From the first time we strolled through the village of St. Martins,
I fell in love with it..
for it is more than just a seashore...
1844.. historically known as The Willows
... Older Architectural Beauties abound...
to fill the eyes with the creativity of talented creators from the past...
...we can still share in their visions come to be...
1850... the Rourke House
...still standing proud
1899... General Store since that time
...showing the life that came before
home of former train conductor... no train runs here now
... charming
1877...originally the Doctor's home and his Drugstore
..unfortunately, lost to fire, Aug/11
... historically, it had been the social center of the village...it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1900 and rebuilt exactly as before...
...it reads like a story book
...an old Captain's house
...imagine the stories
1890... The Overlook
...many built by shipwrights and Sea Captains
1857... after a villa on the French Riviera seen while on honeymoon
there are so many more Beauties....
Surf Cottage.. built as a wedding gift for a daughter
that will have to be for another time...
1880...Avon Hotel
...an old lovely that has seen better days...
***
...excerpt below taken from the Historical Society of St. Martins, New Brunswick...
"
St. Martins was settled in 1783 by a detachment of the King’s Orange Rangers... Loyalist soldiers from Orange and Duchess Counties, New York. The detachment had been posted to garrison duty in Nova Scotia at the end of hostilities in the American Revolution of 1776.
St. Martins was the third largest producer of wooden sailing vessels in New Brunswick.
Between 1803 and 1900, 517 vessels such as Schooners, Brigantines, Sloops, Yachts, and Cutters, were built and launched in over a dozen shipyards along the beaches, coves and rivers in and around St. Martins. Lumbering was also an important industry locally and a great deal of it was required to construct vessels of the size turned out by local shipyards.
Contemporary St. Martins is less populous than during its shipbuilding heyday of the 19th century. However, the village has retained much of its 19th century character. The vessels built here sailed all over the world and brought back ideas and architectural designs which the Captains, wealthy shipbuilders and mariners applied to the construction of their own homes. Those who could afford it (and there were many at the time), brought artisans from abroad who painted wall and ceiling murals in their homes and some exist still."
***
Sadly sixty buildings were lost during "The Great Fire of 1900", which started in Burchhills's Mill, a few miles from the village and burned through the woods until reaching the village..
