Formal Recognition Type

Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program

Notes

NOTE: This stage was destroyed during a winter storm in March 2013. Tom Peckford’s Stage is located in a picturesque cove on the northern end of North Island, Change Islands. It was built around 1900 by Tom Peckford and is situated about one hundred feet from the shoreline. The wood used on the floor of the stage came from the deck of a schooner that sank near Baccelieu Island in the 1940s. Tom Peckford was part of the crew that salvaged the schooner and made the floor from his share of the wood recovered from the wreck. Tom passed the stage on to his son Wilbur who then sold the stage to John Peckford in 1977. When Change Islands based Stages and Stores Heritage Foundation applied to the Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program, much of the cribbing that the stage was sitting on had deteriorated and the structure was in danger of falling into the water. When restoration began, it proved difficult to raise the south end of the stage as the cribbing kept sinking in the muddy bottom of the cove. However the stage was eventually lifted and made level. Block and tackle were used to pull the walls of the stage back to shape. In addition to the work undertaken to stabilize the structure, new clapboard, trims, windows and doors were installed, new felt and strapping applied to the roof and the entire stage was painted.

Community

Change Islands

Municipality

Town of Change Islands

Civic Address

Peckford Road

Construction (circa)

1900 - 1900

Builder

Tom Peckford

Style

Rectangular Long Façade