1 Hawthorne Street, c. 1816

1 Hawthorne is allegedly one of the oldest surviving houses in Antigonish. This 1 1/2 frame building with its projecting frontispiece reflects the sturdy simplicity of its New England antecedents, particularly the shared traditions of the Atlantic seaboard of wood construction and house design. It has the classic steep pitched roof with minimal overhanging eaves. The house has been extensively altered over the years. Gone are the shingle roof and clapboard siding. The lacy "gingerbread trim" and the gable ornamentation are clearly late 19th-century embellishments--the creations of the scroll saw.

1 Hawthorne was constructed by John B. Whidden in 1816; it still remains in the Whidden family after four generations. The house, in its original form, was probably J.B. Whidden's handiwork; he was after all a carpenter by trade. The Whidden name is synonomous with the economic development of Antigonish, especially its mercantile and shipbuilding traditions. The Whidden family owned and operated a fleet of sailing ships from 1864 to 1914. C.B. Whidden, J.B. Whidden's son, also established a flour and feed business in the 1860s. The centre of this operation was the store situated at the junction of Hawthorne and Main, adjacent to the house at 1 Hawthorne.

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