46 Alma Street

STREET ADDRESS: 46 Alma Street

CITY/TOWN/VILLAGE: Yarmouth

MUNICIPALITY: Yarmouth

COUNTY: Yarmouth

YEAR BUILT: 1862-1867

ARCHITECTURAL COMMENT:

Gothic Revival in style this is a one and a half storey building of wood construction. The steeply pitched gable roof has an eave-line and one large central dormer. The chimney is discreetly placed at the peak. The three bay facade has an off-centered doorway. The flat roofed veranda which runs the length of the facade, does not appear to be original to the house. The main windows are six over six double hung, trimmed with wide casings and plain sills. There are slanting shelves above and false shutters have been added. There is a three sided bay on the south side. A gable roofed ell extends out on the back, this contains the rear entrance and a second chimney. There are also two inset dormers with gable roofs. The house is clad in narrow, wooden clapboard and the foundation is constructed of cemented stone. The above ground exterior is faced with brick.

HISTORICAL COMMENT:

In 1862 Ensign Nickerson purchased this lot of land from Dr. Greggs J. Farish for $130. It is assumed that Nickerson built or had built this house on the property within the next five years, for when he sells the lot to Nathan Moses in 1867 it is valued at $1,300. Nathan Moses was one of Yarmouth's leading shipowners and was on the Board of Directors for the Acadian Insurance Co. from 1861 - 1881. In 1885 he was elected as a member of Parliament for the township of Yarmouth , and in 1863 he held the position of Justice of the Peace. In 1881 Moses conveyed this and several other properties to Robert Eakins in trust. Eakins sold the house in 1882 to William Rowe for $1,900. Rowe was the son of Rev. Rowe and was born in Sydney. C.B. Rowe learned the machinist business as a young man and later marine engineering. For many years he held a chief engineers position with the original Yarmouth Steamship Co. Ltd. In 1994 the heirs of William Rowe sold the house to Anne &William Harding. William Harding, a merchant, owned I. H. Goudy's Crockery Store on Main Street. In 1948 they conveyed the house to their son Ralph Harding who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. Several of Lt. Col. Harding's war medals are in possession of the Yarmouth County Historical Museum.

CONTEXTUAL COMMENT:

Situated on a small hill back from the road, this house is located at the corner of two streets. The house is partially hidden from the road by large hedges.

PRESENT OWNER: Jane Edward Crane

ADDRESS: 212 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6G2

ORIGINALOWNER: Ensign Nickerson

OCCUPATION: Mariner

BUILDER: Unknown

ORIGINAL USE: Residential

PRESENT USE: Residential

SOURCES: Registry of Deeds (Yarmouth); A. F. Church Map (1870); Yarmouth Telegram (July 2, 1924); Yarmouth N.S.: A Sequel to Campbell's History, George S. Brown; Records of Mountain Cemetery; Clement Doane's Scrapbook of Obituaries; McApline Directories (1890)(1895)