Own the Maritimes best forgotten stories - discover the Backyard History books. Shop the books

Articles

Categories (3)
Showing stories in 3 categories – clear categories
24 stories are shown.

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…

1800s PEI Saint John

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…

1900s Forgotten Ruins Strange Tales

Marilyn Monroe’s Secret Trip to Miramichi

Find a longer version of this story – and many others – in the fourth Backyard History book ‘Mysterious Stories From Atlantic Canada’s Past,’…

1900s North Shore Women

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…

1900s Forgotten Ruins Saint John Strange Tales

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…

1800s Long Reads North Shore PEI

Nearer to Heaven on Sugarloaf

Joseph Lacasse had been told his whole life what he couldn't do. Born with one leg nearly a foot shorter than the other, he'd…

1900s North Shore

The Great Fire of Miramichi

New Brunswick Legends Tapestries – Great Fire of the Miramichi, 1996, Designed by Micheal McEwing, Woven by Ivan H Crowell. (Provincial Archives of New…

1800s Long Reads North Shore

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…

1900s Forgotten Ruins Strange Tales

The Prison Camp Poem of Alfred Elsliger

Alfred Elsliger (Canadian Virtual War Memorial) Alfred W. Elsliger enlisted with his friends, including my Great Uncle Wilfred Smith, in his little hometown of…

1900s North Shore War

The Great Campbellton Cowbell Controversy

Is this the face that launched a province-wide debate? In the summer of 1886, New Brunswickers found themselves fiercely divided — over cowbells in…

1800s North Shore Strange Tales

Tim Lynch, Mad King of the Moose

This illustration was published in a tourism brochure Frank Risteen made for the City of Fredericton (for promotional purposes, he bestowed Fredericton with the…

1800s North Shore Strange Tales

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

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 Long Reads North Shore Strange Tales

Interview with the Dungarvon Whooper

The Dungarvon Whooper is one of the Maritime’s most famous ghost stories. Two years ago, I argued that this "ghost" had actually been a…

1800s North Shore Strange Tales

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

The Question I Was Never Supposed To Ask

North Shore teenagers Wilfred (left) and Bobby Smith (right), with brother-in-law Simon Pollack (centre) are all smiles as they pose on the Matepedia Bridge…

North Shore War

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…

1800s PEI Strange Tales Women
Four Backyard History books against an archival photograph.

Backyard History books

Atlantic Canada's history was never this much fun!

Discover all 4 Backyard History books — the stories your history class never told you!

Shop the books