Description of Historic Place

The St. Peter's Courthouse is a one and one-half storey wood frame, gable end facing county courthouse turned community hall, built between 1874-1875 in St. Peters Bay in a vernacular style with classical detailing.

Heritage Value

St. Peter's Courthouse is valued for its age, its architecture, and for its importance in interpreting the legal history of Prince Edward Island.

The same year that Prince Edward Island entered into Confederation and became a province of Canada, the County Court Act was passed, the aim of which was to decentralize the court system in order to better serve rural populations across the province. It provided for the construction of circuit courthouses to be built in each of the Island's three counties, which would cater to lesser cases within the county judicial system and help to alleviate the workload of the Island's Supreme Court. Although plans called for the establishment of a number of circuits, difficulties in justifying the expenditure for many locations limited the number of courthouses constructed to just six, all between 1874 and 1878. They were designed in accordance with a standard county courthouse plan developed by the provincial Department of Public Works, and one of the first to be built was that in St. Peters Bay.

Intended to complement the county seat at Georgetown, the courthouse was sited at the head of the bay on one half of an acre of land owned by James Anderson, fronting the water and the PEI Railway line - now the Confederation Trail. As was common for circuit courts, it was typically only minor cases that were heard at St. Peters, usually involving debt; however, there were also some criminal cases tried. From the time of its construction until 1878, the year of the County Court Amendment Act, court was held at St. Peters every second month, and then after that quarterly as opposed to bi-monthly. It managed to survive the Act to Amend the County Court Act of 1940, which reduced the number of the circuit courts in the province, but fell out of use in 1968, not long before the Island returned once again to a more centralized judicial system.

The St. Peter's Courthouse had multiple functions over the years, in addition to its important role in the judicial system. Between 1936 and 1951, it was employed as a schoolhouse for grades 7-10, unless the court was in session. After it was purchased by Albert Quigley in 1954, it was put to use as a community hall, and by St. Peters United Church. It is presently owned by the Community of St. Peters Bay, and used for theatrical and musical performances.

Heritage Places files, Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture, Charlottetown, PEI
File #: 4310-20/S45

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the St. Peter's Courthouse is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the location of the courthouse on its original footprint
- the overall massing of the courthouse - original body only
- the overall good condition of the courthouse
- the medium pitch of the roof
- the narrow cornerboards on the front corners of the body of the courthouse
- the trim board at the bottom of the wall on three quarters of the body of the courthouse
- the wood shingle cladding
- the original round-headed windows salvaged from the original vestibule and installed in the modern porch renovation
- the eave returns on the front gable only
- the bracketing under the eaves of the original body of the courthouse, except modern addition
- the three tall, round-headed, double hung windows on both the east and west elevations, with narrow black trim and original glass
- the round-headed, four-paned window on the second storey of the north or front elevation, in original opening