Maud’s Birthplace
Begin your journey at the start of Maud’s life and visit New London, which is on Blue Heron Drive, (intersection of routes 6 and 20). The house where she was born in 1874 is open to the public and remains pretty much unchanged. It also contains personal items from her life, such as her wedding trousseau and scrapbooks. The house was originally built in the 1850’s by the Honourable Donald Montgomery for his eldest son, Hugh John.
The foundation of Montgomery's home in Cavendish.
Cavendish Home
When the famous author was just 21 months old, her mother passed away. She was then sent to live with her grandparents, Alexander and Lucy Macneill, in Cavendish, which is just east of the intersection of routes 6 and 13. Visitors can see the stone cellar of the original house. This is the place where Maud wrote Anne of Green Gables.
Green Gables Post Office
Beside the Cavendish Church is a house that looks similar to the original Macneill home, but has been restored and relocated as a postal museum. Before getting married, Maud used to run the town’s post office out of the Macneill home.
Green Gables House
Just west of the intersection of routes 6 and 13, you will find the famous farmhouse, which belonged to cousins of Maud’s grandfather. Maud used to spend many hours there. It was restored in 1937 by Parks Canada to look as it would have done in Anne’s era. This major tourist attraction has hundreds of thousand of visitors every year. Below the house is the wooded area known as Lover’s Lane.
Left: The Methodist Parsonage in Bideford where Maud lived. Right: The Site of the Bideford School, where she taught.
Bideford School & Parsonage
Maud’s first teaching position was in Bideford, which is a north shore fishing village on the west side of Malpeque Bay. The schoolhouse no longer exists, but there is a monument that marks its location on the south side of Bideford road, just half a kilometer west of Bideford. The parsonage where she stayed from 1894 to 1895 while she taught there is now a museum, located at 784 Bideford Rd. on Route 166.
Lower Bedeque
In 1897, Maud then accepted a teaching position at a school in Lower Bedeque, located 14 New Rd, on Route 112. Visitors are welcome at this restored building.
Silver Bush Museum (top photo)
Maud’s favourite place on the island was her Uncle John Campbell’s home at Park Corner on Route 20. She used to spend summer holidays there and was actually married in its parlour in 1911. The house is still owned by her uncle’s descendents and is open to the public. It also contains artifacts from Maud’s life and is situated by the Lake of Shining Waters.
The Cavendish Presbyterian Church.
Cavendish Cemetery
Maud’s final resting place is at the intersection of routes 6 and 13. When she first passed away, she laid in state at Green Gables, but was buried here in a plot she had chosen herself at the crest of a hill. “It overlooks the spots I always loved,” she wrote, “the pond, the shore, the sand dunes, the harbour.” To the left of the cemetery is a United Church (formerly Presbyterian) where Maud used to play the organ and teach Sunday school.
To read many more historic details about all of these sites and more, take a look at The Lucy Maud Montgomery Album, which contains all of the pictures above.
