In the Year 2007 Sterling Stratton put together a picture book entitled
The Complete Book of Island Churches At The Turn Of The Century. It included 302 Pen & Ink Sketches done in 2000, including all churches in Prince County, Queens County, Kings County, Summerside & Charlottetown, in other words, all the churches on the Island. This sketch can be found in the bottom right corner of
Page 7 of that book.
The Presbyterians of Bonshaw and area erected this church in the years 1864 to 1867, about 30 years after the establishment of the community of Bonshaw. The first communion service were held in the church on May 26th, 1867. The building served the Presbyterians until until June of 1925 when it joined the United Church of Canada as part of
Church Union in Canada, becoming the Bonshaw United Church.
Still the hub of the community, housing the Bonshaw Post Office and the Community Hall, the church is obviously prized by the community who have kept it well maintained. The building exhibits much attention to detail in its construction, with patterned shingle work and scrollwork on the façade and the spire. Altogether, this is a cute little church - the rest of us are happy that the community has kept it and has kept it up.
Little known factoid: Anne Murray taught school for a time in Summerside. During that time she sang at this church as a fundraiser in 1967.
Below is an excerpt from the Summerside Journal Pioneer, published on the occasion of the church's being added to the P.E.I. Register of Heritage Buildings.
Journal Pioneer Staff
Published on December 17, 2013
...The hall started life as a Presbyterian church. In 1864, while the Fathers of Confederation were discussing the possible creation of Canada, in Bonshaw the first church in the area was under construction. The land had been acquired from Alexander and Ann Robertson the previous year and construction was complete by the spring of 1867.
A public tea was held on the July 18, 1867, to liquidate the debt on the church, described as a remarkable event with the “abundance of the choicest cake and tea, together with a refreshment saloon supplied with strawberries and cream, sandwiches, ginger beer, bread, beef, ham, confectionary, etc.” [The sum raised was 60 pounds.]
The Presbyterian church served the community and surrounding area until 1925 when the United Church of Canada was formed. Bonshaw Church voted with Hampton and Tryon to decide whether to join this new church, with a vote of 71 to 70 in favour.
In 2005, the building closed as a church and was briefly an antique store until it the building was acquired by the Bonshaw Hall Co-operative, whose mandate it is to restore and maintain the building and to have it used as a community hall and cultural centre.
The hall is home to the Bonshaw Post Office, which is open six days a week, as well as for various community events.
From the Summerside Journal Pioneer