At the end of Victoria Street, the station stands on the same spot on which it was originally constructed, unlike many heritage stations. Built in 1914 by the Dominion Atlantic Railway, they saw early on the tourist potential for Annapolis Royal, one of the province's oldest settlements. As such, the station was finished with finer detail and finish than most of the stations. The large overhang of the eaves, supported by heavy timber brackets, its brick walls, shaped granite supports, Vermont slate roof, oak entry doors and other details, both inside and out, betray the desire to make this a station that stood out among rural Nova Scotia stations.
This is at least the third railway station in Annapolis Royal. The first, dating from 1869, would have been on, or near the wharf, where the Windsor and Annapolis Railway terminated. A second, known as the "Frogmore" station, dated from 1891, and was located just west of St. George Street. It burned in 1913 and was replaced by this station in 1914.
The station remained in use until 1990, longer than most, if not all, stations in the Annapolis Valley. Restored, the station opened in the summer of 2006 as the home of CARP, the Clean Annapolis River Project, an environmental non-profit agency that takes care of the Annapolis River watershed.
Annapolis Royal Train Station
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
151 Victoria Street, Annapolis Royal, N.S., also known as the Annapolis Royal Railway Station is a one storey building with a hip roofed, with wide eaves overhanging on all four sides, supported by heavy wooden brackets. It is situated in a man-made gully, constructed for the railway right-of-way, which runs through a residential area of heritage buildings. The station is not highly visible except from a short portion of St. George Street looking down on the site. The designation includes the building and surrounding property.
HERITAGE VALUE
The historic value of the Annapolis Royal Railway Station is to be found in its continuous use for nearly a century from 1914 to 1990 and for its association with the early tourist industry of the town of Annapolis Royal. The Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR), which ran from Yarmouth to Halifax, placed great emphasis on the tourist industry becoming a major influence in the economic growth of Annapolis Royal during the early years, through trade and passenger service. The station, before the roads were improved, brought visitors to one of the country’s oldest settlements. Fort Anne became Canada’s first National Park in 1917, with a replica of the 1605 French Habitation being built on the original site during the 1930s. Annapolis Royal was also the stop for the promotional trips the Dominion Atlantic Railway offered into the interior of the province for fishing, hunting and backwoods experience. Because of the interest of the Dominion Atlantic Railway in Annapolis Royal as a major stop, the station was built with finer detail and finish than most of the stations in the Annapolis Valley and rural Nova Scotia. Since the turn of the twentieth century, tourism has continued to be one of Annapolis Royal’s most important industries.
The Station is also valued for its Arts and Crafts architecture, which is relatively uncommon in the town. It is a one-storey building with projecting wide eaves that overhang all four sides of the building, supported by heavy wood brackets. It is also valued for the many remaining original features that attest to the Station’s important role in the DAR and Annapolis Royal. Exterior features include: brick walls; curved heavy wood brackets; shaped granite supports; decorative ends of the exposed wood rafters under the soffit; v-jointed painted wood soffit; Vermont sea green slate roof; running bond red brick walls with segmental brick arches over the openings; multi-paned wooden windows; oak entry doors with multiple paned half lites and wood paneling; wooden service doors with beaded board panels and divided top lites with curved multipane wooden transoms. Original interior features include: rough cast plaster walls and ceilings with curved cornice; oak wainscoting trim with coloured burlap panels inset; wood panel doors, slate floor mouldings in some places and hardwood floors.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Character Defining Elements of 151 Victoria Street relate to its Arts and Crafts architecture and former use as a train station and include:
- hip roof with wide eave overhang;
- slate roof;
- decorative ends of exposed rafters;
- V-jointed wood soffit;
- curved heavy wood support brackets;
- shaped granite supports for brackets;
- running bond red brick walls;
- high concrete foundation base;
- segmental brick arches over windows and doors;
- multi-paned wooden windows;
- wooden entry doors with multiple paned half lites and wood paneling;
- wooden service doors with beaded board panels, divided top lites and curved multi-paned wooden transom;
- interior roughcast plaster upper walls and ceiling with curved cornice;
- wainscoting consisting of oak woodwork and trim with coloured burlap panels;
- wood doors and hardwood floors;
- location in man-made gully.
From Historic Places Canada