The Sunken Treasure Ship In The Bay of Fundy
There is more than lobster to be found in the waters beyond Dipper Harbour, where this curious 1960 tourism promo was shot. A century…
June 30, 2026
1800s Bay of Fundy War
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Who Killed the Maritimes’ Greatest Flying Ace?
These articles on the website are (mostly) the articles from the Backyard History newspaper column, which have a strict 1,000 words/week limit. In the…
May 12, 2026
1900s War
The Night The Crocodiles Attacked
A Fredericton Commando’s Second World War Victory Had The Japanese On The Run. Then Came The Crocodiles. Frederictonian Bruce Wright’s (left) idle daydreaming during…
March 17, 2026
1900s Fredericton Strange Tales War
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 Greatest Hits War
My Classmate Who Never Came Home
Colin Wilmot's photo in our high school yearbook. Back in high school, I sat next to a warm, funny, kind-hearted soul named Colin Wilmot.…
November 4, 2025
1900s Fredericton War
The Hatchet Buried In The Stream
As he neared the end of his long and eventful life, legendary Wolastoqiyik Sachem (chief) Gabriel Acquin sat down with UNB professor Dr. Edward…
September 8, 2025
1800s War
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…
August 30, 2025
1900s North Shore War
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
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 Greatest Hits War Women
The Found Love in a Time of Hate
Amidst the chaos of the Second World War, love blossomed between a young man and a young woman who met at a dance contest.…
February 11, 2025
1900s Fredericton War Women
The Canadian Sailor Who Witnessed Lincoln’s Assassination
A young sailor from Fredericton was on shore leave in Washington DC on April 14th, 1865. He spontaneously decided to see a play at…
February 4, 2025
1800s Fredericton Strange Tales War
Two Teachers’ Summer Vacation on the Brink of War
As Europe teetered on the brink of war in the Summer of 1939, two Moncton schoolteachers went on a carefree two-month-long vacation across that…
January 28, 2025
1900s Moncton War Women
Janet Webster’s Secret War
This is an abbreviated part of the centrepiece story of my new book, Rebellious Women In The Maritimes. Order your copy of the book…
November 13, 2024
1900s Moncton War 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…
November 7, 2024
North Shore War
The Kilted Battalion That Captivated Two Nations: MacLean Kilties
Lt. Col. Percy Guthrie was not only a decorated officer who fought (and was wounded) in the First World War, but also a businessman…
September 24, 2024
1900s Fredericton War
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
Teenage Soldiers of the Soil Went From Classrooms to Farms
Getting this uniform was a major selling point for the teenage boys -some as young as only 13 years old- who answered the call…
February 28, 2024
1900s Saint John War
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
Princess Louise, a War Horse’s Tale
During the Second World War, New Brunswickers fighting in Italy rescued a horse, who became a beloved mascot for their regiment. After following the…
January 10, 2024
1900s Long Reads Saint John War
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
The Second Halifax Explosion
On 18 July 1945, an ammunition barge blew up at the Naval Magazine jetty on Bedford Basin. Fire spread quickly to piles of ammunition.…
November 19, 2023
1900s Greatest Hits Long Reads Nova Scotia War