The Clockmaker's Inn, Windsor, side perspective, 2005
Photo: Heritage Division, NS Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2005
- Built
- 1894
- Recognized
- 1995
- By
- Province of Nova Scotia
The register’s text, word for word
Description
The Clockmaker’s Inn is a three storey, Second Empire style building with a mansard roof and symmetrical façade. Built in 1894, the Clockmaker’s Inn is located on a prominent street corner on King Street in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Both the building and its surrounding property are included in the designation.
Heritage value
The Clockmaker’s Inn is valued for its association with Rufus Curry, a significant Nova Scotian industrialist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rufus Curry was a ship-owner and shipbuilder who joined his father, Frederick Curry in his business. After his father’s death, Curry inherited half of the estate including his business and shipping interests. Curry moved to Windsor and became director of the St. Croix Marine Insurance Company in 1890 and one of the founders of the Electric Light Company of Windsor. Shortly after the turn of the century, he took over as president of a reorganized Windsor Foundry and Marine Company and served as mayor of Windsor for a year. Curry was appointed to the Senate in 1903 but declined the appointment. He died a wealthy man in 1934, leaving an estate worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
The Clockmaker’s Inn is also valued for its architectural significance as a well-preserved Second Empire style house. Built in 1894, the house is a large, three storey, wood frame structure, with a mansard roof and a symmetrical façade. The exterior of the house incorporates several curved and oval forms and a large entrance tower with cast iron roof cresting. The interior of the house includes imported woods throughout, including three types used for the intricate parquet floors in the entrance hall and the stairs.
SourceNotice of Registration of Property as a Provincial Heritage Property, Provincial Property Heritage File no. 197
Character‑defining elements
Character-defining elements of the Second Empire style of the Clockmaker’s Inn include:
- mansard roof;
- symmetrical façade with large entrance tower;
- cast iron roof cresting;
- use of several curved and oval forms including the round-headed dormers, round-headed windows in the tower, and the segmental arch of the entrance onto the verandah;
- all exterior wood detailing including the intricate brackets around the verandah and roofline.
Character-defining elements of the interior of the Clockmaker’s Inn include:
- imported woods used throughout the house;
- intricate parquet floors in the entrance hall;
- stained glass window in the stairway;
- wainscoting and parquet work on stairs;
- heavy brass doorknobs and hinges .
End of the register’s text
Location
1399; King Street, Windsor, Nova Scotia, B0N, Canada
44.97984° N, 64.12835° W
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Nearby
All 11 places in Windsor
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From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.