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.…
March 24, 2026
1800s Newfoundland
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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
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
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
Terror From The Deep: The Giant Squid That Shocked The World
Tom Picot watched idly as an ominous, large, dark spot passed under the tiny fishing boat he and his father were aboard near Bell…
March 11, 2025
1800s Newfoundland Strange Tales
The Rise, Fall and Redemption of Bob Bartlett, Polar Explorer
Newfoundlander Bob Bartlett (right) and famous explorer Robert Peary (left) were a dynamic duo of Arctic exploration who faced triumph and controversy in their…
January 7, 2025
1900s Newfoundland
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
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
Nova Scotia’s Queen of the Bootleggers: Amy Mason
During Prohibition when booze was banned, reluctant liquor control officer Clifford Rose found himself in the middle of a dispute between a corrupt politician…
August 12, 2024
1900s Long Reads Nova Scotia Rum Runners Women
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
Liberty On The Rocks (Part Two) Initiation Of A Rum Runner
LISTEN to the full version of this story on the Backyard History Podcast! Read Part One: Liberty On The Rocks: Shootout At Bouctouche Listen…
April 3, 2024
1900s Greatest Hits Nova Scotia Rum Runners
Liberty On The Rocks (Part One): Shootout at Bouctouche
Hugh Corkum was the wireless operator of The Liberty, the fastest rum running ship operating in the Maritimes during Prohibition when booze was banned.…
March 28, 2024
1900s Greatest Hits North Shore Rum Runners
The Other “Mad Trapper”: Detective William Carr’s Battle Against Rogue Poachers
Fur trapping was big business in NB, as this 1925 photo of young Ronald W. Smith admiring the trapped foxes shows. The profitability of…
January 17, 2024
1900s Rum Runners
The Dr. Leslie E. Keeley Gold Cure Institute For Drunkards
In the 1890s Frederictonians pooled money together to help fund a new health institute. It was based on an extraordinarily bizarre new health remedy:…
December 1, 2023
1800s Fredericton Long Reads Rum Runners
American Invaders Stole PEI’s Great Seal
Map of Prince Edward Island in 1775. Titled: "A plan of the island of St. John with the divisions of the counties parishes &…
October 1, 2023
1700s Long Reads PEI War
Terry Fox In Atlantic Canada
Statue of Terry Fox in St. John's, Newfoundland, where his Marathon of Hope first began. While Terry Fox’s ‘Marathon of Hope’ had begun with…
September 16, 2023
1900s Moncton Newfoundland Nova Scotia PEI
Benjamin Franklin’s “Worthless” Nova Scotian Land
Benjamin Franklin is a major figure in the American cultural mythology of the birth of the United States, and his face is found today…
June 4, 2023
1700s Long Reads Nova Scotia War
The Hottest Dance Club In Early New Brunswick
This rare photo is from 1872, before The Great Fire but a century after MacPherson’s Coffee House stood here. MacPherson’s had been the hottest…
May 19, 2023
1700s Saint John
Giant Squid Attacks in Newfoundland
The Vikings called it the Kraken. The Bible called it Leviathan. But today we think these fearsome, mysterious sea monsters were giant squids. By…
April 23, 2023
1800s Greatest Hits Long Reads Newfoundland Strange Tales
“Valiant Amazon:” Elizabeth Beard’s Fight Against Americans
While this famous woodcut depicts an American woman named Molly Pitcher who fought in the American Revolution, there was also another, completely forgotten woman…
March 3, 2023
1700s Fredericton War Women
Using This Loophole, Women Voted Centuries Before “Allowed “
WSPU leaders Annie Kenney (left) and Christabel Pankhurst, 1908 (public domain) Canadian women officially got the right to vote in 1919, but there is…
January 26, 2023
1700s 1800s Fredericton Women
Atlantic Canada’s Incredibly Chaotic Royal Tour
Prince Bertie arriving in Saint John. Technically he arrived the night before but Saint Johners slept through it. Hand drawn by G. H. Andrews…
October 7, 2022
1800s Newfoundland Saint John Strange Tales
The Atlantic Neptune
Twenty years and ₤100,000 was spent in the 1700s making a monumental book of beautiful maps and pictures of the coasts of North America…
August 19, 2022
1700s Bay of Fundy Forgotten Ruins Nova Scotia
Some Unusual Place Names in New Brunswick
Place names changing over time has been a constant. Their meanings, and how they change, can be interesting though. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick…
July 8, 2022
1600s and Before 1700s 1800s Bay of Fundy North Shore Saint John Strange Tales