Description of Historic Place

Newman’s Fish Store is a two-and-a-half storey, wooden building with a steeply pitched gable roof. Constructed circa 1860, it is located in Gaultois, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Newman’s Fish Store has been designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador due to its historic and aesthetic value.

Newman’s Fish Store has historic value due to its association with the firm Newman and Company. As early as the late 14th century the Newman family were established importers and exporters in Devon, England. By the late 1700s Newman and Company had expanded their enterprise to Newfoundland, with offices and agents in St. John's and on the island’s south coast. The focus of the business in Newfoundland gradually shifted to the south coast, although the firm kept an office in St. John’s until the 1860s. By 1850 the firm was headquartered in London and had agents in Newfoundland at Harbour Breton, Gaultois and Burgeo. The firm operated on a credit system, supplying goods to fishermen in exchange for fish caught. After 1850, the Newman firm faced market competition from the Norwegian fishery and many fishermen on the south coast became involved in supplying bait to French and American fishing vessels. Competition among merchants along the south coast also intensified. Faced with financial losses and increasing debts, the Newman firm began to abandon the credit system and around 1900 they sold off their south coast holdings.

Newman’s Fish Store in Gaultois remains as a physical reminder of a time when the cod fishery was the main industry in Newfoundland and when Newman and Company was the major exporter of cod fish on the south coast. By the late 1820s Newman and Company had established a whaling station at Gaultois, which operated until the 1840s, by which time the cod fishery had become the mainstay of the firm’s operations on the south coast. Whaling and cod fishing enticed settlers to Gaultois and by 1836 it had a population of 136 people. By the 1840s a school had been established. In 1851 Newman and Company purchased a tract of Crown land in Gaultois. A fisheries report of 1865 noted that Newman and Company was the only firm operating in Gaultois and in 1871 a fisheries inspector reported that Newman and Company had a large fish store and drying place in Gaultois. By 1884 the debt and credit problems that had been affecting Newman operations along the south coast also occurred at Gaultois - the last Newman station on the south coast to be thus affected. The Newman firm began to withdraw from the cod fishery and its holdings in Gaultois were acquired by the Job firm in the 1890s and in the early 1900s they were sold to the Garland firm.

Newman’s Fish Store has aesthetic value as it is an excellent example of a fisheries building constructed by a mercantile firm. Additionally, it is a rare example of the type of fishing premises built by the Newman firm and is most likely the last remaining original structure built by the firm on the south coast of the island. The existence of Roman numerals on the posts running the length of the building suggest that some of the main structural components may have been prefabricated elsewhere and shipped to Gaultois. Built with a steeply pitched gable roof and clad in narrow wooden clapboard, such buildings were designed for practical use and had to endure the rigours of a harsh environment. Newman’s Fish Store has further aesthetic value as it is a well-known landmark in the community of Gaultois and is an architectural rarity in the province.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Gaultois – Newman’s Fish Store – FPT 5026”

Character-Defining Elements

All those elements which represent the historic and aesthetic value of Newman’s Fish Store, including:
-number of storeys;
-steeply pitched gable roof (originally cladded with wooden shingles);
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-corner boards;
-original window size, style, trim and placement as shown in historic photos;
-original size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors as shown in historic photos;
-massing, dimension, location and orientation of building;
-traditional ochre colour on exterior with white trim, and;
-association with Newman and Company.