Adams & Knickle Ltd. - 170 Montague Street - Heritage House Tour 2023

Adams & Knickle Ltd.  (1897)

170 Montague Street

The firm of Adams & Knickle was founded in 1897 by Henry Adams and Captain Alexander Knickle and their store and office was built in the same year. It is 2½ stories with a bell cast gambrel roof and a symmetrical façade clad in ashlar imitation wood siding. The storefront windows have drop shutters which can slide down. Wide corner boards are painted white to contrast with the red shingled exterior. The eaves returns have fan-wheel shaped brackets. A small two storey ell was added between 1939 and 1947. The interior retains its original charm and is nearly intact with large counters and floors stained with linseed oil.The company was originally involved in the saltfish trade with the West Indies but transitioned in the 1950s to the scallop fishery. The company is still managed by descendants of its founders and is the only fish company on the Lunenburg waterfront which has a direct historic link with its 19th century origins. Further west along the waterfront, a cluster of warehouses are also owned by Adams and Knickle. Their gable roofs, red painted shingles and small paned windows remind us of the commercial waterfront of years gone by.

 Many thanks to Adams and Knickle