Other Name(s)
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Links and documents
n/a
Construction Date(s)
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2008/08/20
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
Built circa 1890, on Main Street, in the commercial centre of the Town of Shediac, the Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store is a two-storey wood-frame vernacular building in the rural Classic Revival style from the late 19th century.
Heritage Value
The Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the town’s oldest commercial block, for its association with the Ouellet family enterprise and for its association with the arrival of the co-operative movement.
The block, considered to be one of the oldest in the Acadian Maritimes, is made up of four buildings: the Thompson-Landry Building, the Moulée Poirier, the Canada Customs/Ovila LeBlanc Building and the Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store.
The Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store is also recognized for its association with the work of its owner, tinsmith Ferdinand Ouellet (1849-1930), and for the use of the building as a tinsmith and hardware store by the Ouellet family for two generations. In 1882, Ferdinand Ouellet set up a tinsmith shop in Shediac in partnership with Clément C. Léger. In 1884, the partnership was dissolved and Ouellet continued on his own. Circa 1890, he constructed the current building, which served as both a hardware store and tinsmith shop until 1925, when his son Armand (1887-1955) succeeded him. They operated the tinsmith shop in the back of the building and the hardware store in the front. Part of the front section of the building was also used as the fashion boutique by Armand Ouellet’s wife.
This site has added heritage value owing to the fact that it witnessed the arrival of the co-operative movement in Shediac. The building housed the first Shediac Co-operative store in 1945-46.
The Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store was deemed important enough by the Province of New Brunswick that a reproduction of the original building was erected at the Village historique acadien in Caraquet.
Source: Shediac Town Hall, Historic Places File #26
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements that describe Ouellet Tinsmith and Hardware Store include:
- two-storey rectangular plan;
- wooden construction;
- steeply-pitched gable roof;
- commercial ground-level storefront with large windows and a recessed central door.
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
2005/09/26
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
n/a
Theme - Category and Type
- Developing Economies
- Trade and Commerce
Function - Category and Type
Current
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Office or Office Building
Historic
- Industry
- Metal Products Manufacturing Facility
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Shop or Wholesale Establishment
Architect / Designer
n/a
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
Shediac Town Hall, Historic Places File #26
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
514
Status
Published
Related Places
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