June 19th, 2010

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Justice Charles Denne Burchell

Published June 19th, 2010

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Catherine ‘Kay’ Corkery

Published June 19th, 2010

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Arlette Hannan

Published June 19th, 2010

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Donald ‘Don’ MacVicar

Published June 19th, 2010

For details click on to: Cape Breton Post

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MY RETURN

         LCdr George T. Fraser – 1975 CFB Kingston

Many of you may recall that back in February, 2010 I signed off and told you I was entering hospital for major surgery and that I might or might not be back.

Through the Grace of God and your prayers and best wishes I made it and am now at home recuperating and if I dare say so, feeling quite good.

Allow me to bore you with what happened surrounding my operation. As many of you may recall this was my third bout with cancer. Colon, neck and this one the throat. I sat with the two top surgeons at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Toronto who advised me they could operate with a good chance of success but that failure was a possibility. I asked what was the alternative to the surgery and they told me two months and I would be dead. They advised me to go home and think about it. I did and discussed with Carmen and decided to go for the surgery. I didnt want to use up many days of the two months  grace they gave me so made up my mind very quickly and called back to PMH and said, “let’s get it on.”

March 3, I was admitted to the Toronto General Hospital. March 4, I underwent an eleven and half operation. The result of which is that they removed my tongue and voice box. I will never speak again nor be able to eat solid food. Also of utmost concern to me was that I lost forever my Cape Breton Accent. I knew this going in and decided that I could live with that and was not yet ready for the alternative. I spent 28 days in hospital and was released April 1, in time to enjoy Easter Weekend with visitors; Marilyn and Jim Broderick, Judy and Ed McCready (my sisters) and my brother Doc (Simon). After describing what I would like to have in our rec room to enable me to speak to folks, my nephew Mark Watson knew exactly what I wanted and went out and purchased a HD TV and a wireless keyboard. These combined with the appropriate lap top enables me to sit in my chair and display on screen what I want to say. All present can read it. Works very well. While in hospital Carmen learned of  this program where text can be converted into voice. Mark downloaded the FREE version and I played with it. Since then I upgraded for $50.00 which provides for clearer voice and a definitely better program. It is quite simple, you just type your thoughts down and then make a phone call and activate the program with your PC speaker adjacent to the phone. Works great after the initial shock of the recipient. It is like telephony you talk and when finished the other chap talks and so on and so on.

With Carmen’s TLC and patience I am doing quite nicely. I feed myself through a feeder into the stomach seven 250 ml cans per day. In addition and on a regular basis, I have tea, water, chocolate milk, ice cream, juices and ice cream and puddings. Carmen has blended strawberries, rasberries and rhubard which all goes down nicely. I at times even have a sensation of taste and smell. Strange, if I burp I can smell the food and get a taste as well. Great thing is that I am now back driving and have no pain and have started some light exercises. I do have a permanent hole in my throat/chest area which enables me to breath – no swimming or it’s curtains. The specialists tell me this will give me another eight to ten years – we will see.

Now back to reality. Many of you have been wondering when I might be reactivting my Blog and I have been tossing the idea around for some time. In order to come back on stream I will no doubt be able to continue to publish items that might be of interest to you about Alder Point and area but I will be obliged to go a little further afield and discuss topics of interest about our beloved Island – Cape Breton. In keeping with this new approach, I have renamed the Blog “Cape Breton News”.

My offer still stands, if you have thoughts and suggestions of issues that you think may be of interest, scribble them down and get them off to me. In the meantime, I should again like to thank you all for your generous prayers, best wishes, emails and supportive thoughts over these past months.

BLOG STATUS

Good morning folks:

This is to inform you that I am shutting down my Blog for now. I have been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor at the back of my throat. This will require extensive and major surgery. If all goes well I will be back with more yarns, if not then it has been a blast. God bless.

George