Prince Edward Island
Recent Articles
The Lighthouse That Rustico Saved
The North Rustico Lighthouse was built to help mariners reach shore, but more than once, people on shore had to save the lighthouse itself. Storms threatened its foundation, and a replacement tower later threatened its future. Its survival owes as much to the community’s determination as to the strength of its construction. Built in 1876, […]
The House with the Arched Verandah
Behind a white picket fence and flowering garden, this ornate wooden house adds a distinctive presence to Victoria’s residential streets. Its arched verandah, upper balcony, and projecting bay window reflect an architectural ambition that sets it apart from simpler village homes. The house is believed to have been constructed by Charles Rogers between 1880 and […]
Victoria Range Light
For a captain approaching Victoria with a loaded vessel, seeing the harbour was only part of the task. Reaching it required finding the correct passage through the shallows. A small wooden lighthouse on shore helped make that possible, not by illuminating the water, but by giving mariners a line to follow. Built in 1879, the […]
Victoria’s Working Waterfront
Victoria’s waterfront has long been a place of trade, fishing, and travel. Its sheltered harbour helped the village develop into a thriving seaport, connecting the surrounding agricultural countryside with markets far beyond Prince Edward Island. By the late nineteenth century, three wharves served the community, supporting businesses whose livelihoods depended on access to the sea. […]
Lupines by the Shore
For a few weeks each summer, lupines bring bands of purple, pink, and white to Prince Edward Island’s roadsides and open spaces. Their tall flower spikes rise above the grasses, turning otherwise ordinary stretches of ground into memorable parts of the landscape. June is especially associated with their arrival, although flowering times vary with weather […]
St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church
At the edge of Victoria, St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church stands on a site associated with the community’s religious life since 1841. The first church was built on land donated by the Countess of Westmoreland. She also contributed money and furnishings, including a silver chalice. The building was intended for Christians of different denominations, […]
Anne’s East-Gable Bedroom
This small bedroom at Green Gables did not belong to Lucy Maud Montgomery, nor did a real girl named Anne Shirley ever sleep here. Instead, it has been arranged according to Montgomery’s descriptions of the east-gable room that became Anne’s first true bedroom in Anne of Green Gables. It is one of the places where […]
The Kirk of St. James
While walking through Charlottetown, I photographed the Kirk of St. James, a beautiful sandstone Presbyterian church standing on Fitzroy Street. The building caught my attention, but its story reaches far beyond the congregation that worshipped here. It represents the enormous influence Scottish immigrants had on Prince Edward Island. Beginning in the late 18th century and […]
Covehead Harbour Lighthouse
While exploring the north shore of Prince Edward Island, we stopped at Covehead Harbour Lighthouse in the community of Stanhope. It sits among the sand dunes of Prince Edward Island National Park, overlooking the entrance to Covehead Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At first, it was exactly the kind of scene I associate with Prince […]
Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum
Standing before this wall of books at the Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum in Prince Edward Island, I found myself thinking less about Anne Shirley than about the remarkable woman who created her. The books represent far more than a successful literary career. They tell the story of a life shaped by loss, perseverance, imagination, and […]
Green Gables
This year, Marty and I returned to Prince Edward Island, and a visit to Green Gables was a must. We had been here many years ago, when our daughters were young and we traveled to the Island by ferry. Anne of Green Gables and L.M. Montgomery’s Emily books were popular in our house, so coming […]
