St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11, also known as the SUF or the Fishermen’s Hall, is a large, wooden, two-storey building with a gambrel roof. This former Society of United Fishermen hall is located directly along Route 334 in Barr’d Islands, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Formal Recognition Type
Municipal Heritage Building, Structure or Land
Heritage Value
St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Joe Batt’s Arm-Barr’d Islands-Shoal Bay due to its historic and aesthetic value.
St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 has historic value due to its age, its connection to the Society of United Fishermen and its role in the community. The SUF was an important social organization in many Newfoundland outports by the 1880s, and the fraternal benefit society was established with seven charter members at Joe Batt’s Arm-Barr’d Islands in 1875. St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 was a community social institution for many years, not only as SUF headquarters, but also because it was used for Anglican church services and functions during years when the local parish was without a church building. The construction of St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 started in 1909, and has an unfortunate association with a very prominent sad event in the community’s history. The building’s grand opening was scheduled for April of 1917 but on April 7th four local SUF members were lost offshore while hunting seals. Two other local men died trying to locate the first group. The community mourned the six men and the lodge opening was postponed.
St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 has aesthetic value as a good regional example of fraternal building architecture, which tended to draw upon the design of outport merchant buildings. Historic lodges in the Notre Dame Bay area are noted for their size, symmetrical facades, eaves and fenestration. St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 is a wooden two-storey building with a centered gable-end entrance, projecting eaves with deep, moulded returns, and single or paired arched windows with divisions and label mouldings. It is also one of few examples of lodges in the province which are further distinguished by a gambrel roof, in this instance retaining its wooden shingles.
St. John Lodge Society of United Fishermen No. 11 has further aesthetic value due to its visual prominence on the built landscape and its position in a cluster of institutional buildings which includes St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church and the Loyal Orange Lodge. The size and architectural elements of each building announce their historic cultural importance and command attention; as a trio they are truly striking.
Source: Town of Joe Batt’s Arm-Barr’d Islands-Shoal Bay town council meeting minutes of 2008/03/13
Character Defining Elements
All those external elements relevant to the architectural value of the building and marking it as a lodge:
-dimensions and two-storey form;
-wooden construction, including wooden shore foundation;
-narrow clapboard sheathing;
-gambrel roof;
-projecting eaves with deep, moulded returns;
-centered placement of gable-end entrance;
-arched, double-hung four-over-four window in the front gable at the top storey;
-double-arched, double-hung four-over-four windows at the first storey, and;
-label window mouldings.
Other elements which contribute to its significance in the cultural landscape:
-location of the building amidst a cluster of institutional buildings, and;
-its visually prominent location on hilly terrain.
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