STREET ADDRESS: 503 Main Street
CITY/TOWN/VILLAGE: Yarmouth
MUNICIPALITY: Yarmouth
COUNTY: Yarmouth
YEAR BUILT: 1832
ARCHITECTURAL COMMENT:
1½ storey New England Colonial style with a 1 storey off-center chimney at peak and return eaves; e11 has a medium pitched gable roof. The symmetrical 5 bay facade has a centered entrance with a moulded crown; there are two off-center doors in the back e11. Windows have double hung sashes with 2/1 glazing; there are moulded crowns on facade and gable ends windows and decorative shutters on first storey windows in facade and south side. Wood construction, shingle clad and has corner pilasters with capitals at front, corner-boards at back, frieze-board and verge-board trim with bed moulding.
HISTORICAL COMMENT:
Probably built around 1832 by James Jenkins Jr. a shipwright, whose shipyard was located not far from here on the waterfront. Yarmouth, at this time, was still part of Shelburne County and was already the center of much shipping activity. The first list of Yarmouth shipping appeared in the town's first newspaper, The Telegraph, in 1832 and included in the list of owners was J. Jenkins, father of the builder of this house.
CONTEXTUAL COMMENT:
North-east corner of Main and Baker Streets on high embankment. One chimney removed. Window sashes changed. Back e11 added at a later date and house may have been raised at that time.
PRESENT OWNER: Michael/Frances Morris
ADDRESS: Box 1040, RR#1 Yarmouth, N.S. B5A 4A5
ORIGINAL OWNER: James Jenkins, Jr.
OCCUPATION: Shipwright
BUILDER: James Jenkins (probable)
ORIGINAL USE: Single family dwelling
PRESENT USE: Single family dwelling
| HISTORY OF BUILDING | ||||
| OWNER | FROM: | TO: | OCCUPATION | BOOK-PAGE |
| James Jenkins | 01 Nov. 1831 | 25 May 1881 | shipwright | x 54 |
| Adelbert Jenkins, et al | 25 May 1881 | 08 Oct. 1881 | heirs-at-law of James Jenkins | N/A |
| Isabella A. Jenkins Anna A. Jenkins | 08 Oct. 1881 | 04 Aug. 1895 | single woman/heirs of James Jenkins | BH 289 |
| Isabella Augusta Jenkins | 04 Aug. 1895 | 17 Jan. 1922 | single woman/heir of Ann A. Jenkins | N/A |
| George A. Jenkins, et ux, et al | 17 Jan. 1922 | 01 Mar. 1922 | heirs-at-law of I.A & A. A. Jenkins | N/A |
| William A/Anna MacLeod | 01 Mar. 1992 | 04 June 1938 | physician | DQ 156 |
| Herbert D. MacLeod | 04 June 1938 | 20 Aug. 1948 | publisher/editor | EW 236 |
| George E./Polly A. Nickerson | 20 Aug. 1948 | N/A | cotton mill empl. | EZ 298 |
| Polly Nickerson | N/A | 05 Feb. 1979 | widow/heir | N/A |
| Barbara MacFarlane | 05 Feb. 1979 | 14 May 1993 | secretary | LU 323 |
| James F./ Polly A. MacFarlane | 14 May 1993 | 12 Mar. 1998 | male nurse | 509/709 |
| Michael/Frances Morris | 12 Mar. 1998 | Present | merchants/potters | 565/120 |
COMMENTS ON HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:
In 1922, after the death of Augusta Jenkins, the surviving heirs of James Jenkins sold the property to Dr. William MacLeod, who probably leased it to his son, Herbert D., for several years before deeding it to him; Herb MacLeod was a publisher and editor for Lawson Publishing Co. For a number of years before founding MacLeod Travel Agency in 1956.
The property was next sold to George and Polly Nickerson, who owned it for over 30 years. After George passed away, Polly sold it to their daughter, Barbara MacFarlane, who sold it to her son, James, in 1995.
Michael and Frances Morris, the present owners, are well and widely known local potters as well as the proprietors of "At the Sign of the Whale", a Nova Scotia crafts and art gallery located in the neighboring community of Dayton. The Dayton property is also their home and a municipally and provincially registered heritage property.
SOURCES: Registry of Deeds/Probate Assessment Rolls 1876-present Census of N.S. 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 N.S. Directories, 1864, 1868, 1871, 1907 Yarmouth Directories, 1890, 1895, 1949 B.E.V. maps of Yarmouth, 1878, 1889 A.F. Church map of Yarmouth Co. c. 1866