abutments on each side of the channel. Manderson built the drawbridge and John Doiron of Rustico, a shipbuilder inspected the work. They began building the bridge in the spring and it was ﬁnished in October The first to drive a horse across the Stanley Bridge was Hon. George Coles and with him was Edward Whelan. They came up to view its completion and another pic- nic was held. At the opening when the ceremonies were oven the people gave three cheers for the Queen and three cheers for Coles and Whelan. "

There is a very interesting footnote concerning the contract which indicates that there is always an abundance of surveys and discussions when bridges are built in Stanley and other locales. James MacLeod had tendered for the approaches and abutments to the bridge; and after receiv— ing the contract proceeded (in error presumably) to exceed the plan by 178 feet — The Bridge turned out to be 438 feet in length rather than the 260 foot bridge that was approved. Mr. MacLeod appealed to the Superintendent of Public Works and he and Mr. Andrew Bell whom Mr. MacLeod had appointed as his agent attempted the protracted process of settling the prob— lem. Since the Superintendent (Mr. Silas Bernard) and Mr. Bell could not agree (Bernard had suggested $585 for the extra spans) while Mr. Bell demanded $1300, a third party was enlisted, a Mr. William Butcher from Hazel Grove. The parties met on Stanley Bridge on five occasions in the month of March, 1855, before a compromise settlement was reached - when Mr. Butcher’s award of $800, was accepted by both parties. “There is never anything new in histo— ry.” Witness the recent controversies over the North River Bridge, the Morell Bridge and the

Pinette Bridge in 1997.

With the completion of the bridge, Fyfe’s Ferry which in 1865 at the suggestion of E.L. Lydiard, a prominent merchant, became known as Stanley Bridge, began to grow rapidly and prosper. Initially, shipping and shipbuilding became a thriving industry in the mid 1800’s. In the 1860’s four shipyards were operating with panache on the Stanley River - one on the east side of the river operated by Henry McKie; Sutherland operated another on the opposite side, and two others were located on the upper reaches of the river. Once again Dougald Henry leaves us a poetic description of another aspect of our history:

“1 was employed when I ﬁrst left Charlottetown as a blacksmith at Bell’s shipyard, two miles above the present Stanley Bridge on the Stanley River. The four brothers, William, John, Andrew, and Ben worked together in the shipyard. Andrew was the Captain and sailed the ves— sels home to England mostly lumber-laden. Sometimes over 30 men were employed in Bell’s ship yard. Sometimes 2 vessels were on the stocks at the same time. The men engaged about the ship yard had a cheerful life on the whole. Sometimes there was a ﬁddler or two in the gang, and dancing was indulged in by times especially at a launching. When this event came of there was often gallons of liquor on hand, with plenty of meat and everything cooked up for the celebration. Men and women gathered to see the craft glide down into the water At night, a big jollification would wind up the event of the day. ”

"We hadn’t to go far for timber then. It was solid woods, almost from the river back and the same from there to New Glasgow, only a road had been stumped through it. "

Simultaneously with the shipbuilding, land was being leased, and on some occasions, purchased by farmers. Land was being cleared, and soon farm homes and buildings began to dot the coun— tryside. Roads, like the spokes of a wheel, radiated out from the village. The narrow but long farms of the farmers were brought into cultivation and the Stanley Bridge area soon became a thriving hinterland for the rapidly evolving self—sufficient village of Stanley Bridge.

The ﬂourishing Stanley Bridge that my grandmother described and the businesses and principal inhabitants are captured in F rederick's PEI Directory for 1885.