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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 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 Dorchester Penny Train Crash

One hundred and twenty nine years ago, New Brunswick suffered what was initially called a “terrible catastrophe” and its worst ever train wreck, leaving…

1800s Moncton Long Read Popular

How Was Magnetic Hill Discovered?

Magnetic Hill has been a New Brunswick icon since the 1930s and grew into a full attraction with a gift shop, zoo, water park,…

1900s Moncton Long Read Popular

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

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…

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…

1700s Bay of Fundy Saint John War 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

Malobiannah and The Destroyer: The Heroine of Grand Falls

Grand Falls name in Wəlastəkwey is Chik-un-ik’-a-bik, which means “The Destroyer.” The name refers back to the story of a young woman named Malobiannah,…

1600s and Before War Women Long Read Popular

The Mysterious Lost and Found Diary of the Tobique

A mysterious Englishman sailed to New Brunswick in the 1850s. His name and his fate are unknown. All that remains of him is his…

1800s North Shore Strange Tales Long Read Popular

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…

1900s Bay of Fundy Forgotten Ruins Women Long Read Popular

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…

1700s Bay of Fundy Strange Tales Long Read

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…

1900s Nova Scotia Rum Runners Women Long Read
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