Green Gables Heritage Place

Nestled in the picturesque village of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, the Green Gables Heritage Place is a charming farm that inspired L.M. Montgomery to write the beloved novel Anne of Green Gables. Now a designated National Historic Site within Prince Edward Island National Park, Green Gables Heritage Place offers a unique celebration of literature where reality and fiction seamlessly intertwine. Explore the enchanting grounds that inspired Montgomery's timeless story and experience the magic of stepping into the world of Anne Shirley.

The farmhouse was the home of David Macneill and Margaret Macneill (pictured below), two siblings who were cousins of L.M. Montgomery's grandfather. In 1896, their niece Ada Macneill and her 13-year-old daughter Myrtle returned to Cavendish to help on the farm. L.M. Montgomery lived nearby and became friends with her cousin Myrtle. Montgomery often walked through their property. She called the spruce grove by the farmhouse the Haunted Wood, and she was fond of spending time in a forested pathway that she called Lover’s Lane.



After Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908, readers recognized that this location had inspired the setting for L.M. Montgomery’s novel. Fans of the story began visiting the farmhouse, which became known as “Green Gables.” In 1909, Myrtle Macneill Webb and her husband Ernest Webb bought the farm. In the 1930s, Parks Canada developed the region into a national park with Green Gables as the centerpiece.

On January 27, 1911, L.M. Montgomery wrote in her journals about how she had not drawn any of the characters in her stories from real life although she “used real places and speeches freely.” She continued, writing, “Nevertheless I have woven a good deal of reality into my books. Cavendish is to a large extent Avonlea.”

Montgomery went on to write, “Green Gables was drawn from David Macneill’s house, now Mr. Webb’s—though not so much the house itself as the situation and scenery, and the truth of my description of it is attested by the fact that everybody has recognized it.”

Later in the same entry, L.M. Montgomery wrote about Anne Shirley, saying:

“When I am asked if Anne herself is a “real person” I always answer “no” with an odd reluctance and an uncomfortable feeling of not telling the truth. For she is and always has been, from the moment I first thought of her, so real to me that I feel I am doing violence to something when I deny her an existence anywhere save in Dreamland. Does she not stand at my elbow even now—if I turned my head quickly should I not see her—with her eager, starry eyes and her long braids of red hair and her little pointed chin? To tell that haunting elf that she is not real, because, forsooth, I never met her in the flesh! No, I cannot do it! She is so real that, although I’ve never met her, I feel quite sure I shall do so some day—perhaps in a stroll through Lover’s Lane in the twilight—or in the moonlit Birch Path—I shall lift my eyes and find her, child or maiden, by my side. And I shall not be in the least surprised because I have always known she was somewhere.”

Although Anne Shirley may not have been a real girl, L.M. Montgomery's creation feels close to real in this setting. Anne is somewhere in this space. You can almost feel Anne’s presence when exploring the grounds, strolling down Lover’s Lane, or walking through the Haunted Wood. You think of Anne when you see the geranium plant she named “Bonny” on the kitchen window sill or peek into her cheerful bedroom where her cherished puffed-sleeve dress hangs prominently.

You can tour each room in Green Gables. The rooms were thoughtfully decorated with Victorian pieces and with special touches from the novel. It feels like Anne, Marilla, and Matthew just stepped out and left visitors to explore their home. Each room was corded off, so sometimes I found it difficult to take good photos that captured the spaces, and it felt crowded when other visitors were nearby.

Here are some photos I took during my visit in 2006. This is a view of the horsehair sofa and decor in the parlour.



This is the formal dining room at Green Gables. It has pretty lace curtains and diamond-patterned vine wallpaper.



Here is the kitchen table with the stove in the foreground. Anne, Marilla, and Matthew would have spent much of their time here.



I smiled seeing the geranium on the window sill in the kitchen, thinking of the scene in Anne of Green Gables when Anne asks Marilla about the geranium's name:

"'What is the name of that geranium on the window-sill, please?'

'That’s the apple-scented geranium.'

'Oh, I don’t mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn’t you give it a name? May I give it one then? May I call it—let me see—Bonny would do—may I call it Bonny while I’m here? Oh, do let me!'

'Goodness, I don’t care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?'

'Oh, I like things to have handles even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people. How do you know but that it hurts a geranium’s feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else? You wouldn’t like to be called nothing but a woman all the time. Yes, I shall call it Bonny. I named that cherry-tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it Snow Queen because it was so white. Of course, it won’t always be in blossom, but one can imagine that it is, can’t one?'"

The dairy porch is a small room off the kitchen.



This is Matthew Cuthbert's room on the ground floor.



Upstairs is Anne Shirley's bedroom. You can see her cheerful room with a geranium in the window. Hanging on the closet door is the deep brown dress with puffed sleeves that was a gift from Matthew. There's even a broken slate in the room (My photograph of it was blurry, so I haven't posted it).



Here is Marilla Cuthbert's bedroom. I liked her bedspread.



The spare room was very comfortable looking and had a lovely quilt.



The sewing room was a pretty and practical room. The sewing machine was located in front of the window and a spinning wheel was nearby.



The hired boy's bedroom was a simple room located upstairs.



Outside the house were several barns. Matthew's buggy was in front of one, and you could sit in it and pose for a photo.



Here's a photograph of the inside of a barn at Green Gables.



There was a large plot of vegetables being grown in front of a barn.



Lastly, here's a view of the flower gardens at Green Gables. I think Anne would have enjoyed the blooms.



The Green Gables Heritage Place has a large visitor centre with exhibits on L.M. Montgomery that opened in 2019. I visited back in 2006 when the centre was much smaller. The exhibits included L.M. Montgomery's typewriter, which she used to prepare the typeset version of Anne of Green Gables, and her handwritten lyrics for "The Island Hymn," which is today the official provincial anthem of Prince Edward Island. I have not seen the new visitor centre in person, but the photos of it online look impressive.

After touring the house and vistor centre, you can stop by the restaurant on site to buy snacks and raspberry cordial. There is also a gift shop that sells Anne-related merchandise and L.M. Montgomery's books.

In addition, the Green Gables Heritage Place includes two special trails. You can take a walk in Anne Shirley or L.M. Montgomery’s footsteps on the Haunted Wood Trail and the Lover’s Lane and Balsam Hollow Trail. Both places were important to Montgomery, and she portrayed these settings in Anne of Green Gables. The Haunted Wood Trail connects with the Cavendish Cemetery, where L.M. Montgomery's grave is located, as well as the Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home, where Montgomery once lived and where she wrote Anne of Green Gables. You can visit these sites and the nearby Cavendish Post Office, which has a great exhibit on Montgomery, and then return to Green Gables along the Haunted Wood Trail.


Official Websites:
Green Gables Heritage Place, Parks Canada
Green Gables House, Parks Canada
Virtual Tour: Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:
Green Gables Heritage Place
PE-13, Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada



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

References:
Green Gables House. Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/maison-house

MacEachern, Alan. L.M. Montgomery’s Green Gables. The Anne of Green Gables Manuscript. Retrieved from: https://annemanuscript.ca/stories/l-m-montgomerys-green-gables/

MacEachern, Alan. Myrtle Webb & Her World. The Green Gables Diary. Retrieved from: https://greengablesdiary.ca/myrtle-webb-her-world/

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

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 38–40.

Virtual Tour: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/OgXR54HZxKGSfQ?hl=EN


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 15, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

The Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place

Embark on a spine-tingling adventure through the eerie Haunted Wood Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place in Prince Edward Island National Park. As a child, L.M. Montgomery believed these woods were haunted, a fear she vividly brought to life in Anne of Green Gables. In the novel, Anne Shirley's overactive imagination transforms the path between Green Gables and the Barry home into a realm of ghosts and shadows. Experience the haunting beauty of the trail that inspired such unforgettable scenes, and let your own imagination wander as you walk in the footsteps of Anne and Diana.

The interpretative trail is a short, 1 mile (1.6 km) path that begins in front of Green Gables and heads east through the forest. Along the trail, you can see the site where L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish School was once located. It inspired the Avonlea School in Anne of Green Gables. The Haunted Wood Trail winds past the Cavendish Cemetery, where L.M. Montgomery's grave is located, and it connects to the Site of L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home. You can visit these sites and the nearby Cavendish Post Office and then return to Green Gables through the Haunted Wood.



Interpretive signs placed along the trail provide L.M. Montgomery's own descriptions about her imagination and inspiration.

As a child, L.M. Montgomery shared many adventures with two little boys who came to board at her grandfather's house to attend school. Their names were Wellington and David Nelson, and they were known as Well and Dave. Well was the same age as Montgomery, and Dave was a year younger. The two boys are pictured on the sign below.

Well and Dave believed in ghosts and loved to tell frightening stories, and their stories "infected" young L.M. Montgomery with a belief in ghosts. The trio shared a deep fear of the spruce grove near their home, especially after dark. These childhood memories inspired Montgomery's "Haunted Wood" in Anne of Green Gables. In her autobiography, The Alpine Path, Montgomery writes:

"Readers of Anne of Green Gables will remember the Haunted Wood. It was a gruesome fact to us three young imps. Well and Dave had a firm and rooted belief in ghosts. I used to argue with them over it with the depressing result that I became infected myself. Not that I really believed in ghosts, pure and simple; but I was inclined to agree with Hamlet that there might be more things in heaven and earth than were commonly dreamed of — in the philosophy of Cavendish authorities, anyhow.

The Haunted Wood was a harmless, pretty spruce grove in the field below the orchard. We considered that all our haunts were too commonplace, so we invented this for our own amusement. None of us really believed at first, that the grove was haunted, or that the mysterious 'white things' which we pretended to see flitting through it at dismal hours were aught but the creations of our own fancy. But our minds were weak and our imaginations strong; we soon came to believe implicitly in our myths, and not one of us would have gone near that grove after sunset on pain of death. Death! What was death compared to the unearthly possibility of falling into the clutches of a 'white thing'?"

In Anne of Green Gables, Anne's imagination goes too far and she frightens herself in Chapter XX ("A Good Imagination Gone Wrong"). She describes the "Haunted Wood" and her fear of "white things" to Marilla, saying:

"Diana and I just imagined the wood was haunted. All the places around here are so—so—commonplace. We just got this up for our own amusement. We began it in April. A haunted wood is so very romantic, Marilla. We chose the spruce grove because it’s so gloomy. Oh, we have imagined the most harrowing things. There’s a white lady walks along the brook just about this time of the night and wrings her hands and utters wailing cries. She appears when there is to be a death in the family. And the ghost of a little murdered child haunts the corner up by Idlewild; it creeps up behind you and lays its cold fingers on your hand—so. Oh, Marilla, it gives me a shudder to think of it. And there’s a headless man stalks up and down the path and skeletons glower at you between the boughs. Oh, Marilla, I wouldn’t go through the Haunted Wood after dark now for anything. I’d be sure that white things would reach out from behind the trees and grab me.”

Some parts of the Haunted Wood seemed very peaceful...during the day...



In The Alpine Path, L.M. Montgomery wrote, "Everything was invested with a kind of fairy grace and charm, emanating from my own fancy."

This next sign reminds visitors to use their imaginations: "L.M. Montgomery worked a special magic on her quiet Cavendish surroundings. Use your own imagination to discover how real-life people, places and events inspired the enchanting world of Anne."



There were many bare trees along the path, which were a bit spooky.



Keep an eye out for birds, chipmunks, and other woodland creatures as you walk through the Haunted Wood. I saw this downy woodpecker.



This sign explained that L.M. Montgomery had an imaginary friend in her childhood named Katie Maurice. She later used these memories to give Anne Shirley an imaginary friend with the same name in Anne of Green Gables.



I didn't notice any ghosts here.



L.M. Montgomery went to school in a one-room schoolhouse called the Cavendish School. In her autobiography, The Alpine Path, L.M. Montgomery wrote,

"The Cavendish school-house was a white-washed, low-eaved building on the side of the road just outside our gate. To the west and south was a spruce grove, covering a sloping hill. That old spruce grove, with its sprinkling of maple, was a fairy realm of beauty and romance to my childish imagination. I shall always be thankful that my school was near a grove — a place with winding paths and treasure-trove of ferns and mosses and wood-flowers. It was a stronger and better educative influence in my life than the lessons learned at the desk in the school-house."

Although L.M. Montgomery's old school no longer stands, you can visit the site where it once stood, which is marked by a sign. L.M. Montgomery's school inspired the Avonlea School in Anne of Green Gables where Anne Shirley, Diana Barry, and Gilbert Blythe attended class.



L.M. Montgomery, like her fictional creation Anne Shirley, often gave the places around her special and fanciful names. Some of the fictional places she described in her stories are based on real ones like Lover's Lane and the Haunted Wood.

I found these bare trees pretty spooky. Maybe it was just my imagination taking effect. For fans of Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables miniseries, exterior filming was done along this pathway.



The Haunted Wood Trail is a special place where you can use your imagination and pretend to be Anne Shirley or a young L.M. Montgomery. Just watch out for the spooky ghosts and "white things!"

Official Websites:
Haunted Wood Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park, Parks Canada
Trails at Green Gables, Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:
Haunted Wood Trail
8619 Cavendish Rd. 9 (Route 6), Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada .


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

References:
Haunted Wood Trail. Hiking PEI. Retrieved from: https://www.hikingpei.ca/Trails/PEIPark/Cavendish/HauntedWood.html

Haunted Wood Trail. Prince Edward Island National Park. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/activ/sentiers-trails/haunted-hantee

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

Montgomery, L.M. The Alpine Path. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1997.

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

Trails at Green Gables: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/sentiers-trails


Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 12, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com

Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail at Green Gables Heritage Place

Immerse yourself in the enchanting woodland walk of the Balsam Hollow Trail, located on the grounds of the Green Gables Heritage Place in Prince Edward Island National Park. This delightful 0.5-mile (0.8 km) interpretative trail begins behind Green Gables, winding south through serene forests and along a babbling brook, before looping back to the historic house.

The trail's journey begins along a path that L.M. Montgomery fondly called Lover’s Lane. Once a route from the barnyard to the pastures, this tranquil lane was a treasured retreat for Montgomery, offering her peace and rejuvenation. She captured its beauty in numerous photographs, preserving its essence.

Montgomery's penchant for naming places was a trait she shared with her most beloved creation, Anne Shirley. In Anne of Green Gables, Anne names the path below the orchard "Lover's Lane," mirroring Montgomery's own cherished pathway. L.M. Montgomery writes:

"Lover’s Lane opened out below the orchard at Green Gables and stretched far up into the woods to the end of the Cuthbert farm. It was the way by which the cows were taken to the back pasture and the wood hauled home in winter. Anne had named it Lover’s Lane before she had been a month at Green Gables.

“Not that lovers ever really walk there,” she explained to Marilla, “but Diana and I are reading a perfectly magnificent book and there’s a Lover’s Lane in it. So we want to have one, too. And it’s a very pretty name, don’t you think? So romantic! We can’t imagine the lovers into it, you know. I like that lane because you can think out loud there without people calling you crazy.”

There’s something magical about walking in the very place where L.M. Montgomery found her inspiration. As you meander along the trail, interpretive signs guide your journey, offering Montgomery's own poetic descriptions of nature from her journals and letters. Discover the parallels between fiction and reality as you stroll through the landscapes that inspired her timeless storytelling.

L.M. Montgomery had a deep appreciation for nature. It consoled her and encouraged her. In 1909, she wrote about Lover's Lane in her journals, saying:

"This evening I spent in Lover's Lane. How beautiful it was—green and alluring and beckoning! I had been tired and discouraged and sick at heart before I went...and it...stole away the heartsickness, giving peace and newness of life."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of August 1, 1909.



Here's a view of the peaceful forested pathway. For fans of Sullivan Entertainment's Anne of Green Gables miniseries, some exterior filming was carried out along Lover's Lane.



Much of the pathway follows along a stream, and lovely bridges cross it at several points.



In L.M. Montgomery's day, Lover’s Lane was longer, but it was shortened due to the construction of the Green Gables Golf Course.



After walking along Lover's Lane, the Balsam Hollow trail continues. The interpretive signs have additional quotes about the woods and provide the names and images of plants, such as the ferns, trees, and flowers, that grow along the trail.

L.M. Montgomery enjoyed spending time alone in nature. In 1896, she wrote:

"...I would like to go away on Sunday morning to the heart of some great solemn wood and sit down among the ferns with only the companionship of the trees and the wood-winds...and I would stay there for hours alone with nature and my own soul."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of July 26, 1896



There are sweet wildflowers along the path.



L.M. Montgomery shared her observations and thoughts about nature with her longtime pen pal G.B. MacMillan. In 1904, she wrote:

"A brook was laughing to itself in the hollow. Brooks are always in good spirits. They never do anything but laugh. It is infectious to hear them, those gay vagabonds of the valleys."
-My Dear Mr. M.: Letters to G.B. MacMillan, November 9, 1904.



Here's another view of the woods in Balsam Hollow.



This sign has L.M. Montgomery's description of the brook, wind, light, and ferns. In 1899, she wrote:

"Once and again, I stray down and listen to the duet of the brook and wind, and watch the sunbeams creeping through the dark boughs, the gossamers glimmering here and there, and the ferns growing up in the shadowy nooks."
-The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, entry of July 24, 1899



Here's a view of the brook with ferns and plants growing on its banks.



Writing to her lifelong pen pal in 1906, L.M. Montgomery shared that she felt at home in the woods, saying:

"The woods always seem to me to have a delicate, subtle life all their own...in the woods I like to be alone for every tree is a true old friend and every tip-toeing wind a merry comrade...I always feel so utterly and satisfyingly at home..."
-My Dear Mr. M. Letters to G.B. MacMillan, September 16, 1906



Prince Edward Island National Park was established in 1937. According to this sign:

"When Prince Edward Island National Park was established in 1937, many of L. M. Montgomery's favourite haunts were preserved. Now we and future woodland wanderers can share in the natural beauty of this area which gave her so much joy and inspiration throughout her life."



I'm glad this region was preserved so that we can visit and walk along the same paths that L.M. Montgomery once did.

Official Websites:
Balsam Hollow Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park, Parks Canada
Trails at Green Gables, Green Gables Heritage Place

Location:
Lover’s Lane and the Balsam Hollow Trail
8619 Cavendish Rd. (Route 6), Cavendish, PE C0A 1N0, Canada.


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

References:
Balsam Hollow Trail. Hiking PEI. Retrieved from: https://www.hikingpei.ca/Trails/PEIPark/Cavendish/BalsamHollow.html

Balsam Hollow Trail, Prince Edward Island National Park. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/activ/sentiers-trails/balsam

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

Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company, 1908.

Trails at Green Gables: Green Gables Heritage Place. Parks Canada. Retrieved from: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/activ/sentiers-trails


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

Cavendish Cemetery

The Cavendish Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The cemetery is the final resting place of L.M. Montgomery. She is buried alongside her husband, the Reverend Ewen MacDonald.

The entrance to the Cavendish Cemetery has a large metal archway reading, "Resting Place of L.M. Montgomery, Cavendish." The cemetery is located in walking distance from the Green Gables Heritage Place and The Site of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish Home. It is open to the public, and visitors can enter and pay their respects at L.M. Montgomery's grave.



L.M. Montgomery's mother, Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery, is buried nearby in the Cavendish Cemetery. Clara died of tuberculosis in 1876 when L.M. Montgomery was 21 months old.

L.M. Montgomery grieved the loss of her mother throughout her life. On December 29, 1921, L.M. Montgomery wrote in her journals, "Somehow, I have an odd feeling that mother is very near me as I write. Does human personality survive death? And is it possible that when we think of our dead it summons them irresistibly to us?"



After the death of her mother in Cavendish, L.M. Montgomery remained there with her maternal grandparents, Alexander Macneill and Lucy Woolner Macneill, who raised her at the Macneill homestead. Alexander Macneill died in 1898, and Lucy Woolner Macneill died in 1911. L.M. Montgomery's grandparents are buried next to L.M. Montgomery's mother.




Location:
Cavendish Cemetery
PE-13, Cavendish, PE C0A 1M0, Canada.


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

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume III: 1921-1929. ed. Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston. Oxford University Press, 1992. page 33.

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.
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