The Murder of Timothy McCarthy
For decades, Acadian singers would open a long, mournful ballad with those words in the song called “Le Meurtre de Timothy McCarthy,” which means…
August 11, 2026
1800s Moncton Women Long Read
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Showing stories in 5 categories – clear categories
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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…
June 22, 2026
1900s Nova Scotia Women Long Read Popular
The Hero in Sailor’s Garb
Nova Scotians attend the makeshift funeral for victims of the SS Atlantic catastrophe. Among the dead buried in this mass grave was a sailor…
June 14, 2026
1800s Nova Scotia Women Long Read
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
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,’…
May 5, 2026
1900s North Shore Women Long Read
Angeline’s Wedding Dress Disaster
For countless ships headed to Halifax’s harbour, the first glimpse of the Sambro Island Lighthouse (pictured) marked the relief of a journey’s end. But…
April 29, 2026
1800s Nova Scotia Women 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
Bogged Down In Cape Breton: Beryl Markham’s “Beastly Flight”
Hear a much longer (and much better) version of this story on the Backyard History Podcast, starring Stephanie Tait voicing Beryl Markham and producer…
February 24, 2026
1900s Nova Scotia Women Long Read
Georgina Whetsel and the Backlash to Blackface
In the winter of 1889, Saint John threw itself a party and accidentally exposed some deeply uncomfortable truths about race, respectability and who was…
February 9, 2026
1800s Saint John Women 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 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…
January 20, 2026
1800s Moncton Long Read Popular
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
Clara Dennis Comes Home to Confront Her Halifax Explosion Legacy
Here we see Clara Dennis during her solo Nova Scotia roadtrip that formed the backbone of her internatsional bestselling book "Down In Nova Scotia."…
December 2, 2025
1900s Nova Scotia Women 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,…
November 18, 2025
1900s Moncton Long Read Popular
Jesse Skuse’s Long Road Home
On these foggy Saint John streets in 1894, an eight-year-old girl was found crying, all alone. She had been abandoned by her adoptive parents.…
November 12, 2025
1800s Saint John Women Long Read
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…
November 7, 2025
1900s Fredericton War Long Read Popular
A Lifesaving Mission at the Graveyard of the Atlantic
Known shipwrecks of Sable Island, as of the late 1800s (Nova Scotia Archives Map Collection: F/240 – 1887) Dorothea Dix somehow slept through the…
August 5, 2025
1800s Nova Scotia Women 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
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…
May 27, 2025
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.…
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
Suffragette in the Storm: Sylvia Pankhurst stuck in Saint John
Saint Johners trudged through a snowstorm that brought 40-mile-an-hour gale winds and a two-foot snowfall to see a woman described as “inaugurating a reign…
March 4, 2025
1900s Saint John Women Long Read
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…
February 18, 2025
1800s North Shore Strange Tales Long Read Popular