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Nelson Residence

60 Pitt Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, E2L, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2008/08/18

This photograph shows the contextual view of the building, 2007; City of Saint John
Nelson Residence - Contextual view
This photograph shows one of the windows with high ornamentation, 2007; City of Saint John
Nelson Residence - Window
This photograph shows the highly ornate entranceway, 2007; City of Saint John
Nelson Residence - Entrance

Other Name(s)

Nelson Residence
David Waterbury Residence
Résidence David Waterbury
Michael Melaney Residence
Résidence Michael Melaney
Rev. W.J. Stewart Residence
Résidence Rév. W.J. Stewart

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/12/07

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Nelson Residence is a small, one-and-a-half storey, Greek Revival/Italianate, wooden, side-gabled, single family home with an off-centred entrance and highly ornamented woodwork. It is located in a residential area of Saint John's Central Peninsula.

Heritage Value

The Nelson Residence is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture, for its association with David H. Waterbury and with E. G. Nelson and for the long tenure of the Nelson family.

The combination of Greek Revival and Italianate elements of this residence is unique. It is a side gabled symmetrical residence with eave returns. The eaves are denticulated and bracketed and the frieze at the roof-line is distinguished by a succession of Acanthus leaves. The large dormer has ornate cornice and fretwork near the gable. The elongated windows have entablatures supported by ornate scroll brackets with acanthus leaves and fish scale ornamentation. The entrance is highly ornate and has an entablature that shares the same elements as the window entablatures but at a larger scale. The doorway has sidelights with base panel, transom window and attractive paired wooden doors with moulded Roman arch panels. The original woodwork of the exterior ornamentation is notable for its high quality.

The first known occupant of this home was tailor, boot and shoe maker Michael Melaney. This home was purchased from Mr. Melaney in 1883 by David H. Waterbury. Mr. Waterbury was born in 1852. He received his first appointment to federal service in 1869 as a junior clerk in the post office. In 1881 he was transferred to the Department of Public Works, where he remained until his retirement in 1922. His duties included supervision of all Dominion Government properties throughout the Maritime Provinces. In 1869, at the age of 18, he enlisted a group of his friends to establish a lodge of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, which had only been recently established in Washington D. C. by a civil servant named Rathbone in the hope that it would heal civil war wounds between the North and the South. Waterbury inducted Supreme Chancellor Read and a fellow official to come to Saint John and set up a branch of the order here, the first in the world outside of the United States. By the time of his death, the order had hundreds of thousands of members. He is credited with having made the earliest foundations of the order outside the United States. At the time of his death, in 1952 at the age of 90, he was the oldest member of the Knights of Pythias in the British Empire. Mr. Waterbury sold this home about 1890.

This was the home of Edwin G. Nelson from 1893 until his death in 1904. E. G. Nelson was a local bookseller who rose to fame when he wrote and published the song “My Own Canadian Home” in 1887. It was known as Canada’s national song in the late 19th century and was widely sung in Maritime schools and played in an arrangement for bands. By 1896 more than 1.5 million copies of this song were sold. Though its popularity had faded by World War II, the song was revived and adopted as the official song of Saint John in 1967. Members of the Nelson family remained in this home until the 1980's.

Source: Planning and Development Department – City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Nelson Residence include:
- wood shingle siding;
- wide bracketed roofline cornice with dentils;
- wood corner boards;
- steeply-pitched side-gabled roof with returns;
- placement and proportions of vertical sliding wood windows with wide but plain framing;
- ornate window entablatures with dentils, small central acanthus leaf brackets and scrolled brackets;
- repeated trefoil and vine motif centred between each bracket in the roof-line frieze.

The character-defining elements of the dormer include:
- central gabled dormer with dentils and brackets under the eaves with same design as cornices throughout the rest of the building;
- corner boards;
- fretwork below the gable of the dormer;
- tall triple Roman arch windows.

The character-defining elements of the entrance include:
- entablature with projections over the pilasters;
- dentils under the entablature;
- rectangular transom window;
- multiple pane sidelights;
- scrolled brackets with acanthus leaves and fish scale ornamentation;
- egg and dart molding under transom window;
- heavy paired wooden doors with heavily moulded tall upper Roman arch panels and two square lower panels.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

New Brunswick

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NB)

Recognition Statute

Local Historic Places Program

Recognition Type

Municipal Register of Local Historic Places

Recognition Date

2008/08/18

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Learning and the Arts
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design
Building Social and Community Life
Community Organizations

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Saint John Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

1419

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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