125 Montague St. (Block Shop) - Heritage House Tour 2023

 Loft Flat in the Block Shop (Circa 1925)

125 Montague St.

The Block Shop was constructed in 1925 for Alfred Dauphinee and sons, who were wooden block makers by trade. “Blocks” are pulleys crafted for use on sailing ships, and items produced by the shop included yacht blocks, big blocks for fishing trawlers, wooden ice mallets, wooden tubs and other small wooden products. The shop continued to make wooden blocks here until it closed in 1983. The building originally had only two stories, and housed a blacksmith shop, a galvanizing unit, a sawmill, and spaces for fabrication, assembly and storage. The floor levels of the house were defined on the exterior of the house by simple moulded belt cornices. Facing the street, each exterior level had a wide utility door. All of the windows and doors have been replaced, except for the Bar Salvador front door which is original. One loading door remains visible at the back. 

Currently, the four-story post and beam building, with extensions, houses Block Shop Books, originally the blacksmith shop; Bar Salvador, the former office and showroom; Folk Harbour Festival Society, located in the original sawmill and metal workshop, and the two story loft flat, once the fabrication, assembly and storage area for the block shop. From 2001 to 2013, owner Inge Hatton operated The Spotted Frog in the current Block Shop Books space and her love of folk art is evident throughout her home.

Many thanks to owner Inge Hatton