By Joe Corrigan
The hamlet of Douro lost a treasured landmark when the P.G. Towns and Sons General Store burned down early in the morning of Friday, February 2nd, 2018. The fire in the store, which was over a century old, was noticed by a passerby at around 1:00 am. By the time the local firefighters could get to the scene the store was fully engaged and nothing could be done to save the structure. The fire was so intense that there was nothing left of the building and no evidence remained as to what had caused the blaze. Obviously the loss of the store has had a big impact on area residents who have known it as a fixture in their community for all of their lives. Although the Towns General Store no longer exists, its essence lives on at Lang Pioneer Village thanks to the efforts of a former member of the Museum’s staff.
 |
| Fire at the Town General Store- Photo by Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner |
Back in 2003, Lang Pioneer Village Museum began a major project to restore its two, 19th century Jacquard looms. These machines, which used punch cards to develop very intricate patterns on the textiles they produced, were revolutionary during their time in the early 1800’s and represent one of the earliest uses of binary code technology in human history. Simply put, these looms were the ancestors of computer technology.
 |
| Jacquard Loom at Lang Pioneer Village Museum- Photo by Caleb Hunt |
 |
| Jacquard Punch Cards |
Master weaver Didier Schvartz
set about the complex task of restoring the looms and their mechanical heads so
that they could be re-assembled and made operational. This work was completed
by 2005 but, in order to protect these priceless artifacts and interpret them
appropriately in a living history environment, an environmentally secure and
period authentic “weavers shop” was required. That’s where Exhibit Artist
Audrey Caryi came into the story.
Audrey, a gifted artist in her
own right, had been working at Lang Pioneer Village for a number of years and
had been involved in several significant building projects at the Museum.
Lang’s mandate is “To preserve, promote and authentically recreate the history
of Peterborough County” and, during her 34 year tenure at the Museum, Audrey
was renowned for her passion for authenticity. Prior to her involvement with
the weavers shop at Lang, Audrey had created concept drawings for the Museum’s
Ash House, Smoke House and Ice House. All were accurate representations of
structures that were not only specific to their unique roles and time periods but
also to the region. In 2006 Audrey was tasked with the challenge of coming up
with a concept drawing for the weavers shop which would be the basis on which
architectural and engineering drawings would be developed.
 |
| Audrey Caryi, Lang Pioneer Village Museum's Exhibit Artist / Museum Specialist from 1983 to 2017 |
Audrey set out to come up with a design that would represent a home based business and be typical of a late 19th-century artisan weaver. The looms had been owned by a man named Samuel Lowry who worked out of Warsaw back in the 1880’s and that determined the era and the geographic location which would inspire Audrey’s design. Once that had been determined, Audrey set out for a tour of the region with her good friend Carol Hamilton to seek inspiration. She found it in Douro. Audrey saw the Towns General Store as the ideal representation of what a weaver shop should look like.
 |
| An early image of the Towns General Store |
Audrey set about to capture her idea on paper with her signature pen and ink drawings. From the outside, the front “weavers shop” section of the building captured the shape and style of the Towns General Store’s two-story façade.
 |
| The Samuel Lowry Weaver Shop and Jacquard Loom Interpretive Centre at Lang Pioneer Village (circa 2011) |
The interior of the shop is
set up to represent a weaver’s work area with a counter, cupboards, supplies,
textile samples displayed on the walls, working two-harness and four-harness looms and static display
Jacquard loom. The entire building is a single story on the inside to
accommodate the height of the Museum’s two Jacquard looms which, when restored,
stand 10 to 12 feet high.
 |
| Interior of the Weaver Shop - Photo by Caleb Hunt |
The portion of the building behind the weavers shop is meant to represent a two story home when viewed from the outside. Inside it becomes an interpretive area that houses the Museum’s working replica Jacquard loom and a stairway which leads to an elevated viewing platform so visitors can experience the workings of the loom from a 360 degree perspective. There is also room for educational activities and displays related to the Jacquard loom, textiles and, in the future, the evolution of binary technology.
Regrettably, Audrey passed
away in April of 2017. Her contribution to the region’s visual arts was
recognized with her induction into the Peterborough Pathway of Fame in
September of 2017. Fittingly, Audrey’s marker on the Pathway is in close
proximity to the Peterborough Art Gallery. Audrey’s legacy lives on in the
historic Village through her work in the conceptualization of the Weavers Shop,
and in turn, so does the Towns General Store.
 |
| Official Opening of the Jacquard Exhibit in August of 2015 - Photo by Larry Keeley |
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007. 
