The Doak Historic Site (also known as the Doak House) is a Provincial Heritage Site located in Doaktown,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, Canada. The farm was purchased in the early 1820s by Robert "Squire" Doak and lived in until 1979 by his family. Today it operates as a working farm with characters in costume offering tours and demonstrations. It is run in partnership with the Atlantic Salmon Museum also located in Doaktown, New Brunswick The site is open from late June until early September and closed during the winter. During the open months activities and classes are held. These activities include kids craft days, butter making classes, rug hooking classes, cheese making classes, weaving and spinning demonstrations and classes, hand processing of wool and gardening. Admission to the site is by donation.

History

Robert Doak was born in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on April 4, 1785. Originally on their way to settle in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Robert Doak, his wife, Jean Kirkland, and two young children were forced into the harbor in

Miramichi, New Brunswick Miramichi ( ) is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay. The Miramichi Valley is the second longest valley in New Brunswick, after the Saint John River ...

, due to a strong storm on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The family decided to stay in the Miramichi to settle and begin their new life. Robert Doak and his older brother James Doak moved up the

Miramichi River The Miramichi River is a river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick, Canada. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The name may have been derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi" (meaning Mi'km ...

and bought a property from Ephraim Betts where the historic site is now located. At this time Doaktown was named Betts Settlement after the influential Betts family. Once settled he established a water-powered carding mill and

Gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

along with a

Sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and oat mill. On top of this the family also ran a successful

Textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

business that consisted of

Weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

and spinning yarn and fabrics. They also had a large working farm where they had horses, chickens, sheep, oxen and milking cattle along with cash crops. In addition to Robert Doak's farming and business pursuits, he also held important positions within the community. These positions included town clerk, clerk of the market, acting coroner, justice of the peace and many other positions throughout his life. His large success not only in this field but with his farm and businesses led him to being known as Squire Doak. In 1852 when the new highway connecting

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

to Newcastle was built Betts Settlement was renamed to Doaktown after the large influence that Robert Doak had on the area. The house and farm was passed through the Doak family for four generations. The property was lived on until 1979 when Robert Doak's great great granddaughter, Margaret Doak passed away and left the property to the New Brunswick Government. In the early 1980s the property was opened to the public as a provincial heritage site.

Infrastructure

The original house is located on the site and is valued for its vernacular architecture and modest classical influence. The house is also a reminder of the farm cottages found in Scotland where Robert Doak originated. There are character-defining elements that are associated with the house which include: * The house is a rectangular -story house * Narrow eaves with returns * Dormer wholly contained within the roof line * Clad in wooden clapboards * Corner Boards * Central chimney * 6/6 double hung windows * Shutters inside the house that pull out from the walls * Wooden shingled roof *

Sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

foundation * All artifacts are original to the site The original barn which inhabited the property for over 100 years was torn down in June 2016. An assessment completed in 2014 deemed the building to be unsafe and the barn was closed to the public due to structural damage and rot. The

Government of New Brunswick The Government of New Brunswick () is the provincial government of the province of New Brunswick. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. The Provinces and territories of Canada, Province of New Brunswick has a unicam ...

is in the midst of reconstructing the barn. A small milk house is located on the property which was used to house the dairy products produced on the farm. Products were kept cool through a tunnel that was dug that brought water from a nearby stream to the milk house. The cold, continuous flow of water kept products cool. A school house located on the property dates back to 1822. The school was originally located a few miles down the road from the Doak Historic Site but was moved to the property to protect the heritage building.

References

{{coord, 46.5549, -66.1308, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Historic house museums in Canada Houses in New Brunswick Buildings and structures in Northumberland County, New Brunswick Museums in New Brunswick