Kippenhuck Property

The Kippenhuck Property is located in the summer fishing community of Square Islands.  It is comprised of a stage, twine shed and flake.  The site has been used by the family for more than 200 years for the prosecution of the cod fishery, offering a worksite on the rocky shore.  When the summer fishery was in full operation the store was used to store salt cod and mend nets, while the flake was used to dry the cod.

John Kippenhuck applied to the Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program in 2003 in an effort to restore the family structures.  The fishing premises were in poor condition at that time,”the store was falling down and was listing towards the water, the foundation was rotten and the wharf was totally destroyed.”

When work commenced a new crib was constructed for the store and a new foundation was built.  The store exterior received new clapboard and was painted while the roof was repaired and covered in rubberoid. A new wharf was built to replace an earlier one that had been destroyed.  Mr. Kippenhuck is proud of his family’s long history with the site and was anxious to “restore the complete site to what it previously was before the closure of the cod fishery.”

To undertake such a restoration project is not without its difficulties. Mr. Kippenhuck had to transport materials by boat and by ski-doo on several occasions, at the expense of one speed boat motor.  The result of his work, however, is a legacy of the Kippenhuck family, and the Kippenhuck Property stands today for many years to come.