Adam's Cove Methodist School: A Social History

Introduction

The Adam’s Cove Methodist School Hall is a two-storey wooden community building in a vernacular Palladian style built in 1910 in Adam’s Cove, NL. It was designated as a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2018 due to its historic, aesthetic and cultural value. The designation includes the school hall and its interior. It is located in the town of Adam’s Cove which amalgamated with the surrounding communities to create what is now Small Point-Broad Cove-Blackhead-Adam’s Cove.

Adam’s Cove School. Image courtesy of Heritage NL.

Construction and Building Description

The Adam’s Cove Methodist School Hall is a well-preserved example of a building type once found in several communities. It was designed by John Ayre in a vernacular Palladian style and built under foreman William Brennan. Palladianism is exemplified here by the hall’s symmetry, gabled roofs which resemble pediments, and Palladian window arrangements. Similar structures were built in Adam’s Cove, Blackhead, and Winterton. While many outport buildings served multiple purposes, this particular design is unique to the region. It is built atop an early concrete foundation with a relatively low-slope roof and is therefore representative of a transition period in local building practice.

Historical Context

This school in Adam’s Cove was built by and operated for its community. Fundraising and construction was organized by a local committee in collaboration with the Methodist church. Lumber was harvested on community-wide outings and funds came largely from canvassing residents. The completed hall was never owned by the Methodist Board of Education or the provincial Department of Education but was rented from the local committee. The school hall was operated this way for more than 100 years and in that time was a venue for school classes, Sunday school and prayer meetings, harvest festivals, auctions, garden parties, holiday concerts, and many other community events. It was used as a two-room school with classes held downstairs (and for a while upstairs) and events hosted upstairs, each room heated by their own potbelly stove.

Photo of children hanging in Adam’s Cove School, image courtesy of Heritage NL.

Recent History

Over the years since the school closed in 1967 it has managed to stay in relatively good condition and has been used as a community hub, maintained by a volunteer committee that is dedicated to preserving the history of the school and its importance to the community. Some of the events that are still hosted at the school hall are the Thanksgiving Harvest Festival, Christmas gatherings, and community meetings.

October 2022 Harvest Festival Display at the Adam’s Cove School. Image courtesy of Robert Hudson.

There have been few changes made to the building. The exterior changes have been the replacement of the wooden clapboard in the 1980s, asphalt shingles installed on the roof, the wooden window frames restored, the cornerstone being fixed, and the steps being repaired. The interior changes include the removal of a partition on the first floor, the covering of the pressed tin ceiling on the second floor, and new coats of paint. The original pressed tin can still be seen on the walls and a portion of the second floor ceiling.

(Left) Second floor with pressed tin walls, (right) second floor pressed tin ceiling. Images courtesy of Heritage NL.

Local Stories/Memories

The Adam’s Cove school hall committee in collaboration with Heritage NL hosted a Mug Up event on November 10th, 2022 to gather folks from the community to share memories and stories about the Adam’s Cove school. 27 people attended to share their appreciation for the school, which made the event a great success.

November 2022 Mug Up. Image courtesy of Heritage NL.

Some fond memories were told of both the school and the community as a whole:

-Drinking cocoa-malt, playing ball in the yard in front of the school

-Competitions to build the biggest fire and Halloween pranks

-Enjoying the concerts and dances hosted at the hall

-Burning milk on the stove in the school

-Lighting the fire with hard coal to heat the school, riding in the back of a truck going to boil-up picnics, and putting sods down chimneys as a prank on Halloween

-Riding a bike around the field behind the school

-Remembering Christmas dances, garden parties, and the harvest festivals

-Running around and playing soccer in the field behind the school

-Bean suppers hosted for fundraising by the Ladies Auxiliary

Conclusion

The long term plans for the Adam’s Cove Methodist School Hall according to the committee are to preserve the heritage of Adam’s Cove, use the space to host traditional community events such as harvest festivals and concerts, organize recreational and educational activities for the community, and more.

Sources:

Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Adam’s Cove – Adam’s Cove Methodist School Hall – FPT NL-3577.”

Personal Communication, November 2022 Mug Up.

New Fieldnote on the Fowler House in Brigus

Check out Heritage NL's new fieldnote on the Fowler House in Brigus written by Megan Webb below! Learn more about the history of the house through architectural changes, information about the people who lived there, and more in "Fowler House: A Historic Home in Brigus." 

Image of Fowler House taken. Photo courtesy of Heritage NL, 2017.

Fieldnote is available here. 

New Fieldnote on the Methodist (United) Church in Jackson's Cove

Check out Heritage NL's new fieldnote on the Methodist Church in Jackson's Cove written by Dennis Knight below! Learn more about the early history of Jackson's Cove and the local Methodist church's construction in "A Handmade Church in the Arms of Green Bay: Jackson's Cove United (Methodist) Church, Green Bay, Newfoundland."

Methodist (United) Church in Jackson's Cove, Green Bay

Fieldnote is available here. 

The Formation of a Masonic Lodge in Twillingate: 1889 Meeting Minutes

This small book of meeting minutes circa 1889 is about the formation of a Masonic Lodge in Twillingate. It was given to Heritage NL to be documented. Included are the names of founding members, mention of scripture and prayer, appointment of roles to individuals, and monetary donations to fundraise for the building of the lodge. 

Take a look at the document on Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative by clicking the following link: https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/ich_cn/id/1163/rec/1

Headstone Art at the Old Blackhead Methodist Cemetery

 

Throughout the Old Blackhead Methodist Cemetery there are several different decorative motifs visible on the headstones. This article will highlight some of the most common ones.

 

Fig 1: Headstone with motif of two clasping hands and a Calla Lily

Two of the most typical motifs throughout the Old Blackhead Cemetery are hands and flowers. In figure 1 two hands are clasped, a very common headstone design. In some cases you can see the difference in the two hands cuffs (figure 2) indicating they were husband and wife. 

Anther motif typical in the Blackhead cemetery is flowers, in figure 1 a Calla Lily which often symbolizes marriage.

Fig 2: Headstone motif of two clasping hands with different cuffs

Hands can also be pointing, either up towards God/Heaven (figure 3), or as the hand of God pointing downward symbolizing mortality (figure 4).

 

Fig 3: Grave motif of a hand pointing up

Fig 4: Grave motif of a hand pointing down 

Fig 5: Books, specifically the Bible, are also a recurring symbol. 

All photographs are credited to Heritage NL and were taken at the Old Blackhead Methodist Cemetery.

 

New Fieldnotes Article about St. George's Courthouse

Original building plan for the exterior of the St. George's Courthouse
(Scan courtesy of the Rooms)

Learn more about the early history of the Bay St. George region and the St. George's Courthouse in Heritage NL's most recent fieldnote.

View Fieldnote here

Additional publications on NL's historic places available here. 

Mortuary Mondays- Causes of Death at Blackhead Cemetery

While transcribing the death records from Blackhead cemetery, I noticed several causes of death you wouldn't see in modern times.

Blackhead Cemetery

"Consumption," now known as Tuberculosis, was a common cause of death in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another common cause of death was "La Grippe," more commonly known as Influenza.

Bay De Verde Death Register 1891

Bay De Verde Death Register 1891

"Scarlatina," commonly known as Scarlet Fever, also appears as a cause of death in Blackhead cemetery throughout the 1890s. More unusual causes of death include "Dyspepsia," which is typically known as Indigestion, and "Gravel and Stone," which probably refers to Kidney Stones. 

Bay De Verde Death Register 1895

Bay de Verde Death Register 1895

You can read more about the Bay De Verde vital statistics here: http://ngb.chebucto.org/Vstats/1vstats-bdv-idx.shtml

Heritage NL receives Community Builder Award from the NL Association of Professional Planners

Lara Maynard, Heritage NL Heritage Skills Training Coordinator; Andrea O'Brien, Heritage NL Municipal Outreach Officer; Julia Schwarz, NLAPP President.

In celebration of World Town Planning Day 2022, Heritage NL has been awarded the 2022 NLAPP Community Builder Award for making heritage relevant to the present day. The award is presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Professional Planners, the provincial membership body for professional planners.

Heritage NL has been running a long-standing heritage grant program, and an annual heritage poster contest in schools. It has expanded its community outreach for public workshops and events. The NLAPP Nominating Committee’s recommendation reads:

“Heritage NL is making heritage relevant to the present day in terms of housing, economic activity, community involvement, cultural awareness, historical memory, and place-making.  Along with a long-standing heritage grant program and annual heritage poster contest in schools, Heritage NL has been expanding its community outreach for public workshops and events – everything from documenting and cleaning headstones in graveyards to holding community story-telling days and building wooden wriggle fences.  Heritage NL has published a booklet of historic paint colours, mapped community assets in workshops with residents of many NL communities, and helped plan for adapting and reusing old buildings to new uses.  This work is the very definition of community building, with a planning lens to shape it.”

Heritage NL was established in 1984 to stimulate an understanding of and an appreciation for the historic places and living heritage of the province, through projects that support local economic development and tourism. The foundation also has an educational role and coordinates events, publications and other projects designed to promote the value of Newfoundland and Labrador heritage. 

Heritage Update: Berry Barrels, Killicks, Courthouses, and #TwineLoftTuesday!

Photo: Henry Charles Burgess (1922-1995) standing in Burgess Lane with a cow that provided milk and butter. Courtesy Burgess Family. 

In this edition of our heritage newsletter, we have an update on the Fowler House restoration in Brigus; a story about our recent killick-making workshop in Torbay; research on the historic St. George's Courthouse; and an article from Robert Burgess on food production and storage traditions at the Burgess Heritage Property, Whiteway, NL.

Download PDF version here.