Tag Archives: museum

Antigonish Heritage Museum

A great place to learn about the history and culture of Antigonish is to visit the Antigonish Heritage Museum.  Artifacts and photos of the settling of the town and county will give you a greater appreciation of the original inhabitants, the Mi’kmaq and the many settlers who have come over the years bringing their culture and traditions.   Of course we think of the Scots but we have the Irish, French, Dutch and others.

If you are interested in genealogy the helpful and knowledgeable staff will guide you on the local resources.  The museum is housed in the old train station which will be of interest to train buffs.

During the summer months the Summer Ceilidh features local musicians and story tellers — a great way to spend the evening enjoying traditional music of the fiddle, piano, pipes, guitar and song.

PHOTOS

For More Information

http://www.antigonishheritage.org/

Address:  20 East Main Street, Antigonish,  at the East end of Main Street before the railway tracks.

Museum of Industry

What a fascinating museum!  The design of the building uses the traditional sky lighting used in factories to take advantage of daylight.  Walk through the history of industry in Nova Scotia and experience the stories of work and workers.

There is something for everyone and you can easily spend a few hours here learning stories of the lives of people – children working in industries, women in the home and later on the factory floor, lives of the coal miners and how industries changed over time.   Stellarton was an active coal mining area which fueled the industrial age and was an important part of the growth of Nova Scotia.

There are trains of all sizes – real trains and miniature trains.   Use the interactive activity to play and learn about how water wheels work.  Explore the glass works, quilting looms and spinning wheels from the past, try out the chocolate assembly line, and use the child size crane. Toddlers will enjoy play stations.  I enjoyed seeing the industrial arts bus that used to travel around to different schools. Great idea that maybe we could implement again today.

Browse the gift shop and take home a unique gift.

From the museum, you also can access an 8-kilometre walking trail that follows the East River to the north end of New Glasgow.

More Information

https://museumofindustry.novascotia.ca/  Open year round. See website for hours.

The Museum of Industry is part of a network of 27 quality museums called the Nova Scotia Museum, operated by the Government of Nova Scotia and spread across Nova Scotia

How to Get there

Located in Stellarton. 2 hrs from Halifax on Hwy 104.

1 hr from the Canso Causeway (Cape Breton Island)

Museum of Industry
147 North Foord Street
Stellarton, NS CA B0K 1S0
Exit 24 off Trans Canada Hwy
902-755-5425

Sherbrook VIllage – Step Back in Time

 

Sherbrook Village stretches along the St. Mary’s River, a peaceful cool spot to get away from it all and relax under a shady tree and watch the river currents.   Of course in the 1860s the river was a hub of activity with gold, timber and tall ships. The village recreates life of the times with people in costume that tell the stories of the time.   The back yard gardens have pumpkins and cottage crops, cows and geese, and the washing up on the line in good Nova Scotia tradition. It is fascinating to visit the different houses and businesses, sit in the one room school house and explore inside and out.

A couple of years ago I enjoyed a 3 day Photography Camp at Sherbrook Village with Wally Hayes. It was a great way to explore the village, stay and do night shoots, explore the water mill and short hike to the lake and a couple of trips to the beach and headlands. This is a wonderful way to have a learning vacation in a unique environment. Our group learned photography tips and had the opportunity to practice and share our photos.

Other learning opportunities at the village include black smithing, sewing and hands on history.

There is a working forge with the blacksmith, a telephone exchange, a print shop all in working condition. See carding, spinning and weaving and learn how these were part of daily life. Just a short walk from the main village is the water wheel and saw mill. Here’s an example of the fun activities that are posted on the Sherbrook Village Facebook page:

Sawmill & Goldmine Frolic at The Old Mill Trail

Join us for excitement and a few laughs around the mill for our friendly woodsmen’s competition. Competitions include hatchet throw, kettle boil, double buck saw and spike drive. Competitions are free and open to everyone!

Members of the Heritage Goldenville Society will show visitors how to pan for gold (the real thing, not fool’s gold!).

There’ll be samples of our “good as gold” recipes for baked beans and brown bread.

The What Cheer Tea Room is open daily with home cooked meals. The pies are real old time pies – rhubarb, apple, blueberry, strawberry depending on what’s in season.

How to get there

  • From Antigonish via Hwy 7 (50 min)
  • From Halifax via NS-102, Trans-Canada Hwy/NS-104 E and NS-347 S  (2 hrs 41 min)
  • From Halifax via Trunk 7 shore route  (2 hrs 56 min)

More Information:

Baird’s Tradesmen Museum

 

On Highway 7 crossing Nova Scotia from Antigonish to the Eastern Shore we decided to stop and have a look at Baird’s Tradesmen Museum.

Wheel Wright Tools

Wheel Wright Tools

What a happy finding.  This place is loaded with history and is a great place for anyone with an interest in craft, industry and how things are made.  The walls and display cases are well organized with tools from the past for trades that we may not even have now – but were mainstays in the turn of the century.  Anyone who works in wood will enjoy seeing how the tools they use today have evolved.  You have to wonder about the minds and ingenuity of the people who designed these implements.

The tools and trades are organized into categories: cobbler, cooper, farrier, blacksmith, woodturner, carpenter/joiner, leatherworker, wheelwright, typesetter, saw filer/fitter, weaving and spinning; also the tools used in farming, fishing, logging, coal mining, automotive, retail and ice industries over the past 150 years.

Kitchen implements

Kitchen implements

Our guide was Sally Baird who was a wonderful tour guide and explained the use of the different tools.  The museum started as a personal collection of Danny Baird who worked with tools himself and started collecting.  The collection grew so large they decided to open to the public.

The place is very large and has an upstairs area with a huge spinning wheel, a floor loom, a couple of printing presses.   The presses and type include the newspaper advertising from the early 1900s and will be valuable to researchers.

Outside there are wood tools and a fire engine.  Danny Baird continues to make wooden barrels and you can see the workings as well as the finished products.   You can easily spend an hour or two learning from these antique tools and machinery from vintage trades.

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More information

12455 Hwy 7, Aspen, NS
Guysborough County

Danny & Sally Baird
Phone: 902-833-2219

The museum is open daily from July 1 – Oct 1.  10AM to 5PM. Or by appointment.  Small admission fee.

Baird’s Trade Museum – Nova Scotia.com including a map on how to get there.