Description of Historic Place

The Grant's Stage is a wooden one and a half storey gable roofed building. Constructed around 1830, it is located on Water Street in Trinity, NL. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Grant's Stage is designated because of its aesthetic significance and historical associations.

The building is of aesthetic importance as it is a good example of an intact outport fishing store/stage in the region. There are few examples of such structures in the area, or the province in general, left in their original shape and condition. Such buildings were designed for practical use and had to endure the rigours of a harsh environment. The use of rough materials, simple design elements and utilitarian construction techniques exemplify these fishery buildings.

Grant’s Stage is of historical importance because of its age. An 1833 map of Trinity shows a building called Grant's Stage which was located on the site of the present stage. Records reveal the 1837 owner to be Bartholomew Coleman and the property was presumably used as a fishing stage at that time. When the building was acquired by William Jenkins, in 1875, it was used as a cow house and subsequent owner Captain Blackwood continued this tradition. Some time after World War II the building once again was used as a fishing stage. This simple outbuilding has undergone little change in its long history and the very design of it speaks to its utilitarian purpose.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador unnumbered property file Trinity – Grant’s Stage

Character-Defining Elements

All elements that define the building's simple vernacular design including:
-wooden post building supports;
-gable roof;
-wooden roofing shingles;
-number of storeys;
-narrow clapboard;
-corner boards;
-window size, style, trim and placement;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors;
-dimension, location and orientation of building;
-red ochre exterior colour;
-second storey door facing the harbour; and
-hardware used for lifting and hoisting on the facade facing the harbour.