The white clapboard North Grand Pré Community Church was awarded heritage status recently. Mayor Peter Muttart was on hand to congratulate the community.
“What you’ve done here is wonderful,” said Muttart. “We were happy to receive the application. I applaud you.”
The Landscape of Grand Pré has installed an information panel outside the Long Island church, but nearby resident Jean Leung also read out some associated history.
She explained that the original 13 families who settled on Long Island made the church a priority, noting that the Palmeters were one of the first.
“They sacrificed to make this building happen,” Leung said the motivation came from the closest meeting houses being across the dykes, so the families felt isolated.
Land was donated for what became a Methodist Church, then a Union Church and in 1925 it came under the United Church umbrella.
Both Robert Palmeter and Gordon Guptill spoke about associations their families had with the building. In the early 1960s it became a non-denominational community church.
The church has been moved once to the west to prevent further damage by vehicles travelling to and from Evangeline Beach. According to Leung, some 800 visitors signed the guest book last year.
The ceremony concluded with a service conducted by Rev. Terry Caldwell.
The County of Kings Municipal Heritage Property Registry includes five designations. Among them are the Medford Cemetery, McElvy House in Port Williams, McMaster Mill site, the Old Tremont Cemetery and the North Grand Pré Community Church.
