The Maritimes’ Greatest Bank Robbery
The victim of The Maritimes most expensive bank robbery was the Prince Edward Island bank in 1881. It was, however, not as straight forward…
May 26, 2026
1800s PEI Saint John Long Read
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Showing stories in 4 categories – clear categories
24 stories are shown.
The Underground Lake of Albert County
The darkness goes deep in Albert County’s gypsum caves. In 1937, a reporter from the Telegraph-Journal descended into one on a tip from two…
May 19, 2026
1900s Forgotten Ruins Strange Tales Long Read
The First Undersea Cable in North America Went from N.B. to PEI
The completion of the transatlantic cable from Ireland in 1866 was a massive international event (pictured). But 14 years earlier, the first ever undersea…
April 6, 2026
1800s PEI Long Read
The Ghost of Ryan’s Castle
A ridiculously wealthy and extremely eccentric dentist built a mansion in Hampton, New Brunswick. The ghost said to be guarding a hidden treasure on…
March 31, 2026
1900s Forgotten Ruins Saint John Strange Tales Long Read
The Woodman’s Ghost
A crew of woodsmen pause for a photo deep in the forest, axes in hand and snow at their feet. What they did out…
February 3, 2026
1800s North Shore PEI 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…
December 30, 2025
1900s Christmas Fredericton Saint John Long Read
The Forgotten Christmas Traditions of Old New Brunswick
Many of our beloved holiday traditions are surprisingly young. For example the old Loyalists would have been baffled at what a tree was doing…
December 9, 2025
1700s Christmas Long Read
The Cow, The Well & The Lost Treasure of Jolicure
A bizarre treasure hunt that was later nicknamed "New Brunswick's own Oak Island" kicked off when a cow fell down a mysterious structure on…
October 7, 2025
1800s Forgotten Ruins Moncton Long Read
The Mystery Crater
A photo of the "Mystery Crater" in its heyday. (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick) New Brunswick was once home to a quirky popular tourist…
September 1, 2025
1900s Forgotten Ruins Strange Tales Long Read
The Mysterious East: The Magazine That Shook Up The Maritimes
The cover of the first ever edition of The Mysterious East — a rebellious 1960s counterculture magazine published out of a Fredericton apartment. With…
June 24, 2025
1900s Forgotten Ruins Fredericton Long Read
Roadside Attractions of New Brunswick
You're cruising down a New Brunswick road, windows down, thinking about lunch, when suddenly — there it is. A giant concrete potato, rising out…
June 17, 2025
1900s Forgotten Ruins Strange Tales Long Read Popular
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…
June 10, 2025
1700s Bay of Fundy Saint John War Long Read
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.…
May 13, 2025
1700s Bay of Fundy Saint John Strange Tales Women Long Read
Helen Creighton and the Lost Songs of The Maritimes
Celebrated folklorist Helen Creighton (seated far left, with her high-tech portable recorder) spent her life documenting Nova Scotian songs. In the early 1950s, she…
January 14, 2025
1900s Bay of Fundy Forgotten Ruins Women Long Read Popular
The News Boys New Years Annual Address
My first ever job was a paperboy. I used to deliver the newspapers that Backyard History is published in. (That’s not relevant to the…
December 27, 2024
1800s Christmas Strange Tales Long Read
Christmas A Century Ago
Some exceptionally stylish women (note the scandelous new short haircuts) in 1924 posing painting toys. One century ago, many of the things we take…
December 18, 2024
1900s Christmas Long Read
Claus-trophobia and Santa’s Other Maritimes Misadventures
It turns out that Santa has had a remarkable number of strange misadventures in the Maritimes over the years. Here are four of them.…
December 10, 2024
1900s Christmas Saint John Strange Tales Long Read
ANNOUNCEMENT: Book 3 ‘Rebellious Women In The Maritimes’ Is Out!
I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my new book, Backyard History: Rebellious Women in the Maritimes! This one’s for all of you who…
November 13, 2024
1600s and Before 1700s 1800s 1900s Women Long Read
The Ghost of Binstead Manor
A sketch of Binstead House, just outside of Charlottetown, PEI. In 1856, wealthy Englishwoman Georgina Pennée moved into the house and found an unexpected…
October 23, 2024
1800s PEI Strange Tales Women Long Read
The Man Who Was Hanged On The Gallows He Built
A remarkable tale of dastardly murder, daring escape, and disastrously bad luck in the earliest days of New Brunswick is so (in)famous that it…
October 15, 2024
1700s Bay of Fundy Strange Tales Long Read
Nova Scotia’s Unsinkable “Ghost Ship,” The Governor Parr
The word “ghost ship” might conjure spectral images of the Victorian era, but a Nova Scotian ghost ship named the Governor Parr was distinctly…
October 9, 2024
1900s Forgotten Ruins Nova Scotia Long Read
Liberty On The Rocks (Part Three) Captured in Charlottetown
Hear longer and more in-depth versions of the three stories in the 'Liberty On The Rocks' Trilogy trilogy come to life on the Backyard…
April 10, 2024
1900s Nova Scotia PEI Rum Runners Long Read
Burns Monument Marks Scottish Legacy
The unveiling of the Robert Burns statue of Fredericton in 1906 was a watershed moment of Scottish pride in New Brunswick which drew an…
January 22, 2024
1900s Forgotten Ruins Fredericton Long Read
Nancy New Year of the North Shore
Nancy New Year is a centuries old tradition which still survives today along New Brunswick's North Shore of a fairy, imagined here by the…
December 28, 2023
1800s Christmas North Shore Long Read Popular