Notice is Hereby Given that the Council of The Corporationof the Town of Newmarket intends to designate as a propertyof cultural heritage value and interest the following propertyin accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18:
Property Description: 602 Pearson Street (Jared Irwin House) islocated on the south side of Pearson Street in the Town of Newmarket.The subject property contains a two storey brick building constructedbetween 1840 and 1853.
Legal Description: PCL 105-1 SEC C81; PT LT 105 PL 81 PT1 65R17887; NEWMARKET
Publication Date: Nov 1, 2024
Last Date for Objection: Dec 1, 2024Any notice of objection to this Notice of Intention to Designate,setting out the reason for objection and all relevant facts, mustbe served upon the Town Clerk within 30 days of the firstpublication of this notice.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest:
Physical/ Design Value
602 Pearson Street is an early and representative exampleof building constructed in the Georgian architectural style.602 Pearson Street was built between 1840 and 1853 andis among one of the early extant buildings in Newmarket. Thetwo-storey, red brick building constructed in a Flemish bondfollows a generally rectangular plan with a symmetricalthree-bay facade topped by a simple side gable roof withoverhanging porkchop return eaves, and single exterior brickchimney which is typical massing of a Georgian residence.Moreover, the box like massing includes rectangular windowopening framed by a flat arch voussoirs housing replicaeight-over-twelve windows, a formal rectangularentranceway opening topped by a rectangular transom andan open porch with turned posts which are addition elementsof the Georgian style.
Historical and Associative Value
602 Pearson Street directly associated with Samuel Pearsonand the Irwin family who were early settlers to Newmarket,and Pickering College. 602 Pearson Street was built between1840 and 1853 by farmer Samuel Pearson. Samuel Pearsonwas born in Pennsylvania in 1797 and he arrived in Ontariowith his family from Pennsylvania around 1802. Samuel andhis wife Rache Webb Irwin were Quakers, and they purchasedthe subject lands in 1840 and built their residence and farmwhich was depicted on an 1853 map.
Samuel Pearson sold the subject property to his brother-in-lawJared Irwin in March 1855. Jared Irwin was born in 1803, inPennsylvania. The Irwin family were also Quaker Loyalists,and Jared's father Charles Irwin settled around theNewmarket area in 1810. Jared Irwin married Lydia Kennedyin 1827, and one of their children was the well-known portrait artist, Benoni Irwin. Prior to occupying the subjectproperty, Jared Irwin was involved in the Rebellion of 1837,which resulted in his spending a short time incarcerated for hisparticipation in the Reformist uprising. Later in his life, JaredIrwin served as one of Newmarket's Overseer of Highways, aminor municipal position. Jared Irwin sold the property to hisson, Edwin Irwin, in 1864, although Edwin sold it outside theIrwin family around a decade later, in 1875. In 1933, 602Pearson Street and the surrounding lands associated with thePeason and Irwin farmstead was sold to Pickering College.The subject property was used as a home of Harry Beer,Pickering College's headmaster from 1953 until 1978.
Contextual Value
602 Pearson Street is physically and historically linked to itssurroundings. Pearson Street was original the laneway fromProspect Street to gain access to the Pearson farmhouse. Thestreet orientation and the farmhouse orientation reflect theoriginal layout and configuration of the laneway. In keepingwith the historical configuration, 602 Pearson Street is the onlybuilding on this streetscape which is oriented towards ProspectStreet.602 Pearson Street is historically linked to itssurroundings, specifically Pickering College. The originalPearson/Irwin farmland is now the location of PickeringCollege. The building at 602 Pearson Street was also historicalused as a residence for the headmaster of Pickering College.
Additional information, including a full description of therationale for designation is available upon request fromUmar Mahmood, Planner, Committee of Adjustment andCultural Heritage, Planning Services at (905) 895-5193,extension 2458, or at umahmood@newmarket.ca duringregular business hours.