History of the City of Charlottetown: The 500 Lots, the Common and the Royalty

What is now the City of Charlottetown was originally divided into three distinct areas: Charlottetown or the 500 Lots, the Common and the Royalty. For this project, “blocks”, or sections within each area that share a common history, have been assigned a number. A brief description and history of the area or “block” can be found within individual property records. To view maps of the original 500 Lots, the Common and the Royalty, as well as the “blocks” and their corresponding numbers, click on the thumbnails provided. To search for property records and access block descriptions, return to the Search a Property page.

The 500 Lots

Often referred to as the 500 Lots, the original borders of Charlottetown included most of the area south of Euston Street. It was divided into five sets of 100 lots. Starting at the south west corner of town, the lots were numbered consecutively from one to 100, the pattern repeating itself four more times. The blocks south of Richmond Street contained five lots each, the blocks north of Richmond, ten. Before street numbering was introduced in Charlottetown, the lot system was widely used to identify property.

The Common

The land surrounding the original community of Charlottetown was known as the Common. An interesting example of early planning, the Common was intended to provide space for future expansion of the town. In a controversial move, Lieutenant-Governor Fanning divided the Common into 35 twelve-acre lots and distributed them among his friends and prominent people in the community.

The Royalty

Beyond the borders of the Common lay the Royalty, surveyed into 572 twelve-acre lots. The Royalty was intended to provide farmland for the citizens of the town. As time passed, lots were combined to make larger holdings and the Royalty took on the character of an English countryside. That character remained relatively intact until major development occurred after World War II.

Monday, May 21, 2012

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