Description of Historic Place

Finigan's Shoe Store is a wooden two-storey, vernacular Classic Revival commercial building with a front-facing gable on the primary commercial street in the Town of St. Andrews.

Heritage Value

Finigan’s Shoe Store is recognized as a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its role as a commercial establishment on the main street in St. Andrews for nearly 150 years.

Architecturally, Finigan’s Shoe Store is significant because it is an excellent example of Classic Revival style vernacular commercial architecture. Virtually unaltered since its erection, this building features large storefront windows and a recessed entranceway with transom light, all typical of this type of architecture. It was designed to serve the dual purpose of having the primary shop located on the ground level and additional space for storage or other uses above. The features of the upper levels are rather simplistic, resulting in the storefront receiving increased attention. The recessed entranceway is the primary attraction to this building and was an important element to allow for more window space for merchants to display their goods.

This building was built circa 1865 for Michael Fauls Jr. By 1872, it became Thomas Black’s grocery and dry goods establishment. Thomas Black died in 1908 and the building was sold to George B. Finigan in 1911. George Bernard Finigan converted the dry goods store into a shoe store. He was born in Freeport, Nova Scotia in 1873 and came to St. Andrews and became a prominent and well respected citizen in the town. Finigan’s shoe store was a St. Andrews fixture for half a century and one of their first specialty shoes that they advertised was Regal. George was a member of town council for 14 years. He died in 1941 and the store was then operated by his son Joseph. “Joe” Finigan was a local sports figure when he played for the St. Andrews Senators, the local hockey team. He was also proprietor of the local movie theatre for many years.

Source: Charlotte County Archives - Old Gaol - St. Andrews, New Brunswick, St. Andrews Historic Places file, “Finigan's Shoe Store”

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe the Classic Revival vernacular architecture of Finigan's Shoe Store include:
- two-storey rectangular massing;
- front-facing gable roof with moulded trim under eaves;
- corner boards;
- vertical sliding windows;
- symmetrical window plan;
- wood cladding;
- entrance flanked by large storefront windows;
- recessed entranceway with transom window;
- wood base panels below storefront windows;
- wood paneled doors with glass upper panels;
- slim moulded cornice over storefront level.

The character defining elements that describe the interior of Finigan's Shoe Store include:
- hardwood floors;
- shoe racks.