Description of Historic Place

The substantial residence on the northwest corner of Central and Convent Streets was built in 1902 for Dugald Wright, High Sheriff of Prince County. Showing Queen Anne style elements such as the symmetrical façade framed by two conical roofed towers, it has been part of the streetscape for more than a century. The registration includes the building and its lot.

Heritage Value

The house at 140 Central Street was well known in the first part of the twentieth century as the Sheriff Wright House, having been occupied by two sheriffs, father and son. The structure also has heritage value as one of the houses on lower Central Street that predates the Great Fire of 1906.

Dugald S. Wright bought the 75 by 100 foot lot from T.C.P. Yeo in 1902. Mr. Wright, who had been appointed High Sheriff of Prince County in 1899, lost his house in Searletown to a fire in November 1901. The following spring, he had the sawn lumber for a new residence in Summerside brought in from his own woods. The local press described the large home as a "handsome structure" with an excellent cellar, hardwood floors, elegant bay windows and prettily finished verandah and balcony. It was constructed by brothers Sampson and Jesse Muttart.

Mr. Wright passed away in 1912 and his son Frederick assumed ownership of the house. He was promoted from Deputy Sheriff to High Sheriff in 1915, but resigned in 1919 to form a business partnership with Edward W. Manson as manufacturer's agents. He returned to the position of High Sheriff in 1933 and held the office until his death at the age of sixty-nine in 1947. The house was willed to his wife Cora (nee Davison) and his sister Mary Alice, known as Minnie. The women sold the residence in 1949 and moved next door to reside with their nephew Ernest, son of Leslie Wright, who had built the house at 146 Central.

The new owner of 140 Central Street became James A. MacGregor, a farmer from Lot 16 who moved to Summerside in 1948. Mr. MacGregor was employed with Joseph Read & Co. for a number of years before becoming the local agent for Purina Feeds Ltd. After he passed away in 1973, the house was sold and has changed hands several times since.

With its well preserved Queen Anne architectural style and associations with former residents of Summerside, the home continues to contribute to its streetscape.

Source: City of Summerside, Heritage Property Profile

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements illustrate the Queen Anne influenced heritage value of the home:

- the large two-storey elevation with steeply pitched gable roof
- the brick chimney located toward the south end of the building
- the two stacked bays forming a tower at each end of the east façade flanking a small gable roofed dormer located over a balcony
- the balcony, with square posts and turned balusters, sitting atop the vestibule
- the narrow one-and-one-half storey extension along the south façade
- the brackets under the eaves of the bay towers
- the belt course separating the first and second storeys
- the original fenestration of the windows and doors
- the continuing contribution of this building to the heritage streetscape of Central and Convent Streets