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Online Heritage Inventory

Cannery House and Store

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Cannery House and Store
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Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: Cannery House and Store
Address: 2680 River Road
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Thompson
Construction Date: 1912
Current Owner: Private
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The Cannery House and Store is a one-storey, utilitarian, rectangular building located adjacent to River Road on the lot that contains two other related structures. It is part of a cluster of 5 historic houses which is an important historical feature of Terra Nova.

 Statement of Values
The heritage value of the Cannery House and Store lies in its historical association to the Terra Nova Cannery which operated on the Middle Arm between 1892 and 1928, and to the Terra Nova settlement. Terra Nova was an early farming, fishing and fish processing community which began development in the 1890s and which integrated both settler’s homes and cannery buildings in its settlement pattern. The House and Store is significant as a component of the remaining original group of five buildings consisting of early settlers’ homes and structures related to the Terra Nova Cannery.
The long narrow rectangular building form of the House and Store is important as being representative of the floating scow houses associated with canneries, and may have been relocated from the river onto land inside the dyke. The House and Store had multiple functions as a dwelling, supply store and cannery office. Mature trees at the front of the lot indicate its connection to the larger landscape of the original Lot 2.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The overall style of the house as representative of cannery related buildings, including its long narrow rectangular form and front gable roof
· Its location as part of the Terra Nova grouping of buildings
· Traces of a domestic garden landscape and significant maple and chestnut trees planted along the road edge in front of the building.

 History
The Cannery House and Store is a one-storey, utilitarian, rectangular building located adjacent to River Road on the lot that contains two other related structures. It is part of a cluster of 5 historic houses which is an important historical feature of Terra Nova.

 Architectural Significance
Architectural Style
Utilitarian Cottage

 Building Type
Domestic/Commercial - Retail

 Design Features
The Cannery House and Store is a long narrow rectangular building, a form typical of the floating houses associated with canneries. Its roof is a front gable with a side gable at the rear, and the roof cover is asphalt shingle. The structure has two chimneys, one central, one side offset. It is clad in horizontal clapboard siding and has cornerboard details and exposed rafter ends. The windows are double hung wooden sash, six over six. There is a small shed roof over the front door. The building is painted white; the original colour is unknown.

 Construction Method
Wood frame construction

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Landscape Element: Significant Trees, Character Garden, and Cultural Landscape

 Design Attributes
The Cannery House and Store has traces of the significant garden seen to the rear of the lot. There are significant maple and chestnut trees planted along the road edge in front of the building. As part of the grouping of buildings associated with the Terra Nova Cannery, this can also be considered a cultural landscape.

 Integrity
Alterations
Alterations are considered to be minor only. There is deterioration of the wood cladding, some settling, and the roof is in poor condition.

 Original Location
Yes

 Condition
The building is considered to be in poor condition generally

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook BLA, PBD (Public History)

 Date
Sunday, September 24, 2000

 Documentation
Inventory Sheets by Foundation Group Designs, January 1990
“Heritage Inventory Phase II” by Foundation Group Designs May 1989
“Richmond, Child of the Fraser” by Leslie J. Ross 1979
Richmond Archives Item no. 1977 15 33

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