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What would entice a successful Nova Scotia businessman to sell out and relocate his family to Fielding, Saskatchewan?
One year after Saskatchewan was declared a province, Richard Barlow (R.B.) Harris did just that. On the advice of his doctor to find a job working outdoors, Harris pulled up stakes and headed west by train, arriving in Fielding in March 1906. His wife Hattie followed four months later.
Once there, Harris began to establish his businesses, beginning with a general store and an adjoining hardware store. The couple lived above the store. Since Fielding was on the main Canadian Northern line, business was good. Harris invested his profits in farmland a quarter mile southwest of Fielding at SE-8-41-11-W3.
When the couple decided to build a new home on the farm, Hattie drafted her own plans for an imposing 28-foot by 32-foot two-and-a-half storey house. She hired a contractor from North Battleford to build the house, which was completed in the fall of 1915. By this time, the family had grown to include four daughters and one son. Another son and daughter would be born in the new house.
Again for medical reasons, Harris hired a manager to conduct business on his behalf. But Harris was unhappy with this arrangement, so in 1920 he closed his business and sold the remaining merchandise to three other store owners in Fielding and retired to the farm. Although Hattie died in 1931, R.B. remained in the house until his death in 1956. His son, Allison Harris, then inherited the house and farm. Allison lived there with his wife, son and two daughters until his death in 1967.
Allison’s son Melvin then moved onto the farm with his family. The house was finally vacated in 1981. In 1988 it was donated to the North Battleford WDM. Nobody but members of the Harris family had ever lived in the home.
After 99 years the house is in need of some TLC. The upstairs veranda needs to be rebuilt. Inside and out need a new coat of paint. Charitable receipts are available for donations made to the Western Development. With the public’s financial assistance the WDM can provide the care and maintenance that this grand old home deserves.
