REPORT 2000-151

STRUCTURAL DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROPERTY 
DEVELOPMENTS FRONTING RUE ROYALLE AND RUE D'ORLÉANS 
(INCLUDING RUE D'ESTRÉES AND RUE DAUPHINE 
FRONTING BLOCK THIRTEEN)

A CHRONOLOGY

BY

ERIC KRAUSE

KRAUSE HOUSE INFO-RESEARCH SOLUTIONS

AUGUST 21, 2000

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1769 - 1930; 1772; 1784; 1786; 1827; 1849; 1857; 1859; 1864; 1893; 1901; 1911; 1922; 1931

1769 - 1930

BLOCKS

Selected construction details for this period are included in this report, but for all details, please see: Wayne Foster, Post Occupational History of the Old French Town of Louisbourg, 1760 - 1930, Fortress of Louisbourg Unpublished Report H D 02 (December, 1965).

1772

BLOCK ONE, CHIEF ENGINEER'S HOUSE and BLOCK ONE, BUANDERIE

On this date the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Richard Bulkeley, required the Chief Magistrate at Louisbourg, George Cottnam, to put "him [Lawrence Kavanagh] ... into possession of the House called the Mess House.⁽¹¹¹⁰⁾

1772

BLOCK TWENTY, LOT E

Also the said Lawrence Kavanagh shall without any hindrance occupy and convert to his own use the remaining part of the frame of a House at Louisbourg known by the name of the Nunnery together with half an acre of land or thereabouts thereto adjoining... .⁽¹¹¹¹⁾

1772 - MAY 02

BLOCK SIXTEEN, LOT E

The house was still occupied in 1772. William Russell, one of the prominent citizens of the Post-Occupational period, received a licence from the Crown on May 2, 1772 to occupy the house labelled No. 83 on plan 768-1.⁽¹¹¹²⁾

1784 - SEPTEMBER 13

BLOCKS

A letter from Governor Parr of Nova Scotia to Abraham Cuyler noted:

I am happy to hear of your safe arrival at Louisbourg, and I hope by this time the rest of your Associates have joined you from Quebec. Am sorry you found the town in such a ruinous state, but hope you will be able to get the whole under tolerable shelter before winter sets in.⁽¹¹¹³⁾

1786 - JUNE 24

STREETS

There was only one land grant in the Old Town of Louisbourg during 1784-1787. This grant was made to Abraham Cuyler, Esq.r of the town of Sydney:

all that certain Town Lott ... in the Town or Harbour of Louisbourg ... in the Breadth in Front and Rear fifty feet, and in Depth on each side One Hundred feet, and ... Bounded as follows: Beginning at the South West Corner of King Street [Rue St. Louis] fifty feet to a small Pile of Stone, thence North Towards the Waterside fifty feet, thence West one Hundred feet to the Place where it first Begun, and has such shape form and Marks as Appear by the Plot there of hereunto Anexed, Together with Waters, Profits Commodities Appurtences and Hereditaments whatsoever ...

... within Three years After the date hereof ... [to] Erect on the said Lott ... a good Dwelling House to be at least Twenty feet in Length and sixteen feet in Breadth ... ⁽¹¹¹⁴⁾

1786 - AUGUST 25

STREETS

Cuyler did not keep the lot in his possession long, for on August 25, 1786, he leased the lot to Edward Rowe for one year:

... messuage House and Lott of ground Situate lying and being in the Town of Louisbourg ... in Breadth in front and Rear Fifty feet and in Depth on each side One Hundred feet ... Bounded as follows - Beginning at the South West Corner of Kings Street [Rue St. Louis] thence Easterly along a street that leads to the General Hospital One Hundred feet thence North towards the Water Side fifty feet Thence West one Hundred feet to King Street [Rue St. Louis] Thence South along said King Street [Rue St. Louis] fifty feet to the place where it Begun. ⁽¹¹¹⁵⁾

MAP 1827 - 03

Louisbourg Surveyed in 1827 by Mr. Benjm. Cossit ...

(A) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

(1) Rue St. Louis is the only apparent street within the fortification walls

BLOCK TWENTY, LOT E

Abraham Gesner in his book of 1849 reads thus:

The high walls that bustled with cannon, the ditch, the glacis, and portcullis, have almost disappeared -- the bomb-proofs and magazine have become sheepfolds, and the stronghold of the French in America is a heap of rubbish, overgrown the lichens. I had an opportunity of visiting the ruins of Louisbourg, the ancient capital of Canada, in November last ... The arched places of arms and bomb proofs of the citadel are still entire. Three of them are sheepfolds -- another is occupied by a fisherman for a cabbage cellar, and time has encrusted the ceilings with small stalactites. The foundations of the barracks, chapels, the nunnery, hospital, and other public buildings are still perfect ...⁽¹¹¹⁶⁾

MAP 1857 - 01

LOUISBURG HARBOUR SURVEYED BY COMMANDER J. ORLEBAR ... 1857-8

(A) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

(1) Approximately twenty buildings were strung fronting Rue St. Louis and the Quay

BLOCK TWENTY, LOT E and STREETS

According to Cozzens:

Neither roof nor spire remains now; nor square nor street; nor convent, church, nor barrack. The green turf covers all; even the foundations of the houses are buried. It is a city without an inhabitant ... with no signs of life visible within these once warlike parapets except the peaceful sheep grazing upon the very brow of the citadel ... There are about a dozen fishermen's huts on the beach outside the walls of the old town of Louisburgh [sic].⁽¹¹¹⁷⁾

MAP 1864 - 01

Louisburg

OLD TOWN

J. Kelly

W. Power

D. Kennedy

T. Kennedy

J. Cryer

J. Price

M. Slattery

(A) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

(1) Only 6 buildings are illustrated within the town walls - four near the junction of the Main Road [Quay] and King Street [Rue St. Louis] and two near the southern end of King Street [Rue St. Louis]. The names J. Kelly, W. Power, D. Kennedy, T. Kennedy, J. Cryer, J. Price were placed against the buildings, and M. Slattery appears against no corresponding building.

1893

BLOCK TWENTY, LOT E

John Milne Gow in his history of Cape Breton described the desolate Fortress ruins, referring to the remaining seven casemates, the mounds, outlines of works, depressions marking the position of some old cellar, and the few solitary sheep nibbling thier scanty subsistance from the deserted soil. He spoke of the remains of the hospital and the nunnery as being distinguishable among the surrounding ruins.⁽¹¹¹⁸⁾

MAP 1901 - 1

LAND PLAN OF OLD LOUISBOURG

(A) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

(1) The Quay and King Street [Rue St. Louis] are the only apparent streets within the fortification walls

(2) Properties intersect where Rue Royalle, Rue St. Louis and the Block Thirteen Hospital once existed

1911

BLOCK ONE, CHIEF ENGINEER'S HOUSE and STREETS

According to Louis Runk:

... A stone heap shows the mess hall ...

Rows of stone, almost hidden, show the location of the old streets, and while much of the ruins has been carted away or built into the houses, enough still remains to show the general outline of the old fort ...⁽¹¹¹⁹⁾

MAP 1922 - 1

[WITHOUT A TITLE]

(A) HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

(1) The Quay and King Street [Rue St. Louis] are the only apparent streets within the fortification walls

1931 - NOVEMBER 11

STREETS

According to a letter of J. Clarence Webster:

Our plans include the following: - ...

"3. Marking all the streets, with both the French and English names.

"4. Removing rubbish heaps and outlining foundations of the Citadel, Governor's Garden, Hospital, Churches and other important buildings.

"5. Opening certain of the streets so that they will be in a condition to be used. In this way it will be possible to drive from the Dauphin Gate to Rochefort Point.

"6. Marking all important buildings ... ⁽¹¹²⁰⁾

ENDNOTES

1110. Nova Scotia Public Archives, Volume 338, Document No. 128, p. 36v, no. 75. (Extracts from p. 156 of the Lieut-Governor's Public Letter Book - 1760-1784).

1111. Nova Scotia Public Archives, Volume 338, Document No. 128, p. 36v, no. 75. (Extracts from p. 156 of the Lieut-Governor's Public Letter Book - 1760-1784).

1112. Halifax Crown Grant Office, Book 10, p. 24, May 2, 1772.

1113. Sydney McConnell Library, C.O. 218 (transcript of No. 10, p. 67), p. 90 of this transcript.

1114. Sydney Registry of Deeds, Book A, June 24, 1786. p. 46.

1115. Sydney Registry of Deeds, Register B, p. 300.

1116. Abraham Gesner, The Industrial Resources of Nova Scotia (Halifax, n.p. 1849), p. 302.

1117. Fredrick S. Cozzens, Acadia or a Month with the Blue Noses (New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859), p. 103.

1118. John Milne Gow, Cape Breton Illustrated ... (Toronto: W. Briggs, 1893), pp. 146-152.

1119. Louis Bancroft Runk, Fort Louisburg: Its Two Sieges and Site To-day. Address before the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (printed by Order of the Society, March 1911), pp. 29-32.

1120. Louis Effingham De Forest (editor), Louisbourg Journals 1745, (New York: The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York, 1932), Appendix VI, pp. 226-227.

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