The Pew House in Thorold finally gets its historical designation on Sunday
Published November 22, 2021 at 3:51 pm
The owners of The Pew House finally got their wish. Their house on 18 South Street South in Port Robinson, a suburb community in Thorold, is now an official heritage designated property.
It took them three years to get that designation (the pandemic slowed down the process) but owners Mary DeKeyzer and husband Dave Tufford got their official ceremony yesterday (November 21) and now have a plaque in front of their home.
Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey, who attended the ceremony with Thorold Mayor Terry Ugulini, Councillor Fred Neale, Regional Councillor Tim Whalen and members of Heritage Thorold, noted afterwards that the Pew House was the “54th building to receive designation in Thorold. The Pew House is the seventh home in Port Robinson and helps cement Thorold’s position as the having the most designated structures per capita in Ontario.”
The history of The Pew House dates back to 1871 when local blacksmith Isaac Pew built it. After his original blacksmith shop located in a shipyard near the river lock in Port Robinson burned down in a large fire, he moved his family to South Street, setting his business up on the property.
Even though the house is 150 years old, some of the original pieces remain. Heritage Thorold believes its open veranda was always there and the house is still wood. Some of the moldings and most all of the floor wood is still intact.
But most importantly to the owners is the fact that if they someday move, the new owner can’t come in, tear it down and put up condos on the property. Because as of Sunday, the Ontario Heritage Act forbids it.
(Photo from Vance Badawey Facebook: Heritage Thorold chair Craig Finlay and homeowners Dave Tufford and Mary DeKeyzer pose behind the plaque that now adorns their heritage home)
