The Stone Shed

The Stone Shed

(References from “Saltcoats Roots and Branches”)

The stone shed was built around 1890 by Stone Mason Donald MacDonald. Over the years the stone structure was first used as a stable for the nearby Henry Reimer Hotel. Sometime after the turn of the century, it was used for storing ice cut from Anderson Lake, then packed in sawdust to keep the ice blocks from melting during summer. The ice was used in connection with the E.P. Boake Butcher Shop and the stone building was used as a big cooler. In the 1920’s it was used as a blacksmith shop, then an egg candling station, and then for storage for the succession of stores that have been adjacent to the shed.

Meadowvale pioneer Cosmos Fehrenbach, who arrived here in 1889 at age nine, remembered: “Stone Mason MacDonald was the builder of this structure. Should the reader doubt the quality of the old timer’s muscles, take a look at these stones, they are all raised by hand off of a common wagon.”

Ralph Jowsey, of the Eden District, tells of Donald’s endurance and skill. The old stone stable on Commercial Street still stands straight and square and, all about the community, are still to be found foundations, stone basements, walls, and chimneys; monuments to the skill and industry of Donald the Mason.”

As was often a custom of a stonemason, a bottle of Scotch Whiskey, is reported to have been hidden somewhere in the stones.