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About the Architecture of the

Port Hope Archives

17 Mill Street North was built in 1871 as the Registry Office for East Durham. The building is currently used as the Port Hope Archives. The building’s architecture follows the uniform plan approved by Order-in-Council, 9 March 1868. The building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Some background:

In 1868, Kivas Tully (1820-1905) was appointed the first Architect and Engineer of Public Works for the Province of Ontario. In this capacity, he produced the familiar design for many of the registry offices across the province.

The architectural plans were lithographed and supplied by the Commissioner of Public Works for distribution to municipal councils. According to the Report of the Commissioner of Public Works for 1869, only three registry offices had been completed by that date: St. Catherines, Cobourg and Pembroke.

“These uncomplicated looking buildings are decidedly complex structurally, as they were intended to be fireproof. The doors, windowsills and lintels were cast iron. Within a rectangular plan, three semi-cylindrical vaults of brick – technically barrel vaults – were constructed side by side, each nearly 18 feet high and roughly 2 feet thick. These were arranged to run across the width of the structure, generally with access through the first chamber to the clerk’s office in the second and with storage in the third. The location of the separate compartments, though not their form, is often indicated on the sidewalls into three bays. The front-end wall is generally treated as a blind arcade enclosing round-arched openings and fully articulated orders, with trim in stone or patterned brick. The arcade is expressive but not, as one might think a ghost of the vaulted interior, as the faults are arranged transversely.”[i]