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
Popular Stories
The most shared, liked, and downright viral Backyard History stories on social media — check out what everyone’s talking about!
Categories (2)
Showing stories in 2 categories – clear categories
12 stories are shown.
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
The Candy Killer: The Serial Killer Who Stalked Saint John
Terror gripped the gritty streets of Saint John in 1889. The city had its very own serial killer — but this murderer didn’t use…
August 27, 2024
1800s Saint John Long Read Popular
The “Strange” Men In The Hot Pink Hats
Only a week after Confederation, four working-class Saint John men showed up among the Paris elites to represent the new country of Canada in…
May 3, 2024
1800s Saint John Long Read Popular
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 Nova Scotia War Long Read Popular
The World’s Worst Nazi Spy
On the moonless night of November 9th, 1942, during the Second World War, a German U-Boat lay in the Bay de Chaleurs, watching through…
September 15, 2023
1900s Strange Tales War Long Read Popular
When The Fascist Italian Air Armada Came To Town
This propaganda poster by Fascist Italy shows the route of the Italian Air Armada's fleet of 24 flying boats as they crossed the Atlantic…
February 2, 2023
1900s Moncton War Long Read Popular
Nova Hollandia: When The Maritimes Were A Dutch Colony
We’re always taught in school that ever since European colonists arrived in what is now Canada, that it was always a colony of either…
January 11, 2023
1600s and Before Bay of Fundy Forgotten Ruins Nova Scotia Strange Tales War Long Read Popular
Secret Diary Written In The Lunatic Asylum
The Saint John Lunatic Asylum where Mary Huestis Pengilly stayed in 1883. While there she kept a secret diary and recorded what it was…
December 1, 2022
1800s Forgotten Ruins Saint John Long Read Popular
Rockwood Park: The Coney Island Of The Maritimes
For several years Saint John’s iconic Rockwood Park was turned into a summer fair grounds based on Coney Island, featuring rides, nightly fireworks, bars…
September 16, 2022
1900s Forgotten Ruins Saint John Strange Tales Long Read Popular
The Red Devil
Crowds at the Saint John Exhibition checking out The Red Devil Provincial Archives of New Brunswick P60/214 On a clear Autumn day in 1912,…
April 29, 2022
1900s Bay of Fundy Saint John Long Read Popular
Was The First Car Invented In Canada?
There’s no photographs of the Andromonon, and few photographs of New Brunswick at all back then. This picture is a sketch my super-talented artist…
January 21, 2022
1800s Saint John Strange Tales Long Read Popular