The HASPE collection

Preserving a record of the County’s heritage architecture

The Historical Architectural Survey of Prince Edward (HASPE) was compiled by Tom Cruickshank in the early 1980s and comprises some 22,000 pages held in 116 three-ring binders and is part of the Prince Edward County Archives. It contains detailed descriptions and photographs of more than 4,300 buildings located all across the County. In 1984, over 300 of these heritage buildings were included in The Settler’s Dream, a book by Mr. Cruickshank and his supervisor at the time, the late Peter Stokes. On Saturday, Mr. Cruickshank was invited to speak at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Picton on the 40th anniversary of the book’s publication about the book and the arc of heritage preservation since then. The event was a fundraiser for a project to digitize the HASPE collection, both to preserve it and to make it more accessible to residents and researchers. The event was organized by the Prince Edward County Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO). The Prince Edward Historical Society and the PEC Library and Archives, plus a number of sponsors, covered the costs associated with the event, and all of the proceeds from ticket sales, book sales and silent auction will go towards the digitization project, which is estimated to cost $25,000.

Marc Seguin, chair of the organizing committee, welcomed the attendees to the sold-out event before turning the floor over to Liz Driver, president of the ACO PEC branch, which was formed in 2022.It is one of 15 branches in the province. “The ACO encourages the conservation and reuse of structures, districts and landscapes of architectural, historical and cultural significance,” she said. The HASPE collection was undertaken by the County of Prince Edward to commemorate the bicentennial of the Province of Ontario in 1984, with the work beginning in 1980. The wellknown outcome of the collection is The Settler’s Dream, which Ms. Driver said is the definitive account of the County’s historic architecture. “The book and the related survey records have served as the foundation for conserving our architectural heritage. No other municipality has such an extended documentation of historical buildings,” she added. Mayor Steve Ferguson spoke on behalf of the municipality. “We have so much history and heritage here that is vital to the spirit and community of Prince Edward County. At the municipal level we are doing the best to preserve what we can. The HASPE files are an extraordinary set of documents and really need preservation to be accessible to many, many people,” he said.

PEC library and archives CEO Barbara Sweet said that the book has remained a popular item, with multiple copies that continue to circulate regularly. “The HASPE files are consulted regularly by people researching their homes, or people interested in the homes members of their family formerly inhabited. Digitizing will preserve those records and it will also make the information more accessible to all,” she said. PEC Archivist Krista Richardson said that the HASPE collection is used daily by a wide range of people, from those curious about the history of their house to those doing genealogical research. She said the collection is slowly deteriorating, both from repeated use as well as the fact that archival quality materials were not used in its creation. One of the other speakers at the event was building historian Ernie Margetson. He titled his talk “The Settlers Keep Dreaming”, noting that people are always adapting houses to their particular needs. “Buildings are always changing, we have to accept that. But we have to show respect and sensitivity when it comes to renovations,” he said. He is often consulted on renovations, and uses the HASPE files to keep changes or additions in the same spirit as the original building. He provided some examples where prior and inappropriate changes were undone, of changes that were in keeping with the overall aesthetic, and of changes that overwhelmed the original spirit and design. He had praise for a modern (1982) addition to Shire Hall that did not compromise the look of the building. He was less effusive about the renovations to the adjacent Registry Office, where the slate roof was replaced by an asphalt one, and the sturdy original door was replaced by “a Home Depot door”.

The keynote speaker was Mr. Cruickshank. He was hired for the HASPE project by Peter Stokes and arrived in Picton on March 5, 1981. He attempted to find accommodation at the Merrill Inn, which at the time hosted an array of dingy apartments, but ended up in a second floor flat at the Claramount Inn. “The HASPE project was intended as a museum-style archive of local buildings. I went township to township cataloguing field notes and photos. My job was to drive up and down local streets and side roads and photograph any building that looked like it was built before the First World War. It was farmhouses, town houses, bridges, churches, cemeteries, one-room schoolhouses, barns and even the occasional smokehouse,” he said. “The early eighties were watershed years here in Prince Edward and a good time to take stock, just before the arrival of the wineries.” At that time the local economy was stagnant, and it was a tough time for the agricultural industry, which had provided prosperity since the early 1800s. The productive farmland meant that people here were building stylish homes starting about the 1830s. “To this day, the County still boasts one of the largest collections of pre-Victorian buildings in Ontario,” he said. The economy was boosted once again during the Barley Days from about 1860 to 1890, with an attendant building boom. He said that in preparation for this event, he revisited some of the buildings from his original survey. “I wanted to see where the arc of historic preservation stands today. I’m delighted to see that heritage preservation is on the radar,” he said. He noted that there were some losses, such as the Rickarton Castle, which was built in 1862, and was in decline in 1982, and finally demolished in 1995. But he said there have been some excellent preservation efforts, including the Crystal Palace, the Downes House and the Royal Hotel. He is fully supportive of the effort to digitize his original collection, and he noted that 40 years on The Settler’s Dream remains the source authority for vintage architecture. It has encouraged people to play a more active role in heritage preservation. “The Settler’s Dream has been part of this new awakening. All along, its goal was to educate readers about the gems in their own back yard,” he said.