West Hants Historical Society
281 King Street PO Box 2335 B0N 2T0 Windsor, NS, Canada

From the NSArchives We believe this document lays out what would be known as the King's (Queen's) Wharf or the Government Wharf, and the strip of land leading to it became King's Square; which is now the King Street Extension at Tim Hortons on the Waterfront. Nova Scotia Land Papers 1765-1800... Cochran, Thomas and others 1785 Hants County Names listed in the documents: Thomas Cochran, Benjamin Dewolf, Benjamin McMonagle, John Gray, Joseph Clark Memorial that a landing place of 80 feet wide at Windsor may be granted in trust for the use and purpose of a Public Landing place for the Town of Windsor.

From the NS Archives Nova Scotia Land Papers 1765-1800 Francklin, Michael and others 1782 Hants County... Names listed in the documents: Michael Francklin, Tonge, George Deschamps On behalf of himself and the other inhabitants of Windsor. Memorial for a Glebe (500 acres), a School (400 acres) and a Common lot (1000 acres) for the Township of Windsor. "The Township of Windsor has been long settled and is dayly increasing in its inhabitants." Mr. Francklin, Mr. Tonge and George Deschamps appointed trustees for the school and common lots (In Council).

This is such a unique little postcard. Postcard ACCESSION NUMBER: 06.03.01.H88... OBJECT TYPE: Photographic DATE: December 1910 DESCRIPTION: Seeing Halifax Trolley Trips. Written on reverse: Just arrived at the hotel. Was not up to John's did not get a chance to go. Was around with John most all the night. Charlie. Addressed to: Miss Eva A Patterson Upper Falmouth Hants Co N.S.

Did you know that Mantua is named after an Italian city- the birthplace of the poet Virgil? #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Print, Photographic ACCESSION NUMBER: 12.8.9.2 DATE: circa 1900... DESCRIPTION: James Gibson Hotel in Brooklyn NS

The Treaty Truckhouse at Pesegitk As a result of the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty, Government Truckhouses were established in certain districts. A truckhouse is a general stores placed under the supervision of an agent of the government authorized to trade those goods with the Mi'kmaq people and, if present, local settlers. The treaty also made the provision that:...Continue reading

The unique and recognizable Art Deco-inspired logo of the Smith Coal & Oil Company, Water Street, Windsor, Nova Scotia. undated photo #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Mudbank Quarry, Wentworth Creek, Hants Co., Nova Scotia. undated photo #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Tugboats at work at S.P. Benjamin's lumber wharf in Upper Falmouth c. 1910 Their smokestacks were hinged and held upright by steel cables so that they could be ...lowered to pass under bridges. #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

We are celebrating the holiday seasons by offering candlelit historic walking tours throughout the month of December! Bundle up and join us each Friday and Sat...urday from 5 to 6PM as we talk a stroll through historic Wolfville. These walks are a pay what you can/donation based fundraiser for Randall House Museum. RSVP at [email protected]. See more

ACCESSION NUMBER: 14.06.11.8 DATE: 1860 1890 MATERIALS: Cardboard... MEASUREMENTS: 29.2 cm L x 26.7 cm W MARKS/LABEL: On the back is written in pen: Water St/ R.W. Palmer SUBJECT: Windsor DESCRIPTION: This item is a black and white photograph of Water St. There are horses and carrages as well as three trees and several people walking around. There is some wood in the foreground.

Understanding Treaties The NS Archives has an excellent chronology and explanation on their website. https://archives.novascotia.ca/mikmaq/results/

UPDATE and correction: Mystery Solved Thanks to the keen eye of Windsorian Alan Carmichael we now know that this is a photo of the Windsor United Baptist Church. This solves the dilemma we were having about the outline of a sharp steeple in the photo and the seemingly matching house down the street which would have been destroyed in 1897. Thank you Alan. ... ____________________||_____________________ Last week WHHS Past President Richard Smith brought in a wonderful photo which may possibly be the only known photo of St. Matthew's Chapel of Ease, Church of England, on Gray Street in Windsor. As the Parish Church at Curry's Corner was too far for some of the parishioners, a small church called the Chapel of Ease was built on Gray Street in 1845, on land given by Judge Haliburton. Half of the parish services were held here until it was burned in 1881. ____________________||_____________________ "In an age before the automobile, the first Christ Church was just far enough away to be inconvenient for the townspeople of Windsor. Thus, in 1845, a Chapel-of-Ease, called St. Matthew’s, was built on land purchased for that purpose by Judge Haliburton and with the approval and encouragement of the third Bishop of Nova Scotia, Charles Inglis’ son, John." "The occasion for the building of the present Christ Church was a fire in 1881 that seriously damaged the Chapel-of-Ease, St. Matthew’s, formerly located on Grey Street between Stannus and Albert. Nothing remains of that structure other than an unattributed sketch. It was, however, not highly regarded as much of an edifice. Bishop Hibbert Binney, the fourth bishop of the diocese, actually claimed that it wouldn’t make a respectable barn! Thy Sweet Love Remember’d: a Poet & a Church Address given by Reverend David Curry on November 1st, 2007 to the West Hants Historical Society. #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #windsor #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

A Century of Decorating Christmas Trees https://doyouremember.com/109/christmas-trees-100-years-ago

Take a walk in the shoes of the oft forgotten beasts of burden that played key roles in building our community; the ox and the horse. #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Historic Dakeyne Farm in Falmouth. Since the story of this farm is best told by the farmers themselves, here's a link to their website: http://dakeynefarm.com/historic-farm/ #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Nova Scotia Light and Power Company building. Water Street, Windsor, Nova Scotia demolished in the 1990s... #WHHS #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Isaac Deschamps’ appointment as Truckmaster at Fort Edward, Windsor, Nova Scotia, 16 June 1760. By His Excellency Charles Lawrence Esq. Captain General and Governor in Chief in and... over His Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia or Accadie. Vice Admiral of the Same Etc. Etc. To Isaac Deschamps Esq. I Do Hereby Constitute and appoint you to be Truckmaster at Fort Edward, Pizequid in the Kings County, for carrying on Commerce, in Behalf of The Governmentof This Province, with the Indians, and you are to Conduct yourself at all times with care and Fidelity according to the Instructions Herewith Deliverd you or that you Shall hereafter Receive from myself or the Commander in Chief. Given under my Hand & Seal at Halifax the Sixteenth Day of June 1760 in the thirty third year of His Majesty's Reign Chas: Lawrence By His Excellys Command Richard Bulkeley Secretary Reference: Isaac Deschamps Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 volume 258 item 1 pages 1-4 List of Mi'kmaq residing in the district surrounding Fort Edward, Windsor, Nova Scotia with a listing of what was sold to the Mi'kmaq (fish and furs) Date: 1767 Retrieval no.: Isaac Deschamps Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 volume 258 item 10 pages 24-27

October is Women's History Month in Canada! We'll be taking this time to highlight a few women who have made lasting contributions to Nova Scotia's past and present.

"The Place to Dodge your Auto Troubles" F.H. Dodge's Garage Corner of Water and Albert Streets. #whhs #windowtoourpast #westhants #hantscountylife #history #heritage #community #realhistory #novascotia

Shop local this Christmas and support your local historical society in the process by purchasing one of the many publications we have for sale! Drop into the museum November 25, December 2, or December 9 from 10-4 to pick up any of the publications on this list. They make a great gift for the historian on your shopping list!... Please note that we are able to accept cash or cheque only at this time and we currently do not ship. Bear with us, we'll have a whole new online publication store up and running on our website in the new year. Please do not try to order books in the comment section. If you have questions please email [email protected]. Thank you!

Postcard ACCESSION NUMBER: 06.03.01.H127 CATEGORY: Writing Media... OBJECT TYPE: Photographic DATE: 1880 1950 DESCRIPTION: Thanksgiving Greetings. Addressed to: Miss Eva Patterson Falmouth Hants Co., N.S

In this LiDAR image historic Tregothick Creek can be seen wending its way across ancient marsh to the Ste. Croix River. (Imagery courtesy Marcel Morin)

A most interesting feature is visible in the LiDAR imagery of Windsor that we shared recently courtesy of Marcel Morin. Left-of-centre in the original (detail below) can be seen, clearly defined, Thomas Chandler Haliburton's Plaster Quarry (gypsum) on his Clifton estate. The West Cut is now a beautiful pond and the East Cut was filled and leveled for development. What is most curious though, is the little strip across the cut defining what we now call Clifton Avenue; in Hal...iburton's days, Park Street. In some of my reading at the West Hants Historical Society, I've come across a couple of sources that indicate that this narrow strip is/was a land bridge of gypsum, left in place to carry the road bed, but tunneled through to connect the two cuts, presumably blocked when the East Cut was filled in. It is believed that the purpose of the tunnel was so that rock from the East Cut could be carted out through the West Cut to Haliburton's wharf on the Avon River. See more

From all of us, to all of you...

CAN YOU HELP US?? The Society is constructing a slide show of East Hants veterans of WWI and WWII. We have a lot of WWI images (although not all of them), but b...ecause the Library and Archives Canada site for World War II has not yet made public the kind of attestation information now available for World War I veterans, we have to depend on families and community organizations for that information. We will be uploading the shows to our YouTube channel in time for 2020 Remembrance Day. If you have photos of men and women in your family who were either born in East Hants or lived out their post-war (either war) years in East Hants, please contact us if you are willing to donate them or give us a copy of them. Send us a personal message. Thank you! Shown here: Harry Miller of Noel Shore; Ronald Hannaford of Elmsdale

Cover of school newsletter, The Academy Announcer. Windsor Academy October 1939

Wartime wedding at King's School. ACCESSION NUMBER: 15.6.07.3 CATEGORY: Graphic Documents DATE: 1942 MATERIALS: Paper... MEASUREMENTS: 18 cm L x 13 cm W NARRATIVE: Wedding photo at Hensley Mem. Chapel. Saturday, October 3rd 1942. The Hensley Memorial Chapel is located on the King's-Edgehill School campus. See more

A friendly reminder from a neighbourhood hardware store in autumn past.

ACCESSION NUMBER: 27 CATEGORY: Graphic Documents DATE: 1865 1897 NARRATIVE: Donated on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the building of the New St. John's Church on King Street, Windsor. DESCRIPTION:... Roman Catholic Church St. John the Evangelist Parish in Windsor NS. The church was located on Chapel Lane which is now Albert Street. The building was erected in 1826 and destroyed in the Great Windsor Fire - Sunday, 17th October 1897 See more

Today is National British Home Child Day.. so in honour of all the Dakeyne Lads who emigrated to Canada through our farm... we share their story today.. along w...ith this Sunflower. http://dakeynefarm.com/historic-farm/ https://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com #britishhomechildren #Sunflowers @ Municipality of the District of West Hants

100 years ago today in West Hants Inscription on reverse reads, in part: "These berries painted, Windsor, N.S., Sept. 29, 1920. Later (with a lot more berries, and some apples) made into jelly. Good!" Date: 29 September 1920 Format: Watercolour over pencil... Artist: Annie L. Prat Reference no.: Prat, Starr family Nova Scotia Archives accession 1979-147 vol. 595 no. 22 See more

Stories, memories, interviews, and class prize winners of the 255th Hants County Exhibition - virtual edition.

Unknown man with a dog and two cows 1932