Description of Historic Place

The Annapolis Royal Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station at 151 Victoria St. is a finely detailed and proportioned single storey brick building. Since its tracks have been removed, it can most readily be identified by its steep hipped roof and railway brackets.

Heritage Value

The station at Annapolis Royal has been designated a heritage railway station primarily for its architectural significance, and secondarily for its historical associations and environmental qualities.

This station was built by the DAR to designs prepared by the CPR’s assistant Chief Engineer in 1915. By this time, the CPR had leased the DAR and essentially assumed control of the railway, providing both passenger and freight service through the station until 1990. Today the station’s tracks have been removed, and main street traffic uses a former railway trestle bridge adjacent to the station.

This finely detailed brick station confirms rail’s important 20th century role in developing the Annapolis Valley as a commercial tourism destination. Annapolis Royal provided an anchor point for CPR publicity urging tourists to visit Fort Anne and Port Royal Habitation. Other historic attractions as well as local fishing and hunting were also promoted.

Architecturally, the station has changed little over time. It is a single-storey building of brick, granite, concrete, wood and slate. While its basic form and function are typical of class four CPR stations, its unusual decorative features and fine detailing set it apart from other small-town stations in Nova Scotia. The station’s arched window and door openings, curved brackets and rafter ends, and slate roof with copper ridge rolls are of particular note.

The heritage character of this station is defined by the quality of its exterior and interior form, materials and detailing. Its character is also evident in elements of its setting.

Source:
· Heritage Character Statement, Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Annapolis Royal, April 1992. Heritage Assessment Report RSR-082,1991.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Annapolis Royal Canadian Pacific Railway Station include:
- the rectangular footprint, simple 1 storey massing, and steep hipped roof of the station,
- its modest, regular proportions,
- the balance inherent in its vertical and horizontal definition,
- the rhythmic placement of its apertures and brackets,
- the smooth aesthetic integration of special railway features such as a projecting telegrapher’s bay and broad eaves to provide passenger shelter,
- its simple but rich classically inspired details: arched window and door forms with heavy voussoirs, prominent decorative brackets, rolled roof ridge, and regular articulation,
- its substantial original materials: slate roof with a copper roll, red brick walls on a concrete base, granite and wood details, windows with a repetitive feature pane,
- all original fabric inside the station, in particular surviving oak woodwork and trim, original plasterwork, elegant curved ceiling cornices,
- the craftsmanship evident in both exterior and interior decorative details,
- continued legibility of the station’s original functional subdivisions from the exterior and the interior,
- retention of its longstanding interior spatial volumes, particularly the high ceilings and open ambience of the waiting room area,
- the continuity of longstanding circulation patterns,
- the overall integrity of the building’s form, plan, material, and detail.