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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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…
April 13, 2026
1600s and Before Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia 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 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
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
Forgotten Pioneers on Canada’s East Coast
Long before the French or English arrived in Canada, vast numbers of Basques fished the waters. They weren't colonists though, but more like seasonal…
July 29, 2025
1600s and Before 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…
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
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,…
April 29, 2025
1600s and Before War Women Long Read Popular
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 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 Nova Scotia Rum Runners Women Long Read
Champlain’s Encounter With The GouGou Monster on Miscou Island
This curious early attempt at Photoshop on Miscou Island from the 1930s played up the legend of the GouGou Monster. Centuries earlier, French explorer…
July 10, 2024
1600s and Before North Shore Strange Tales 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
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 Nova Scotia Rum Runners Long Read Popular
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 North Shore Rum Runners Long Read Popular
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 Long Read
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 Rum Runners Long Read
What is a “Bluenoser,” anyway?
In 1899, a reader of the New Brunswick Magazine wrote in inquiring why Nova Scotians and New Brunswickers were nicknamed “Bluenosers.” Evidently insulted, the…
November 23, 2023
1600s and Before Forgotten Ruins Nova Scotia Long Read
The Ghostly Fire Ship of the Baie des Chaleurs
In 1905 New Brunswick's most celebrated naturalist and historian William F Ganong went to the North Shore to personally investigate and get to the bottom…
October 26, 2023
1600s and Before 1900s North Shore Strange Tales Long Read
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 PEI War Long Read
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 Long Read
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 Nova Scotia War Long Read