Cron House (Harbour Grace)
Cron House (Harbour Grace)![[Cron House: Image]](019.jpg)
This century old home located on Water St. East is actually two houses. The contract for the building of the front house was let in September 1878. An agreement drawn up-at that time between Thomas R. Bennett and Edward Comer, master carpenter, specified that Bennett would supply materials and that Comer was to be paid £85 in three instalments for the labour. The work was completed in 1879. The back of the house was a pre-existing structure which craftsmanship indicates may predate the 1879 house by forty or fifty years. There is the possibility that it was moved a short distance to the present site to be joined to the newer house.
Thomas R. Bennett was elected to the legislature about 1870 as a member from Hermitage and subsequendy served as Speaker of the House of Assembly. He was appointed to the bench in January 1874 and held the post of Judge of the Northern District Court at the time he built the house in Harbour Grace.
In 1902, Bennett's widow sold the unit to James Cron, a prominent merchant of Harbour Grace, and he occupied dhe place until his death in 1935. It is still owned by members of his family.
Details in the contract drawn up between Bennett and Comer provide evidence that the interior of the house is essentially unchanged from what it was like at the time of construction.