Anne of Green Gables Exhibit at the Mitsumasa Anno Art Museum

The Mitsumasa Anno Art Museum in Japan is currently holding an exhibit on Anne of Green Gables. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lucy Maud Montgomery's birth, the exhibit celebrates how Anne Shirley lived a bright and positive life despite facing many hardships. L.M. Montgomery's story brought joy and strength to readers around the world.

Alongside the Anne of Green Gables exhibit, the museum has a second exhibit featuring "German Forest" landscape paintings.

The two exhibits opened on September 4, 2024 and will run through December 2, 2024. The museum is located at Wakuden no Mori, 764 Tani, Kumihama-cho, Kyotango City, Kyoto Prefecture 629-3559.

Official Website
Mitsumasa Anno Art Museum

Image credit:
Artwork featured at the Mitsumasa Anno Art Museum.

Created September 13, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Forty Years of Nippon Animation Exhibition

The Suginami Animation Museum in Tokyo, Japan is holding an exhibition called "Forty Years of Nippon Animation," which features displays on many memorable anime produced by the studio, including Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An). The exhibition opened on January 27, 2016 and will extend through April 17, 2016.

Nippon Animation is the studio responsible for creating the beloved World Masterpiece Theater and Chibi Maruko-chan. In 2015, the studio celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Suginami Animation Museum is celebrating this milestone with an exhibition on the studio's history. The exhibition spotlights the World Masterpiece Theater, the long-running Japanese television anime series based on classic children's stories. These beloved stories included Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An), A Dog of Flanders, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Swiss Family Robinson, Princess Sara (based on A Little Princess), 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother, and Rascal the Raccoon.

The exhibition includes a chronology of the World Masterpiece Theater and presentations of clips and episodes from many of the series. Photographs of the real locations in Europe, Canada, and the US where several stories were set are on display. These photographs were used to model the animated settings in the series, including Anne of Green Gables, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Little Princess, and Romeo and the Black Brothers.

The Suginami Animation Museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day (closed on Mondays). The museum is located at 3F Suginami Kaikan, 3-29-5 Kamiogi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 167-0043.

Image credit:
Poster advertising the Forty Years of Nippon Animation Exhibition at the Suginami Animation Museum.

Websites and References:
Suginami Animation Museum
"Forty Years of Nippon Animation" Exhibition at Tokyo Art Beat
Japan Journal, Part 4: Animation Museums in Tokyo: Suginami - A review of the exhibit at Brian Camp's Film and Anime Blog

Created January 30, 2016. Last updated May 15, 2016.
© worldofanneshirley.com

World Masterpiece Theater Exhibition

The Suginami Animation Museum in Tokyo, Japan is holding an exhibition called "World Masterpiece Theater," which spotlights beloved anime from the long-running television series, including Anne of Green Gables (Akage no An). The exhibition opened on May 26, 2009 and will continue through August 23, 2009.

The World Masterpiece Theater is a long-running Japanese television anime series based on classic children's stories. The series included Anne of Green Gables, A Dog of Flanders, Princess Sara (based on A Little Princess), 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother, Rascal the Raccoon, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Swiss Family Robinson. The most recent World Masterpiece Theater anime series titled Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables aka Hello Anne: Before Green Gables is currently airing. It is based on the Anne of Green Gables prequel novel, Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson.

The exhibition includes a chronology of the World Masterpiece Theater, informative displays on 26 anime series, and rare production items, including animation cel drawings and scripts. The museum will host special workshops and events about World Masterpiece Theater. In addition, the exhibition will screen episodes from Anne of Green Gables, A Dog of Flanders, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, Rascal the Raccoon, Perrine's Story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Romeo's Blue Skies, as well as the first episode of Hello Anne: Before Green Gables in the anime theater on weekends.

The Suginami Animation Museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day (closed on Mondays). The museum is located at 3F Suginami Kaikan, 3-29-5 Kamiogi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 167-0043.

Image credit:
Poster advertising the World Masterpiece Theater Exhibition at the Suginami Animation Museum.

Websites and References:
Suginami Animation Museum
"World Masterpiece Theater" Exhibition at Tokyo Art Beat

Created June 1, 2009.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home

Step into the world of L.M. Montgomery at the site of her beloved Cavendish home, where she wrote Anne of Green Gables. This location is part of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site, alongside the neighboring Green Gables Heritage Place. A stroll through the Haunted Wood, named by Montgomery herself, connects these two iconic sites.

After her mother’s death from tuberculosis, young L.M. Montgomery was raised by her maternal grandparents, Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, at their Cavendish homestead. For more than three decades, from 1876 to 1911, Cavendish was her cherished home, and she fondly referred to it as “hallowed ground.” It was the land she loved and wrote about, even after she married and left Prince Edward Island.

Today, little remains of the original home except the foundation and stone cellar, but in recent years, the kitchen was returned to the site. Although much of the structure is gone, you can explore the gardens, forests, and landscape that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write Anne of Green Gables and many of her other stories. She loved the old apple trees, birches, poplars, spruces, pathways, and flower gardens surrounding her home.



There are many mature trees around L.M. Montgomery's home.



Following her grandmother’s death in 1911, L.M. Montgomery married Ewen MacDonald and left Cavendish for Ontario. The homestead remained in the Macneill family, but the house was closed after L.M. Montgomery moved away. Around 1920, much of the original homestead fell to ruin, except for the kitchen. Today, the farm property is still owned by the Macneill family. In the 1980s, John Macneill, a great-grandson of Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, alongside his wife Jennie Macneill, lovingly tended to the site and opened it to visitors. It is now maintained by their son David Macneill.



Here's a photo of the fields around the home.



Here is a photograph of the vegetable garden.



Here's a well on the property.



Placards with quotes from L.M. Montgomery’s journals are placed around the homestead property to help visitors see the site through her eyes. L.M. Montgomery began writing Anne of Green Gables in the kitchen of the Cavendish homestead, and wrote most of it in her cherished bedroom by its gable window. Nearby, you can walk down "Lover’s Lane" or you can spook yourself along the "Haunted Wood" path, which leads to the Green Gables house. Montgomery named these places in her real life, and she brought them to life for her readers in Anne of Green Gables.



In the site's bookstore, you'll find an array of books by and about Montgomery, as well as other charming gifts. The original desk and scales from the Cavendish Post Office, run by Montgomery and her grandparents, are also on display, with the current Cavendish Post Office nearby housing an exhibit on her life.

The kitchen, the heart of the old house, has a fascinating history of its own. After the house fell into disrepair in the 1920s, only the kitchen survived. L.M. Montgomery’s uncle repurposed this part of the building and used it as an outbuilding in the barnyard to house animals and later as a storage shed. In the 1960s, a Catholic priest and historian named Father Francis Bolger was researching L.M. Montgomery and writing a biography about her. Father Bolger asked the Macneills if he could use the kitchen building, and they gave him permission to use it. He moved the kitchen structure to his summer home, cleaned and repaired the building, and then used it as his writing cottage. In 1974, Father Bolger published a biography on L.M. Montgomery called The Years Before Anne. After Father Bolger’s death in 2017, the kitchen was returned to the Macneill property, where it now serves as a museum next to the bookstore.

Visiting the Site of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish home is a poignant experience, offering a deep connection to the places and memories that shaped her stories. The sense of home, so central to Montgomery’s writing, comes alive here, making it a truly special place to explore.


Official Websites:
The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home
L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site, Parks Canada

Location:
The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home
8521 Cavendish Road Rte, PE-6, Cavendish, PE C0A 1N0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Cavert, Mary Beth. (2024). The House of Home: Montgomery’s Macneill Grandparents’ Homestead. The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript. Retrived from: https://annemanuscript.ca/stories/the-house-of-home/

Hamilton, Kathleen and Frei, Sibyl. Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island. Ragweed Press. 1998.

Krzewinski, Agatha. The Original Homes of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment. Retrieved from: https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/the-original-homes-of-lucy-maud-montgomery

L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site. (2024). Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/cavendish

Piece of L.M. Montgomery's childhood home returned to original homestead. (2018, December 18). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-lucy-maud-montgomery-kitchen-building-homestead-1.4951107

The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home. Retrieved from: https://www.lmmontgomerycavendishhome.com/


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 7, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Cavendish Post Office aka The Green Gables Post Office

The Cavendish Post Office (also known as the Green Gables Post Office) is a modern post office and museum located in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, close to the Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home and the Green Gables House. Step inside to view a historical exhibit called “Yours sincerely, L.M. Montgomery” to discover how the postal service played an important role in L.M. Montgomery’s life and early career as a writer. Send a letter or postcard from this post office, and it will receive a special Anne of Green Gables, Cavendish PE postage mark, adding a touch of literary magic to your correspondence.



L.M. Montgomery was raised by Alexander and Lucy Woolner Macneill, her maternal grandparents, in Cavendish. As key members of the community, the Macneill family operated the Cavendish Post Office for generations, from its opening in 1833 until it closed in 1913. As a girl, L.M. Montgomery helped her grandparents run the post office from the kitchen of their homestead. The post office was more than just a place to send and receive mail; it was a vital hub where the rural community of Cavendish gathered to share news and stories, shaping the social fabric of the village.



After her grandfather’s death in 1898, L.M. Montgomery left her teaching post in Lower Bedeque and returned home to Cavendish to live with her grandmother. She helped her grandmother at the post office, serving as its assistant postmaster.



Having a post office in her home was fortunate for L.M. Montgomery. As a young writer who struggled to obtain paper, L.M. Montgomery wrote poems and stories on the backs of red postal letter bills. Living in the post office benefited L.M. Montgomery in another way. It allowed her to pursue her literary dreams and submit her stories and poems to publishers in secret. No one had to know if she received a rejection letter, and she could privately correspond with editors.



In 1905, L.M. Montgomery began writing Anne of Green Gables while sitting at the end of the table in the Macneill kitchen. After completing the book, L.M. Montgomery submitted it to several publishers, and the story was rejected repeatedly. L.M. Montgomery then stored the manuscript in a hatbox. In 1907, she decided to try submitting Anne of Green Gables for publication again, and she packaged and mailed her manuscript to L.C. Page Company, a publisher based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Her perseverance paid off when L.C. Page accepted the manuscript, and Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908, bringing Anne Shirley's adventures to the world and cementing Montgomery's place in literary history.



In the 1970s, the government planned for a new post office to pay tribute to Prince Edward Island during its centennial anniversary of joining Canada in 1873. The post office was designed to honor L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables with a special museum exhibit. A building resembling the original Macneill homestead was relocated from Rocky Point on the other side of Prince Edward Island to a site near the original Macneill homestead in Cavendish. The building was restored and decorated with authentic decorations and postal artifacts. The exhibit was designed and produced by the Canadian Museum of History in collaboration with Canada Post.



The Cavendish Post Office is a special place to visit because it played a key role in L.M. Montgomery’s life and the origin of Anne of Green Gables. Open from May through October, the exhibit also provides a look back at how early post offices functioned.


Official Websites:
Yours Sincerely, Lucy Maud Montgomery Exhibition
Cavendish Post Office, Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island

Location:
The Cavendish Post Office
8555 Cavendish Rd, Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

References:
Epperly, Elizabeth R. Writing in the Kitchen: An Animation. The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript. Retrieved from: https://annemanuscript.ca/stories/macneill-kitchen-animation-writing-the-opening-pages-of-the-manuscript-3/

Hamilton, Kathleen and Frei, Sibyl. Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island. Ragweed Press. 1998.

Yours Sincerely, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Canadian Museum of History. Retrieved from: https://www.historymuseum.ca/exhibitions/lucymaudmontgomery/


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 7, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Senator Donald Montgomery's House

L.M. Montgomery's paternal grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery, lived in Park Corner, Prince Edward Island—a place that held a special place in her heart. In her journals, Montgomery fondly described her grandfather as “just like a grandfather out of a story. I love him. He is always so good and kind and gentle to me.” The warmth and charm of his home deeply influenced Montgomery, inspiring the creation of Ingleside, the cherished home of Anne and Gilbert Blythe. Many items from this house found their way into the pages of the Anne of Green Gables series and The Story Girl.

Known as "Big Donald" to distinguish him from a cousin of the same name, Senator Montgomery was both a respected farmer and a prominent politician. His political career spanned decades, serving as a representative, member, and speaker of the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly from 1838 to 1874. After Prince Edward Island joined the Canadian Confederation in 1873, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate, where he served until his death in 1893.



Senator Donald Montgomery's house, a place brimming with history, sits beside the picturesque Lake of Shining Waters and is just across the street from the Campbell Homestead (Silver Bush), which now houses The Anne of Green Gables Museum.

When I visited Prince Edward Island in 2006, the house was a museum called the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum. The museum was one of my favorite L.M. Montgomery sites. What made it so special was the personal guided tour of the home by Robert Montgomery, L.M. Montgomery’s cousin and a great-grandson of Senator Donald Montgomery. He was incredibly generous with his time, sharing stories and insights that brought the history of the house to life. Unlike many other sites, this house still contained its original furnishings, offering a rare glimpse into the world that shaped L.M. Montgomery. The home was filled with antiques, books, artifacts, and photographs, all telling the rich history of the Montgomery family and revealing the treasures that inspired one of Canada’s most beloved authors.



Senator Donald Montgomery's house has been known by many names over the years—Park Corner, Montgomery Manor, the Heath Montgomery Home, and notably, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum. In 2011, L.M. Montgomery’s cousin, Robert Montgomery, decided to sell the house. His son, Paul Montgomery, purchased it, breathing new life into the historic home by renovating and redecorating it. Today, it stands as the Montgomery Inn at Ingleside, inviting visitors to experience its rich history as a charming inn.

When I visited the Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum, I had the chance to explore a collection of artifacts that vividly brought Montgomery’s world to life. I’m not sure if these treasures remain on display at the inn, but their impact on me was unforgettable.

Outside the house stands the pulpit stone mentioned in The Story Girl.



It was special to see the tea set that inspired Marilla Cuthbert's rosebud spray tea set. Anne admired its beauty and dreamed of serving Diana tea with this set in Anne of Green Gables.



Another highlight was Magog, one of a pair of white and green spotted china dogs that L.M. Montgomery adored as a child. She wrote fondly of these dogs in her journals: "When I was a little girl, visiting at Grandfather Montgomery's, I think the thing that most enthralled me was a pair of China dogs which always sat on the sitting room mantel piece..." Though Magog’s twin, Gog, had sadly broken, Magog was still proudly displayed. Years later, L.M. Montgomery herself sought out a similar pair of china dogs during her honeymoon in England and Scotland, a journey that ended with the purchase of a set with gold spots—a close but not identical match to her grandfather’s originals.



These beloved china dogs appear throughout the Anne of Green Gables series. In Anne of the Island, Anne Shirley is captivated by the sight of two china dogs at Patty's Place. She has gone there to meet Miss Patty and Miss Maria in the hopes of renting their house. L.M. Montgomery writes, "just behind each sat a large white china dog, with round green spots all over it, a green nose and green ears. Those dogs captured Anne’s fancy on the spot; they seemed like the twin guardian deities of Patty’s Place." Years later in Anne's House of Dreams, Miss Patty and Miss Maria give Anne the dogs as a wedding gift, noting that, "You will not have forgotten that Gog looks to the right and Magog to the left.” These loyal guardians of Patty’s Place later preside over the Blythe household, making appearances in Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley.

During my visit, I couldn’t resist buying a pair of miniature Gog and Magog china dogs from Robert Montgomery’s gift shop. He explained that they were crafted by a local PEI artist, making them even more special since most Anne souvenirs are imported. For me, these tiny dogs held extra significance, as I purchased them during my own honeymoon, echoing Montgomery’s own search for her cherished china dogs.

On the walls of the home, there was even a handmade wall hanging featuring Gog and Magog.



Below Magog was the china fruit basket mentioned in The Story Girl (Chapter XII, The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward).



The house was filled with special photos and treasures, each telling a story of its own. Among them was a piece of sheet music from the 1919 silent film Anne of Green Gables starring Mary Miles Minter.



After exploring the museum, I took a walk down "The Alpine Path," a picturesque, forested trail that led to the Lake of Shining Waters.

L.M. Montgomery gives an explanation for this name in her 1917 autobiography, titled The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career. In the opening, Montgomery writes:

"Many years ago, when I was still a child, I clipped from a current magazine a bit of verse, entitled 'To the Fringed Gentian,' and pasted it on the corner of the little portfolio on which I wrote my letters and school essays. Every time I opened the portfolio I read one of those verses over; it was the key-note of my every aim and ambition:

'Then whisper, blossom, in thy sleep
   How I may upward climb
 The Alpine path, so hard, so steep,
   That leads to heights sublime;
 How I may reach that far-off goal
   Of true and honoured fame,
 And write upon its shining scroll
   A woman’s humble name.'




The Alpine Path was a serene place. I couldn't help but feel connected to Montgomery's world.



As I walked through, I caught a glimpse of L.M. Montgomery's Lake of Shining Waters though the trees.



Here is the peaceful Lake of Shining Waters. I could see why Montgomery loved this tranquil place.



I visited many years ago when the house was still a museum, and I wonder where all those cherished artifacts are now. The house has since been transformed into an inn, and I’m not sure if any of those treasures remain on display.

The house may soon undergo another transformation. On July 5, 2024, the property was listed for sale. If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a historic home on Prince Edward Island, this could be your chance. For $899,900 CAD, you could make this piece of literary history your own.

Official Website:
Montgomery Inn at Ingleside Prince Edward Island

Location:
Senator Donald Montgomery's House. Montgomery Inn at Ingleside Prince Edward Island.
4615 Route 20, Park Corner, 4615 PE-20, Kensington, PE C0B 1M0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright Google Maps.

References:
The Hon. Donald Montgomery, Senator. The Parliament of Canada. Retrieved from: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=9612

Kitts, Colleen. (2016, April 15). Historic Montgomery house gets a new life thanks to Lucy Maud descendant. CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/montgomery-inn-pei-1.3537617

Ligaya, Armina. (2012, August 23). Memories for sale as Lucy Maud Montgomery Heritage Museum put on market in P.E.I. National Post. Retrieved from: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/memories-for-sale-as-lucy-maud-montgomery-heritage-museum-goes-up-for-sale-in-p-e-i

Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum. Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20110603043639/http://www.lucymaudmontgomerymuseum.com/index.html

Lucy Maud Montgomery museum up for sale. (2012, August 21). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/lucy-maud-montgomery-museum-up-for-sale-1.1212105

Montgomery family home reopens as 4-star inn. (2016, September 16). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/lucy-maud-montgomery-ingleside-inn-1.3766862

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of the Island. L.C. Page & Company, 1915.

Montgomery, L.M. Anne's House of Dreams. McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, Limited. 1917.

Montgomery, L.M. The Alpine Path. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1997. pages 74–75.

Montgomery, L.M. The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume I: 1889–1910. ed. Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston. Oxford University Press, 1985. page 25.

Montgomery, L.M. The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume II: 1910–1921. ed. Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston. Oxford University Press, 1987. page 76.

Senator Donald Montgomery House. Canada’s Historic Places. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=20523

Property Description for 4615 Route 20. RE/MAX Canada. Retrieved from: https://www.remax.ca/luxury/pe/park-corner-real-estate/4615-route-20-wp_idm73000004-27124644-lst


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated September 13, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Anne of Green Gables Museum

The Anne of Green Gables Museum is a private house museum dedicated to the life of L.M. Montgomery that is located in the Campbell Homestead in Park Corner, Prince Edward Island. Despite its name, which causes some confusion, the museum primarily focuses on L.M. Montgomery and not on Anne of Green Gables.

Throughout her life, L.M. Montgomery loved to visit her Aunt Annie Macneill Campbell, Uncle John Campbell, and her jolly cousins at Park Corner. L.M. Montgomery called their house Silver Bush, and it was her inspiration for Pat Gardiner’s home in her novels Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat.

The Anne of Green Gables Museum, which opened in 1972, contains many artifacts related to L.M. Montgomery. It is still owned and run by members of the Campbell family. A portion of the home functions as the museum where you can do a self-guided tour, while the remainder is their private residence.



East of the Campbell house is Campbell's Pond. This simple name was too prosaic for L.M. Montgomery, who renamed the pond the "Lake of Shining Waters." Montgomery later immortalized this name by having Anne Shirley rename Barry’s Pond the "Lake of Shining Waters” in Anne of Green Gables.



The museum contains the blue chest, which L.M. Montgomery wrote about in The Story Girl.



You can also see L.M. Montgomery's enchanted bookcase. As a child, she talked to her reflection in the glass, which was her imaginary friend Katie Maurice. This bookcase was originally located at the old Macneill homestead in Cavendish (The Site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home) where L.M. Montgomery was raised by her grandparents. The bookcase was moved before the old home was demolished. Readers of Anne of Green Gables will recognize this story as being one shared with Anne Shirley. In Anne of Green Gables, Anne talks to her imaginary friend Katie Maurice, which was her reflection in the bookcase at the Thomas home.



On July 5, 1911, L.M. Montgomery married the Reverend Ewen MacDonald in the parlor at the Campbell house in front of the fireplace.



L.M. Montgomery had her own little bedroom at the Campbell house. The view from her window overlooked the Lake of Shining Waters. You can pay to take a carriage ride around the lake.



The museum displays a large collection of first edition books by L.M. Montgomery, photographs, and other artifacts, including a quilt and lace made by L.M. Montgomery.



There are also clippings from magazines and letters written by L.M. Montgomery. I had trouble photographing many of them because of the poor lighting, reflections, and harsh glare off the glass covering them.



This museum is nice to visit if you wish to learn more about L.M. Montgomery and the places that inspired her, but it's important to keep in mind that the focus is the author herself.


Official Website:
The Anne of Green Gables Museum

Location:
The Anne of Green Gables Museum
4542 PE Route, 20 Park Corner Ln, Kensington, PE C0B 1M0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

Reference:
Hamilton, Kathleen and Frei, Sibyl. Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island. Ragweed Press. 1998.

Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lower Bedeque School

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Lower Bedeque School is a historical museum located in Central Bedeque, Prince Edward Island.

L.M. Montgomery taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Lower Bedeque from 1897–1898. This was her third and final teaching position. She enjoyed her time in Lower Bedeque, finding it a lively and friendly place with many young people. During L.M. Montgomery’s year in Lower Bedeque, she boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Leard. She fell in love with their son, a young farmer named Herman Leard, and wrote about him in her journals. In March 1898, L.M. Montgomery’s grandfather Alexander Macneill died, and she returned home to live with her grandmother in Cavendish.



The Lower Bedeque School that L.M. Montgomery taught in was restored to represent a typical one-room, country schoolhouse in Prince Edward Island in the late 1800s. Stand at the front of the classroom and imagine yourself stepping into Montgomery's shoes or channel your inner Anne Shirley, envisioning your first day as a teacher at the Avonlea school. The original desks are more than a century old and so are the slates (Watch out, Gilbert!). The schoolroom features displays of old books, educational materials, and school supplies.



Several replica dresses were displayed from performances of Anne of Green Gables: The Musical. The school was registered as a Heritage Place by the province of Prince Edward Island in 2005.



The Lower Bedeque School was originally located on Route 112. I visited the museum at its original location in 2006. In 2019, the museum was closed due to a lack of volunteers. In 2021, the entire building was moved to a new location in Central Bedeque to a park across from the Bedeque Area Historical Museum.

The Bedeque Area Historical Museum currently maintains and manages the school museum. There are several exhibits in the Lower Bedeque School, namely: Introduction to the Schoolhouse, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Time in Bedeque, Maud's Secret Bedeque Romance, Saving the Lower Bedeque School, Early Education in Prince Edward Island, and Montgomery's Loyalist Roots.


Official Website:
Lucy Maud Montgomery Lower Bedeque School at the Bedeque Area Historical Museum

Location:
Lucy Maud Montgomery Lower Bedeque School
950 Callbeck St, Bedeque, PE C0B 1C0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright Google Maps.

References:
School museum where L.M. Montgomery taught forced to close its doors. (2019, June 24). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-bedeque-schoolhouse-lucy-maud-montgomery-1.5187652

P.E.I. school where L.M. Montgomery taught being moved to new site. (2021, June 9). CBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-lower-bedeque-school-montgomery-moving-1.6059539

Lower Bedeque School Gets a New Home. (2021, June 1). Bedeque Area Historical Museum. Retrieved from: https://www.bedequemuseum.ca/historical-society/lower-bedeque-school-gets-a-new-home


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Bideford Parsonage Museum

The Bideford Parsonage Museum is a historical museum located in Bideford, Prince Edward Island.

L.M. Montgomery lived in this parsonage with the Reverend and Mrs. Estey from 1894–1895 while she taught school in Bideford. This was L.M. Montgomery’s first teaching position after leaving Prince of Wales College. Montgomery’s early experiences as a teacher at Bideford’s one-room schoolhouse were later reflected in her portrayal of Anne Shirley’s experiences as a new teacher at the Avonlea School in Anne of Avonlea. During her time in Bideford, Montgomery wrote a great deal, but she continued to receive rejection letters for her stories.

One of the most memorable scenes from Anne of Green Gables originated from a humorous accident at the Bideford Parsonage. In chapter XXI, titled “A New Departure in Flavorings,” Anne accidentally flavors a layer cake with anodyne liniment instead of vanilla and then serves it to the minister and his wife.

L.M. Montgomery wrote about the real event that inspired Anne’s tea-time mishap in her autobiography The Alpine Path:

“The notable incident of the liniment cake happened when I was teaching school in Bideford and boarding at the Methodist parsonage there. Its charming mistress flavoured a layer cake with anodyne liniment one day. Never shall I forget the taste of that cake and the fun we had over it, for the mistake was not discovered until tea-time. A strange minister was there to tea that night. He ate every crumb of his piece of cake. What he thought of it we never discovered. Possibly he imagined it was simply some new-fangled flavouring.”

The Bideford parsonage served as the home to many clergy members until it passed into private hands. In 1999, members of the local community came together to obtain provincial government funding to purchase, preserve, and carefully restore the parsonage. The museum opened in the year 2000, after which restoration of the building continued to return the structure to its authentic appearance in the late 1890s.

The museum is now filled with information on the culture and lifestyle of the era, and it holds many artifacts contributed by the community. Along with learning about the time period, you can view L.M. Montgomery’s old bedroom (pictured below) and look out the window, which faces the bay.



Here's the lovely view of the bay from the yard of the Bideford Parsonage Museum:




Official Website:
Bideford Parsonage Museum

Location:
Bideford Parsonage Museum
North Cape Coastal Drive, 784 Bideford Road, Rte 166, Bideford, PE C0B 1J0, Canada.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. The Alpine Path. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1997. pages 74–75.

Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace is a historical museum located in New London, Prince Edward Island.

L.M. Montgomery was born in this house on November 30, 1874. Her parents, Hugh and Clara Montgomery, lived here after their marriage and during L.M. Montgomery’s infancy. Sadly, Clara died of tuberculosis when L.M. Montgomery was just 21 months old. After her mother’s death, L.M. Montgomery was raised by her maternal grandparents, Alexander and Lucy Macneill, in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island at their homestead.

At the time of L.M. Montgomery’s birth, the town of New London was called Clifton. L.M. Montgomery described her first home in her journals as a yellowish-brown house, but it is currently painted white and green, echoing the colors of Green Gables. When Anne visits her birthplace in Anne of the Island, Montgomery used her own birthplace as the model, weaving a personal thread into the fabric of her beloved story.

The house is now a small museum where visitors can explore Montgomery's first home, including the bedroom she was born in (shown below).



The house has been furnished with authentic Victorian pieces to give visitors a sense of what the home might have looked like at the time of Montgomery’s birth. There are quilts, flowers made from human hair, and a stove and cooking utensils from the time period. The home overlooks the New London Harbour and sand dunes, which feature in Montgomery's writings.

The special exhibits include a replica of L.M. Montgomery's wedding dress, veil, and shoes from her marriage to Ewen MacDonald.



The Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace also displays her personal scrapbooks from the time when she was a student at Prince of Wales College and from her years as a teacher and writer. The scrapbooks contain copies of her stories and poems, mementos, and personal treasures that she saved.



Throughout the museum, there are articles, rare books, dolls, press clippings, photos and memorabilia related to L.M. Montgomery’s life and legacy.


Official Website:
Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace

Location:
Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace
6461 PE-20, New London, PE C0A 1M0, Canada. At the intersection of Routes 6 and 20.



Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.

Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com