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Avery House

2370 Moran Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2004/12/10

Front elevation, Avery House, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2005.; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2005.
Front Elevation
Front elevation, Avery House, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2005.; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2005.
Front Elevation
No Image

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1868/01/01 to 1868/12/31

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2005/11/02

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

Avery House is a two storey wood shingle modified Italianate style dwelling. It is located on Moran Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This style of house is quite common on the street and surrounding neighbourhood. Avery House is part of a larger streetscape of other simple working class houses. The heritage designation applies to the building and the land it occupies.

Heritage Value

Avery House, built in 1868, is valued for its association with its occupants, in particular the Avery family. Reverend Francis Joseph Avery, a respected Baptist minister, and his wife Elizabeth Crowdy emigrated to Canada in 1873 and took up residence in Halifax. They resided in Avery House from 1873 to 1879. The Reverend was noted for his good works in the community and church and was the minister of the North Street Baptist Church until 1874. Avery left the North Street Baptist Church to help found the Tabernacle Baptist Church. Reverend Avery and his family removed to New York City in 1887 where he accepted a position with the Mariner's Temple Church in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

In addition, Avery House is also valued for its association with Dr. Oswald Theodore Avery, the son of Rev. Avery who was born in the house in 1877. He was ten years old when his family relocated to New York City where he went on to graduate from Columbia University and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1904. Avery preferred laboratory medicine and focused most of his research towards immunology. In 1943 Avery discovered that deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA, is the functionally active substance in determining specific hereditary characteristics. That same year he became a member of the Rockefeller Institute where he worked until 1948. He left New York City for Nashville to work with his younger brother Dr. Roy Avery, a bacteriologist at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Oswald Avery died in Nashville in 1955. Throughout his distinguished career he was involved in laboratory research and received many awards for his work and played an early and critical role in the molecular revolution in biology.

Avery House is valued as an example of the simple residential buildings common in the North End of Halifax. The façade has been altered over time and shows little of its original Italianate features with the exception of its shape. Avery House contributes to its street, which is lined with houses of similar style houses.

Source: Heritage Property File: 2370 Moran Street, Avery House, found at HRM Planning and Development Services, Heritage Property Program, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Avery House include:

- form and massing;
- simple exterior features;
- location among other similar houses.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NS)

Recognition Statute

Heritage Property Act

Recognition Type

Municipally Registered Property

Recognition Date

2004/12/10

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Philosophy and Spirituality
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Science
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Residence
Single Dwelling

Historic

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

HRM Planning and Development Services, 6960 Mumford Road, Halifax, NS B3L 4P1

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

23MNS0229

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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