Description of Historic Place

The W.R. McCloskey Home is a Queen Anne Revival residence constructed circa 1904. It is located on the south side of Route # 8 and is situated within a grouping of period homes in the Boiestown region of the Rural Community of Upper Miramichi.

Heritage Value

The W.R. McCloskey Home is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture, for its association with its long-time resident William McCloskey and for its associative historical significance within the community. The W.R. McCloskey Home is the finest example of Queen Anne Revival architecture within the area, having much of its extensive ornamentation intact. It was originally constructed for David Sansom about 1904. Sansom was a relative of and accountant for local lumberman William Richards. Sansom was also business manager of The Record Boiestown, a very short-lived newspaper in 1901, having published only one issue.

William R. McCloskey, son of Irish immigrant parents Patrick and Sarah McCloskey, purchased the residence in 1907. He carried on in the merchant trade as did each of his parents and this purchase coincided with his business expansion and new store situated alongside his new home. McCloskey operated under the business name WR McCloskey Co. His widowed mother saw fit to see William attend business college. This proved fruitful as he became very successful in the merchant business. McCloskey later ventured into the local lumber industry. The WR McCloskey Co. is still in operation and the family has had a tradition of five generations in this business in the Boiestown region of Rural Community of Upper Miramichi.

Source: Rural Community of Upper Miramichi Community Office Site File # 09-08

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements relating to the Queen Anne Revival architecture of the W.R. McCloskey Home include:
- form and massing of Queen Anne Revival residential architecture;
- steeply-pitched steel-clad jerkin roof with wooden finials;
- open veranda on the front façade ornamented with fretwork and decorative brackets;
- central dormer with a pediment over windows and decorative cut-away corners;
- decorative fish-scale shingles;
- wide corner boards with capitals;
- wide eaves with paired scrolled brackets;
- clad in wooden clapboard.