AUGUST 2025
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Proudly Local, Proudly Canadian
OUR PEOPLE, OUR COMMUNITIES, OUR STORIES
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8
Book Views
Helping Seniors Stay in their Homes
6
Honouring 300 Years of History
10
18
Three Albert County Brothers Gave the World a Stunning Architectural Legacy
H
arvey was a booming shipbuilding community in the mid1800s. William James Reid, a skilled “house joiner” who designed the decorative wood finishes in the architecture of homes, and his wife Lucinda Robinson Reid raised eight children there – three sons and five daughters. Those three small-town boys – James, Merritt, and Watson – would grow up to provide North America with some of its greatest architecture. Albert County Historical Society President Dawne McLean recounts in “A Glimpse of Past Days,” that the Reid children received the “sound education” offered by the Harvey Grammar School. The three boys all went on to study engineering
and architecture. James and Merritt attended top universities, including McGill University in Montreal, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Ambition took them further afield when their educations were complete. Notes McLean, the two older brothers moved to the United States to work for the firm of Boyd and Brickley in Evansville, Indiana. As detailed in “A Glimpse of Past Days,” in 1879 they bought the contracts from the firm and opened their own, Reid and Reid, in Evansville. The firm would continue for fifty-six years. Among their greatest commissions were the Willard Library in Continued on page 3
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Shelley Garnhum and Dawne McLean are the great
grandnieces of the Reid brothers of architectural fame. McLean, President of the Albert County Historical Society, is the author of “A Glimpse of Past Days: A Compendium of Historical Accounts and Heritage Photographs, Albert County, New Brunswick.” They shared with The River View their family knowledge, stories, and photographs from A Glimpse of Past Days to provide the following overview of the accomplished Reid brothers of Harvey. We are grateful to them for sharing these stories and photographs with us and our readers.
The Fairmont in San Francisco, like the Hotel Del Coronado, was a great architectural achievement in its time and remains a premier destination hotel today.
Postcard: The extended family stayed connected with a voluminous correspondence which has been archived by Shelley Garnhum. Wedding Announcement: The weekly newspaper The Maple Leaf published this wedding announcement for Watson and Janie. Continued on page 3
Thank You
for 34 great years!
1991-2025
358 Coverdale Road, Riverview