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The Story Behind ‘Farewell to Nova Scotia’

‘Farewell to Nova Scotia’ is a Maritimes anthem that has been performed by everyone from Stan Rogers to Stompin' Tom Connors; from Anne Murray…

1900s Nova Scotia Women Long Read Popular

The Hero in Sailor’s Garb

Nova Scotians attend the makeshift funeral for victims of the SS Atlantic catastrophe. Among the dead buried in this mass grave was a sailor…

1800s Nova Scotia Women Long Read

Angeline’s Wedding Dress Disaster

For countless ships headed to Halifax’s harbour, the first glimpse of the Sambro Island Lighthouse (pictured) marked the relief of a journey’s end. But…

1800s Nova Scotia Women Long Read

A Pompous Parisian’s Misadventures In The Maritimes

A 300-year-old travel diary reveals what life really looked like in our region's first capital. Map of Port Royal, now called Annapolis Royal, dating…

1600s and Before Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia Long Read

The Strange Journey of Louisa Journeaux

When 22-year-old Louisa Journeaux stepped into a rowboat one quiet Sunday evening, she couldn’t have imagined that the whole world would hear about it.…

1800s Newfoundland Long Read

The Night The Crocodiles Attacked

A Fredericton Commando’s Second World War Victory Had The Japanese On The Run. Then Came The Crocodiles. Frederictonian Bruce Wright’s (left) idle daydreaming during…

1900s Fredericton Strange Tales War Long Read

Kethro The Barber’s Curious Singing Career

One of the oldest photos of Fredericton’s Christ Church Cathedral, taken in 1857. Ten years after this photo was taken, the letters of British…

1800s Fredericton Strange Tales Long Read

New Years A Century Ago

One hundred years ago, Maritimers rang in the New Year with optimism, oddball traditions, and a world on the brink of change (Provincial Archives…

1900s Christmas Fredericton Saint John Long Read

The Hero of Priestman Street

Fredericton’s Bryan Priestman survived two world wars — only to lose his life on Remembrance Day, trying to save an eight-year-old boy. (Provincial Archives…

1900s Fredericton War Long Read Popular

My Classmate Who Never Came Home

Colin Wilmot's photo in our high school yearbook. Back in high school, I sat next to a warm, funny, kind-hearted soul named Colin Wilmot.…

1900s Fredericton War Long Read

The Great Fredericton Fire

This tapestry depicting the Great Fire of Fredericton today hangs in Fredericton's City Hall, in the council chambers. (Or, at least it did when…

1800s Fredericton Long Read

The Wreck of the Martha

Loyalists had to endure unimaginable hardships to make it to the safety of New Brunswick, and not all made it. One ship of refugees…

1700s Bay of Fundy Saint John War Long Read

The Search For Lost Boy Albert Smythe

A collection of headlines from newspapers about the serch for missing child Albert Smythe in 1922. Today, a missing child is a huge deal.…

1900s Fredericton Long Read

Comedy on the Rocks: A Maritime Tale of Ice and Improv

A map of Pictou Island in 1879, from the book "Illustrated Historical Atlas Of Pictou County Nova Scotia." Pictou Island, Nova Scotia, is so…

1900s Nova Scotia Strange Tales Long Read Popular

The First Murder in New Brunswick

New Brunswick’s first-ever murder took place in 1784, only two months after the province was created. The murder weapon was an ordinary table fork.…

1700s Bay of Fundy Saint John Strange Tales Women Long Read

The Night Fredericton’s Bridge Floated Away

Fredericton experienced a harrowing day of severe flooding that seemed to come out of nowhere with shocking speed in 1936, only to recede just…

1900s Fredericton Long Read
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