SOURIS — The Matthew/McLean Building that was the hub of commercial activity in Souris for 100 years received official heritage designation Monday.Provincial Fisheries Minister Allan Campbell presented the heritage plaque to Souris Mayor Joanne Reid and members of the restoration committee who renovated and restored the building in 2001.
The Matthew/McLean building was built by its original owners Senator John McLean and his partner Uriah Matthew in 1869. For the next 100 years, the two men and their families ran one of the most comprehensive and successful commercial operations on Prince Edward Island.
The business comprised a department store complete with men’s and women’s wear, shoes, groceries, hardware and office supplies.
The partners also ran a shipping operation, fish-processing operation and fisheries supplies store. They were the major employer of Souris and the surrounding area.
The partners also ran a shipping operation, fish-processing operation and fisheries supplies store. They were the major employer of Souris and the surrounding area.
Wendell Stevenson began working there as a young man in1964 and remained until the time of the store’s close in 1972.
“They were absolutely terrific people to work with, and when the end came they did not shut the business down until every employee had found another job,” he said.
Stevenson recalled Ella Matthews, who was still hard at work in the “cage” at the age of 80 when the store closed.
The cage was the place the persons sat when receiving customers’ payments via a vacuum tube that sent the cash shooting up through the store, and returned a receipt in the same fashion.
Now restored, the building is home to six tenants: the P.E.I. Visitors Information Centre for eastern Kings County, Reid Computer Repair, Seaside Chics gift shop, The Historium, Nova’s Sew Much More and Advantage Communications.
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