Waverley Community Association

About thirty years before gold was discovered in Waverley there was a small industry of furniture making in this area. Charles P. Allen, a Halifax furniture dealer, set up a lathe in Fall River for manufacturing chair legs. The lathe was driven by a water wheel that was situated on the falls below Miller Lake. At first, the factory produced only chairs, and Allen was able to sell these at a lower price than chairs imported to Halifax from Boston. Later, he manufactured other types of furniture including settees and benches, and also had a bucket factory.

 In 1847, Allen bought 700 acres of land at the present site of Waverley for fifty pounds. He made his home on this land near where Lakes Thomas and William meet. Charles P. Allen named his property “Waverley” after his favorite author’s works, Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels.  Mr. and Mrs. Allen had ten children whose names are recorded in the family bible. One of their daughters, Ellen, married Cornelius Blois.  Mr. Blois, as a young boy, worked with C.P. Allen and had lived with the Allen family in Waverley. Cornelius Blois was one of the discoverers of gold in Waverley.

When he married Ellen Allen in 1866, he was the Lieutenant in command of the militia at Waverley.