Address: 2526 Government Street
Built: 1892
1912 householder: William McCarter, lumber mill managerThis building is gone! It was demolished in March 2022, about 10 years after this photograph was taken. For the record, here is a description of the building as it was in 2012:
This tall, slim, Queen Anne-style house is one of a handful of late-nineteenth century buildings in this part of the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood. Before 1907, when Victoria city streets were renumbered, this was addressed as 320 Government Street. The house has an inset porch with a decorative fretwork frame on the ground floor and above it there is a balcony with a spindle balustrade. The pent roof over the front door and window, and the attic-level gable are covered with intricate, fish-scale shingles, while the main part of the building is clad with double-drop siding. This is a fine example of late-Victorian house-carpenter craftsmanship, using high-quality construction material. It is represents the work of its first owner.
William McCarter was the manager of Taylor Mill Co. Ltd., a large lumber mill located not far away at 2116 Government Street. Along with the neighbouring Lenon Gonnason Mill, it was one of the largest wood manufacturing firms in Victoria. McCarter worked his way up the proverbial ladder: he started working for the firm as a mill hand, became a yard man and production supervisor, and eventually secretary and general manager.
McCarter was born in Almonte, Ontario, in 1856 and came to Victoria in 1885. His wife, Annie K. McIntosh, was also born in Almonte, Ontario. They were married in Victoria, at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, on 18 August 1885. The wedding ceremony was witnessed by Eva and William Templeman, whom they may have known from their hometown. William Templeman commenced his career as a newspaperman in Almonte. In Victoria, Templeman was the owner and managing editor of the Victoria Daily Times, a newspaper that supported the federal Liberal Party. (A rival newspaper, the Daily Colonist, tended to endorse the Conservative Party. The two newspapers merged in 1980 to become the Times Colonist.) In the early 1900s, Templeman served as a Liberal senator and cabinet minister in the government of Sir Wilfred Laurier. McCarter's political leanings are not recorded, but he was a pallbearer at Templeman's funeral in 1914.
In January 1912, the Taylor Mill was nearly destroyed in a huge conflagration. It was rebuilt and production resumed quickly. This was the high point of Victoria's residential building boom and there was a great demand for lumber. Charles Deacon, once employed as a yard foreman at the Taylor Mill, was one of many building contractors active at this time. Deacon built homes at 603 Manchester Road and 656 Sumas Street.
McCarter remained with the Taylor Mill Company until it was sold in 1919 to the Chemainus Wood Company. Then he and his two sons, William Kenneth McCarter and Peter Egbert McCarter, started their own company, manufacturing shingles from a plant at 2418 Rock Bay Avenue. At about this time, he and his wife moved out of the long-time family home on Government Street to a house on Cadboro Bay Road.
The 1892 structure has been well-maintained. A two-storey addition, built of cinder block, is attached to the back of the building and provides office and residential space. Today [2012], the property is bracketed by a Christian thrift store and a Mercedes-Benz automobile dealership.
Revised 14 February 2024