[ISL] "Abandoned houses are part of Islanders' heritage"

[rfmcdonald]

Brian McInnis at the Charlottetown Guardian has a nice essay starting off with a quote from a Milton Acorn poem, with plenty of photos, talking about the architectural and historical importance of abandoned houses for the heritage of Prince Edward Island.

These old wooden structures sheltered generations of families who lived and died on the land they farmed and in the houses they were born. If they cared for the land it provided for them year after year

Times changed and as the families left for whatever reason, the houses were abandoned and nature began to reclaim the land. Those houses can still be found hidden in the woods or maybe sitting in a farmer’s field surrounded by his potato crop while others are passed by many people every day as they go about their business. Most don’t give them a second thought.

In not too many years all but small traces of these places will be lost to history and that means only a few people will know that a family ever lived, toiled and died where a house once stood. Sometimes, the only indication that a family once lived in a place is the still standing water pump or the remains of an old orchard. All other traces are gone.