Across from St. Dunstan’s Basilica and in front of Peake’s Wharf on Great George Street, you’ll find two small, rough-looking sections of sidewalk. They might not seem like much, but they hold a fascinating piece of Charlottetown’s history.
Dating back to the late 1800s, these stones are part of Great George Street—a National Historic Site. This very street was walked by the Fathers of Confederation, and most of the surrounding buildings have stood here since that time.
To enhance the city’s historic charm, Charlottetown decided to replace its wooden sidewalks with stone. They ordered slabs from Nova Scotia, but there was a surprise—when the shipment arrived, the stones weren’t from Nova Scotia at all… they were from Scotland!
As workers began laying them, they quickly ran into another problem—they ran out. Digging massive holes, they used horses to lower the heavy stones six feet into place. When they wrote to Nova Scotia asking for more, the vendor was confused—there should have been more than enough.
Turns out, the stones were meant to be cut into slabs first! But Charlottetown didn’t have the tools to do it, so they were installed just as they arrived. What should have paved several streets ended up covering just a tiny section. When the city asked for another shipment, Nova Scotia refused.
And that’s why today, those few mismatched stones remain—a quirky reminder of a historic mix-up that left its mark on Charlottetown’s streets.