Description of Historic Place

Roberts Store is a wooden, two storey, low pitch roofed building with an associated wharf, (referred to regionally as a stage head) and slipway. Constructed circa 1922, it is located at 38 Water Street, Woody Point, NL. The designation includes the footprint of the building and the stage head.

Heritage Value

Roberts Store has been municipally designated by the Town of Woody Point, NL for its historic, cultural and aesthetic values.

Roberts Store is of historical importance because of its extended use as a fisheries premises and its association with the herring fishery. Built by John William Roberts and his sons around 1922, following a fire that devastated much of the waterfront in Woody Point, the store was, and continues to be used, for fisheries purposes, mainly for the storage of fishing gear. It is among the first structures to be rebuilt following the fire of 1922. It stands as a physical reminder of the importance of such structures to a way of life centred around the inshore fishery. Of particular interest is its past use in the herring fishery, an important but often overlooked aspect of the inshore fishery not normally commemorated in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Roberts Store is culturally important as it has sentimental and community value for the residents of Woody Point. In 1951, the first floor of the building was converted to a small grocery store by John William, while the second storey continued to be used for fisheries purposes. In 1955, following John William’s death in 1953, William L. Roberts (Uncle Bill) took over the existing business and also introduced a snack bar to the site. Roberts Store became a gathering place for teenagers in the area and it is said that many residents of Bonne Bay met their future husband or wife in this building over the twenty years of Uncle Bill’s proprietorship. Courtship stories set in the context of Roberts Store have remained a part of local lore, highlighting the structure’s value to the community of Woody Point.

Roberts Store is of aesthetic importance as it is a good example of an intact fishing store and stage head in the community of Woody Point. Such buildings were designed for practical use and had to endure the rigours of a harsh environment. The use of rough materials, simple design elements and utilitarian construction techniques exemplify these fishery buildings. It has further aesthetic value as it adds to the architectural continuity of the waterfront in Woody Point, a community in which structures were traditional orientated towards the sea.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file # 1802 - Woody Point

Character-Defining Elements

All elements that define Roberts Store's simple vernacular design including:
-low pitch roof;
-number of storeys;
-exterior narrow wood clapboard sheathing;
-corner boards;
-white exterior colour with red trim;
-window size, style, trim and placement;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors on harbour facade;
-wooden cribbing and post building supports;
-original form, scale and massing of store;
-dimension, location and orientation of store.

All elements that define the attached stage head’s simple vernacular design including:
-wooden plank and log deck;
-wooden cribbing and post supports;
-original form, scale and massing of stage head;
-dimension, location and orientation of stage head.

All elements that define the attached slipway’s simple vernacular design including:
-wooden log construction;
-wooden cribbing and post supports;
-original form, scale and massing of stage head;
-dimension, location and orientation of stage head.