Description of Historic Place
The former Johnston's Store in Bay Fortune is a large, 2 storey, square, flat-roofed wood shingle clad storefront building. It has an attached gable fronting 1 ½ storey dwelling with shed dormer. A large sunporch has been added to the south elevation. The former store and residence, located near the Fortune River and close to the road, is a fixture in the landscape and community of Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island and has been sympathetically adapted as the Inn at Fortune Bridge.
Heritage Value
The former Johnson's Store and home in Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island, with its wood shingle clad commercial store front and living quarters, has been rehabilitated to a high standard as upscale tourist accommodation. The owners have rejuvenated the property for a new use while paying close attention to the heritage character of the building.
In 1905 Ernest S. Johnston (1875-1943) moved to Fortune Bridge from Peters Road. He and his wife Elizabeth Jane Coffin (1878-1969) purchased a small store and moved it to the south side of Fortune Bridge and attached it to an existing house. In 1917, the store was enlarged significantly with a second storey by local carpenters Earl Dingwell, Earl Johnston and Art Campbell. Further renovations were made to the house in 1938, and the bedrooms over the store were finished for the growing Johnston family. Ernest was a successful merchant, lobster packer and fox rancher. He operated Johnston's Lobster Factory in Fortune, employing between 30 and 40 employees while Elizabeth ran the general store. The Johnstons were also involved in boat building and their large fox ranch with upwards of 700 foxes, employed seven men, was in operation until 1950.
In 1940 Ernest and Elizabeth's son Lester Johnston (1902-1982) took over the lobster processing factory, renaming it Fortune Bay Cannery. Their daughter Beatrice (1904-1991) worked in the store from a young age, managing the daily operations while her parents were busy with the fox ranch and cannery. Bea continued to operate the store until it closed in the 1980s. She always lived in the family home taking care of her mother until her death in 1969. Bea's cousin Daisy (Johnston) Aitken clerked along with Elizabeth Wood and Dot McMahon. Bea was well known in the community to year-round and summer residents alike.
The Johnstons were long-time residents in Bay Fortune, contributing to several key industries and the economy of the community, providing much needed employment for many folks, as well as serving the everyday needs of their neighbours and friends.
The property remained with the Johnston family until 2018 when Chef Michael Smith and his wife Chastity purchased it and converted it to the Inn at Fortune Bridge, a 6-bed boutique inn, to complement their nearby sister property Inn at Bay Fortune.
The former Johnston's Store / Inn at Fortune Bridge continues to be an important component in the landscape of Bay Fortune and is valued for its many connections to the history of its community and its residents, as a reminder of the vital role of the general store in small communities and for its new role in the province's tourism industry.
Heritage Places files, Dept. of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File # : 4310-20/J8
Character-Defining Elements
The heritage value of the building is shown in the following character-defining elements:
- the scale and massing of the building
- the pitch and slope of the various rooflines of the former store and the house and sunporch additions
- the wood shingle cladding
- the size and placement of the sash windows
- the size and placement of the large 16-pane commercial storefront windows on either side of the recessed entrance, flanked by a series of 4 windowpanes
- the front entrance with transom light
- the curved belt courses of the first and upper storeys of the store
- the bay window on the main level of the former residence
- the wide eave returns
- the soffits and fascia
Further heritage character-defining elements:
- its picturesque location in Bay Fortune
- the large barn on the property
