damage to car tires from nails and sharp objects strewn on the roads; in the fall of 1917 a number of Charlottetown residents returning from St. Peter’s took the Covehead Road as a short cut, and had their tires slashed by hay-mower blades lashed to planks concealed with sand in the road tracks by some of the local anti-car faction; the Covehead Road was not open to autos then. However, in 1919 an Order-in-Council was passed by the government of the Hon. A.E. Arsenault opening all the roads in the Province to motor traffic; the Motor Vehicle Act of 1922 provided that cars were limited to 12 mph in city or town, while the highway speed limit was 25 mph, slowing to 12 mph when meeting a man in charge of a horse or other animal and motorists must use every precaution to avoid frightening the animal. Cars were here to stay.

George MacMillan was the first to own a car in Stanhope. It was a Model T Ford, bought in March, 1918, from Grant and Kennedy for $800. George brought it home on a sleigh, sitting in the driver’s seat, with the horses’ reins going out under the car’s windshield, which in cars of that time would open out horizontally. Ray Carr was also an early car owner here; his first auto was a 1921 Chevrolet, A crude looking thing by today ’3 standards, but way ahead of a horse.

Bus Service

There was a regular bus service to Charlottetown for seven seasons 1945-1951. This bus ran from Morell to Charlottetown via the North Shore, stopping at MacLauchlan’s store in Stanhope as well as stopping on demand at houses along the route. The morning run was from Morell to town with a return trip to Morell in the evening. Reg MacAdam, owner-driver, initiated this service and sold out to Donald Robison in 1949, who established a new route starting in Donaldston, via the North Shore, through Stanhope to town and return. He drove six days a week in summer making an extra trip from the Stanhope hotels on Saturday nights to accommodate the staff who worked at, these places. In winter he made two trips a week, except in April when weight restrictions closed the roads to heavy vehicles.

_ More recently a North Shore Sightseeing tour, beginning in Charlottetown, makes regular stops at Stanhope and Dalvay beaches throughout the summer months. Charter tour buses passing through Stanhope from other parts of Canada and USA. are a common sight today.

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