Fleming Street photos from the 1950s and 1960s

Tonight is our Georgestown Scanning/Mapping Party, where we are encouraging people to come share their neighbourhood memories and stories. We start at 7pm at The Lantern on Barnes Road.

To get you in the mood, here are a few photos of Fleming Street, sent to me by Channing Holland (formerly Catherine Channing) who grew up on Fleming Street.

Above is a photo of her sister and brother at the front door of 70 Fleming Street in 1955.  She writes, "The entrance changed in later years when the side windows were replaced by full length panes in a sort of rippled pattern." Today the entire front entrance has been replaced, but similar entranceways could be found all along that row of houses, known collectively as Maple Terrace.

The second one is again of her brother, sitting on the front fence.  She notes, "The cement fence was a much later addition sometime around the '60s I think." The bay window immediately behind the boy is 68 Fleming Street, which still has the same configuration in 2019. The open porch on 66 Fleming has been enclosed.

Finally, an interior photo of the living room of 70 Fleming, circa 1956. The mantel and tile surround remains in the house as of 2019.

At the time of these photos, the house was owned by James G Channing, civil servant, Companion of the Order of Canada, and cabinet secretary under Joseph Smallwood. 

Bring your neighbourhood photos to The Lantern tonight! We will share some of what we find in future posts.

Scanning St. John’s!

St. John's Harbour. IGA photograph collection. VA 94-105.1. June 1934. Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

Scanning St. John’s!

Are you a townie? Do you want to share family photos on Mother’s Day? Did you grow up in Georgestown or Rabbittown? Did you hang out on Ropewalk Lane, or shop at W.J. Murphy’s? Did someone in your family own a shop? If you did, and have photos of any of those things, Heritage NL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage office would love to see your snaps!

Of interest are old photos of St. John’s, anywhere from the 1880s to the 1980s. Photos could be family snapshots, old photos showing parties, games or sporting events, cars decorated for weddings, or of any of the old shops and stores that once dotted the town.

“We want to see those photos Nan kept in the old biscuit tin in the closet,” says folklorist Dale Jarvis with Heritage NL. “Sometimes photographs from the 1970s and ‘80s include things like storefronts or shop signs that are now long gone, so even if they aren’t ancient, they can still help us document changes to the neighbourhoods.”

Heritage NL will be hosting two scanning parties in St. John’s. The first on Sunday, May 12th in the Community Room at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market at 2pm, and the second on Tuesday, May 14th at the Lantern at 7pm.

Heritage NL staff will be on site to scan the photographs and ask questions about who or what is in the photo. If you bring your own USB flash drive, you can take home a digital copy as well as your original photographs.

Photos will also be shared online with the owner’s permission, and a copy will be uploaded to Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is indexed and archived for history buffs everywhere.

Questions? Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 x 2 or email dale@heritagenl.ca

Sunday, May 12th at 2:00 p.m. at the Farmers’ Market
245 Freshwater Rd, St. John’s, NL A1B 1B3

Tuesday, May 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lantern 35 Barnes Rd, St. John's, NL A1C 3X1

Photo of the Newfoundland Brewery Ltd. colourized by http://www.thephotomender.com

You are invited to the Georgestown Scanning and Mapping Party!

Georgestown Scanning and Mapping Party
Tuesday, May 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lantern.
35 Barnes Rd, St. John's, NL A1C 3X1

Did you grow up on Barnes Road or Maxse Street? Did you hang out at Rawlins Cross, or shop at W.J. Murphy’s? Did someone in your family own one of the old Georgestown shops? If you did, and have photos of any of those things, the Georgestown Neighbourhood Association and Heritage NL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage office would love to see your snaps!

Of interest are old photos of the neighbourhood, anywhere from the 1880s to the 1980s. Photos could be family snapshots, old photos showing parties, games or sporting events, cars decorated for weddings, or of any of the old shops and stores that once dotted the area.

In addition, there will be large maps available to mark the location of informal place names and neighbourhood landmarks, everything from sweet shops and barbers to dance studios and that special spot where you met with your buddies, where you played certain games, or brought your special friend.

“We want to see those photos Nan kept in the old biscuit tin in the closet,” says folklorist Dale Jarvis with Heritage NL. “Sometimes photographs from the 1970s and ‘80s include things like storefronts or shop signs that are now long gone, so even if they aren’t ancient, they can still help us document changes to the neighbourhood.”

Heritage NL staff will be on site to scan the photographs and ask questions about who or what is in the photo. If you bring your own USB flash drive, you can take home a digital copy as well as your original photographs.

Photos will also be shared online with the owner’s permission, and a copy will be uploaded to Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is indexed and archived for history buffs everywhere.

Questions? Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 x2 or email dale@heritagenl.ca

Facebook event listing right here.

Photo of the Newfoundland Brewery Ltd colourized by http://www.thephotomender.com