Description of Historic Place

The former Cape Traverse Hall and Mount Moriah #15 Masonic Lodge is a large symmetric, gable end facing structure with a steep roof. It is one and one-half storey building located at its original site in Cape Traverse, Prince Edward Island.

Heritage Value

The Cape Traverse Hall was built in 1916 to host various town meetings, dances, and concerts. Since that time the Cape Traverse Hall and Mount Moriah Lodge has been the virtual centre of community life. The Cape Traverse area boasts several 19th and early 20th century buildings and is steeped in the history of ice boats crossing the Northumberland Strait, prior to the steamboat and ferry crossings and before the construction of the Confederation Bridge.

The building plays a prominent role in the history of the Masonic movement on Prince Edward Island. In 1900 the True Brothers Masonic Lodge of Tryon divided its jurisdiction, establishing the Mount Moriah Lodge at Cape Traverse and another lodge at Crapaud. The Mount Moriah Lodge rented the upstairs of the Cape Traverse Hall for their meetings and other functions.

The former Cape Traverse Hall and Masonic Lodge was a great place for many people to gather. "The Mason's Picnic in Cape Traverse" in 1885 was reported in the Examiner and Daily Patriot newspapers. The Prince Edward Island Railway provided transportation to the picnic by a special train carrying freemasons and their families, along with the 82nd Battalion from Charlottetown. More than 600 people attended and it was dubbed the "picnic of the summer".

The Hall was sold for $400.00 in 1950 to the Masons who removed the slope from the raked or angled floor on the main level and had electricity installed. Water came from the Muttart House next door. The hall was sold again in 1998 to Jan Boyko who transformed it into an antique store. The Hall still hosts dinners, parties and concerts. In 2017, minor renovations were undertaken including new wainscotting on the interior side walls, a rebuilt stage, new asphalt roof, a small annex in the back of the building was removed, shingles replaced on half of the roof, new insulation, and new windows installed.

The former Cape Traverse Hall and Mount Moriah Masonic Lodge is now operated as Island Uniquities and Antiques and continues to be an important asset to the historic landscape of Cape Traverse.

Heritage Places Files, Dept. of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File #: 4310-20/C19

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the former community hall is evident through the following features:

- the overall massing of the building
- the pitch and slope of the roof
- the placement and size of the symmetrical window openings with hood coverings
- the wood shingle cladding
- the rebuilt round window with trim and mullions in the peak of the front gable

Further contributing character-defining element:

- most of the original 1916 tin ceiling is intact