Cavendish, PEI
Located along the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the northern shore of Prince Edward Island, Cavendish is a small rural community surrounded by rolling farmland, red sandstone cliffs, sand dunes and broad beaches. Established by Scottish immigrants in 1790, it developed primarily as a farming community, shaped by the fertile land and the rhythms of island life.
Cavendish became known throughout the world through the writing of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Raised by her maternal grandparents in the community, Montgomery drew upon its farms, wooded paths and neighboring Green Gables farmhouse when she created the fictional village of Avonlea. Published in 1908, Anne of Green Gables transformed the landscape of her childhood into one of the most beloved settings in Canadian literature.
Today, Cavendish is both a popular summer destination and an important literary landscape. Green Gables Heritage Place, the site of Montgomery’s childhood home and the trails that inspired Lover’s Lane and the Haunted Wood are preserved as part of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish National Historic Site. Nearby, Prince Edward Island National Park protects the beaches, dunes and coastal scenery that helped shape her imagination. Cavendish is a remarkable example of how one small farming community, interpreted through the vision of a gifted writer, came to occupy a lasting place in the imaginations of readers around the world.
Recent Posts
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 Book That Made the Journey
This early edition of Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908, represents far more than the beginning of one of the world’s best-loved books. Looking at it after learning how Lucy Maud Montgomery’s manuscript reached her Boston publisher made me realize just how much had to happen before Anne could ever reach her readers. Montgomery […]
Rural Mailbox
For generations on Prince Edward Island, getting the mail meant going to the local post office. These small post offices were scattered throughout the Island’s towns and rural communities, serving as the place where letters arrived, news was exchanged and residents maintained their connection with the outside world. Then, in 1912, something changed. Prince Edward […]
Registered Mail Leather Mailbag
Before valuable or important mail could be tracked electronically, the postal service needed a physical system for protecting it. Registered mail provided that additional security, and a heavy leather bag like this was part of the process. Registered mail was intended for correspondence and packages considered too important simply to travel with ordinary mail. Money, […]
Office Sorting Case and Lockboxes
Before rural home delivery became common, receiving a letter often meant making a trip to the post office. Inside, the postmaster worked behind a wooden wall much like this one, sorting the day’s incoming mail into individual compartments and numbered boxes. The large open sorting case in the center was the working side of the […]
Green Gables Post Office
When we stopped at the Green Gables Post Office in Cavendish, I was reminded that before Anne of Green Gables could become one of the world’s most beloved books, the manuscript first had to make a very real journey off Prince Edward Island. Lucy Maud Montgomery completed Anne of Green Gables in 1905. She submitted […]
Hatbox Representing Montgomery’s Stored Manuscript
Before Anne of Green Gables traveled from Prince Edward Island to a publisher in Boston, there was a moment when the journey might never have happened at all. Lucy Maud Montgomery completed the manuscript in 1905 and began sending it to publishers. It was rejected several times. Eventually, discouraged by the responses, she stopped trying […]
Canadian Postal Uniform
While visiting the historic post office at Cape Traverse, this heavy woolen postal uniform caught my attention. Today we rarely give much thought to the clothing worn by the person delivering our mail, but on Prince Edward Island a uniform like this belonged to someone whose work continued regardless of the season. The dark wool […]
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 […]
