Still standing!

A few weeks ago there was a series of fires deliberately set in sheds and parked cars just a few blocks from where I live. This house got the worst of it.

When I first heard that a fire had been set in an abandoned shed on Queen Street, I immediately thought of my favourite little shed:

It sits quietly behind an empty little house with closed blinds and the name "Garland" on the name plate. It's been empty since I moved to town 16 years ago. 

Happily, the shed is still standing, so I snuck into the yard and took a bunch of photos.

 

Just in case!

Surprise!

It seems I have a few followers who miss reading my blog. Who knew? Amazingly, it's been more than a year since I wrote. I know why. I work. For most of my adult life I have worked contract positions, and normally have a six month (or even a year) off in between contracts, and that's when I get creative.Now I get to be creative at work and I really haven't had a whole lot of time off.

The best part of this job thing is my new sense of place in the community. It's quite satisfying to work where you live and to feel a part of things - to see things progressing and to know almost everyone wherever you go.

A quick catch up is in order. I last wrote in February of 2012. In March I had a museum booth at the McArthur Island Open House, inside the old Bates and Innes Mill. I'd never been inside before.

In April I took daughter #2 to Toronto for a U of T open house and we took an afternoon to tour the Distillery District. So amazing. I must have taken a thousand photos. I was in old industrial building heaven!

In May I parked the car on High Street and finally checked out this great red shed, standing newly visible in a field. It was full of treasures and I think a dead raccoon. Very smelly. It, of course, has since been demolished and the field is torn up and marked out for another lovely new subdivision.

In June the museum had a booth at the Lilac Festival in Franktown and I explored the drive sheds behind the old Anglican Church. They still had old feed signs tacked to the beams. The church was beautiful of course, but intact drive sheds are much more interesting!!

Next post, I'll get you caught up on the summer of 2012!

If these walls could talk!

The Carleton Place Canadian began publishing in 1876. That's just 9 years after Confederation. When I moved here it was a weekly - the only way to find out what was happening in town.

The Canadian has been bought up by a newspaper conglomerate and the office is closing down. I don't know exactly when the newspaper first moved to this location on Bridge Street, but I believe it was in the early 1920's. A long time ago.

The museum I work at was allowed to explore the basement and take anything relevant for our collection. My kind of work day! We got some great items but the greatest artifact was the building itself.

Down to the basement we went.

The plaster walls on either side of the stairway are covered with names of former employees, along with the dates they started work.

Some people preferred to carve their names for posterity!

The Findlay Foundry operated in Carleton Place from 1860 to 1974, producing cast iron stoves, furnaces and cookware. Have a look at this beautiful furnace - a Findlay's 205!

Naturally, people have signed the furnace!

There were lots of other neat finds like these original windows that would have been at sidewalk level outside. They've been covered up outside by siding and inside by a window seat.

Looking up in the basement you can see that the floor boards were laid on a diagonal.....

Here's some old issues of The Canadian (1934) used to stuff the cracks....

It's sad that the paper's days at this office are over, but it seems the building will retain it's memory as best it can!

Lunchtime wanderings

I love working alone in a big old stone building all day. But do I start to talk to myself, and ask myself questions (out loud) and so I try to get out for a walk at lunch everyday! I'm working on the "north side" of town, but live on the "south" side of town, so I'm discovering new things...

A renovation that shows a bit of the building's history...



A beautiful, unique home having it's crazy roof held in place while the porch is rebuilt..




A neat old fence post finishing off a wall of stone...



A great old two story back porch...



...and this interesting row of bricks, set on an angle, where the wall meets the foundation. I like it!

Franktown Road

The big old red brick home up on a hill always caught my eye as I drove along Franktown Road. I don't know it's history - it's been a rental for many years. Last month this big sign was installed in the front yard: MOVE IT! SALVAGE IT! DEMOLISH IT!...as if they are all exciting options.

I know who owns the house. I know the plan - a huge number of townhouses squashed onto the lot - I know I can't move it or salvage it and I know I don't want it demolished.
It looks very solid. Has two staircases. Original trim, including a gorgeous newel post and a fancy spandrel in the parlour...

It has the curved window tops and the carved limestone lintels that Carleton Place is famous for.


The brickwork seems in good shape, and it has it's old hand pump in the backyard.

Who's going to save it?

The Parsonage House

Another of Carleton Place's beautiful old homes is slowly dying. This pretty yellow frame house is on the north end of Bridge Street. It's been empty for many years, caught up in a war over Heritage Designation. It was originally the parsonage house for the Methodist Church across the street.


Peeking down the side of the house, you can see what were probably the original shutters...


The trim is so pretty, but every time I drive by, another chunk is gone...


The railing on the upper porch is almost entirely gone now.


Quite a bit of the original fence is still there though...


And the old coach house...


And above the front door the beautiful stained glass transom, proudly declaring it's title!

Something Missing

This is a little park area between our Town Hall (on the left) and our Youth Centre (on the right). It has a fountain, benches, and a few historical plaques along the river. To get the whole space in the photo I had to set myself up in a parking lot, so excuse the dumpster!

While filing at the museum I came across these photos of the same space from the early 1980's. It blew me away. I had no idea two houses (one gigantic...) used to be there. No idea. Were they there before the Town Hall was built? Who would allow two building to be built so close to each other in the first place? And why aren't they there anymore????