Charlottetown is a point of connection between Avonlea’s close-knit community and the life beyond it. In the evidence surrounding Anne Shirley, it is associated with a trusted loan, a newspaper carrying village gossip, and a possible move that would alter the community’s future.

Connections to Avonlea

Miss Barry, an old friend of Anne Shirley’s, lived in Charlottetown and lent her the willow-ware platter needed for the Aid bazaar. She sent it with a letter reminding Anne to handle it carefully: it had cost twenty dollars. After the bazaar, Anne returned the platter to the closet at Green Gables rather than entrust its journey back to town to anyone else. The object’s trip between Charlottetown and Avonlea thus depended on personal trust as much as on the loan itself.

Newspaper and Village Gossip

One May, the Charlottetown Daily Enterprise printed a set of “Avonlea Notes” signed “Observer.” Avonlea gossip attributed them to Charlie Sloane, in part because a note appeared to mock Gilbert Blythe and local young people imagined the two men as rivals for Anne’s affection. The rumor was wrong: Gilbert had written the notes with Anne’s help, including the apparent slight against himself as a disguise. Charlottetown enters this episode as the publication’s home, while the paper carries Avonlea’s private speculation into print and helps set up the joke about authorship.

A Possible Destination

Charlottetown also becomes a possible destination for Mr. Allan when his call there comes before the Presbytery. The news makes Mrs. Allan’s departure seem likely, though Avonlea residents expect that the move would not happen before September. Anne describes Mrs. Allan’s attachment to the community, including her grief at the thought of leaving her infant’s grave behind; she promises to place flowers there, and Diana Barry promises to do the same. The call therefore gives the town significance beyond geography: it stands at the edge of a change that could take a valued minister and his family away from Avonlea.