Who knows what you could find in the attic of a grandparent’s home?
Mike Barrington’s family found an old wooden sign among old memorabilia on the top level of the family home on The Boulevard, near Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s.
He says it was tucked away behind other items. The sign says “Rocha and Chafe Ltd.” and has a hand painted on it with “office” written beside it.
After finding the sign, he immediately turned to Dale Jarvis, a local historian, to figure out the history behind the piece of wood.
Jarvis found out the sign dates back to around 1930. Rocha and Chafe Ltd. were members of “The Salt Codfish Exporters Association of Newfoundland.”
Jarvis was able to track down one of the names, “Rocha,” as a captain who resided on Cochrane Street and worked on Water Street.
Barrington has no idea how the sign ended up in the attic of his grandparents’ home.
He says the family were lost in the sign and wondered where it came from. So many questions arose for the family.
But the family are not uninterested, by no means. He says they are waiting for more information from Jarvis and look forward to hearing more parts of the story.
Buckle up, folks! It's another St. John's heritage street sign mystery! Thread to follow! In the meantime, start with this photo: pic.twitter.com/S4Z70AnBBb
— Dale Gilbert Jarvis (@DaleJarvis) August 2, 2019
