North Cumberland Historical and Genealogy Society, NS

North Cumberland Historical and Genealogy Society, NS Collecting and sharing the history and genealogy of northern Cumberland County for 60 years and counting.

The North Cumberland Historical Society holds the following collections that are available to the public:
· Family files, related publications, genealogies, and charts.
· Folders of information related to the general history of the area, including local land grants and petitions.
· Built heritage files with information on buildings and ownership (Currently in development).
· Scrapbooks compiled by

local people.
· Cemetery inscriptions first collected in 1969 and periodically updated since then.
· School records (Subject to Canadian privacy laws).
· Local newspapers, primarily the Oxford Journal, Strait News, and Tatamagouche Light with additional collections of specific history-related columns from various newspapers.
· Photographic holdings of more than 1,000 images from the areas served by the Society (Ranging from Northport to Malagash and then south to Wentworth and Folly Lake). Photocopying of these records within reasonable limits that follow Canadian copyright law is available. Prices are as follows:
Black & White copies (Text): 25 cents per page
Black & White copies (Picture): $1/page
Colour copies (Text) : $1/page
Colour copies (Picture): $4/page

05/05/2026

The NCHS office is closed today but will be open on Friday as usual from 1 to 4pm.

May 1, 2026 - It was 6 years ago this spring that Trudeau told Canadians to come home because of COVID. Vivian and I wa...
05/01/2026

May 1, 2026 - It was 6 years ago this spring that Trudeau told Canadians to come home because of COVID. Vivian and I wandered around Pugwash admiring the ingenious ways that some of the shops and villagers responded. Thank heavens those days are over! We got off fairly lightly in this area because of the diligence of our store owners and community leaders.

11 April 2026 - Well, after saying that there was only one photo known to still exist from Mr. McLaughlin’s time in Pugw...
04/11/2026

11 April 2026 - Well, after saying that there was only one photo known to still exist from Mr. McLaughlin’s time in Pugwash, didn’t I stumble across another! Happy to have it prove me wrong :) The post this week is a bit more about the early history of the Oddfellows Hall in Pugwash.

If you’ve ever stopped to look and think about the architecture in Pugwash and I mean really think about it like what’s a Victorian feature? What additions must have been made later? What used to stand where before and after any one of the 23 reported fires (and counting, big and small) between 1855 and 1929? Then you likely noticed this brick building with three interlocked rings and the years 1875 and 1908 engraved in stone near the top of it. What I didn’t realize until recently was the connection between this and the history of the building.

The Pugwash division of the Independent Order of Oddfellows (I.O.O.F) was instituted at Pugwash on the evening of November 12th 1875 by M. W. Grant Master Hockin of Pictou. The inaugural officers of Crystal Wave Lodge, no. 25, were E. A. Bent, E. A. Elliott, S. O. Huestis, Joseph Hume, A. Chisholm, and D. Kennedy. Meetings were held on Tuesday nights. Deputy District Grand Master of the Pugwash and the Oxford lodge (Mystic Tie, No. 23) was H. F. Elliott. This fraternal organization created an auxiliary service branch for women through the institution of Rebekah lodges. The Pugwash Rebekahs were established on August 13th, 1879 as Silver Spray Rebekah Lodge No. 1. They were the first lodge to be established in the Maritimes and continue to this day, 147 years later.

By 1880, the I.O.O.F in Pugwash had purchased a new hall and were paying down its debt by hosting a “mammoth” tea meeting (1879) and an excursion trip on the Heather Belle steamer to PEI. An account of that trip noted that tickets were limited to 300 and had sold out. The passengers and accompanying Amherst Brass Band set sail at 8am, arrived in PEI at 1pm and enjoyed themselves until departing at 6pm. The passage was described as pleasant with the exception that nearly all of the passengers reported feeling seasick. This was the start to many excursions by steamer that were planned in the years to follow.

In October 1907, Pugwash was hit with a fire that caused the complete destruction of the Rebekah’s Lodge. I have conflicting accounts of what happened to the IOOF’s original hall but by 1908, newspapers reported that they were putting up a new two story, brick building. The first floor featured a kitchen and dining room while the second floor was the lodge room. The cornerstone of this building was laid July 3, 1908 and it cost about $3,000 to build at the time. The photo for this week is of an I.O.O.F banquet held in that building (recognize the windows?). The three rings on the outside of the building represent friendship, love, and truth and reflect the core values of honesty, integrity, and supporting those in need held by the I.O.O.F and Rebekahs.

03/31/2026

We had a visitor in recently who looking for information on the history of the Pugwash Fire Department. A review of our files proved this to be an area where we certainly could use more information. Like when was the old fire hall was built? Where was it located before that building? When was the Fire Department started and by whom? If you have any information saved up or even just a reference that I can track down, please let us know!

March 27, 2026 - Yesterday was a quiet day but never ever lacking in things to do. Mary, Alice, and I took a moment to g...
03/28/2026

March 27, 2026 - Yesterday was a quiet day but never ever lacking in things to do. Mary, Alice, and I took a moment to go through a binder of miscellaneous photos and it got me thinking about the Palmerston bridge. I know most of you have likely seen pictures or even remember the old iron bridge that spanned the harbour before one we use today. But how many of you know that at one time it had a functioning swing section that allowed ships to pass through? A 1897 Engineer's Report from the House of Assembly Journals and Proceedings described it thus:

“This bridge, built under the provisions of the Nova Scotia Bridge Act in 1893-4, replaced a wooden bridge that carried the public highway across the upper reach of Pugwash harbour. It occupies the same site, rests on the same foundations, and has the same number of spans as the former bridge, names:- three of 156 feet each, one of 140 feet and one swing span of 82 feet 8 inches out to out. The roadway is 18 feet wide in clear.

The foundations of the old bridge were constructed by dumping stone from scows, until they reached the level of low water, and the piers to support the superstructure were erected thereon, and consisted of wooden cribs, closely packed with stone to the level of bridge seats. In removing the old piers, the prisms of stone, that has been loosely cast into the water, were found to be silted up and so covered with mussel shells and seaweed that their cohesion suggested their adoption for the foundations of the new bridge. The stone packing of the old piers was, therefore, cast round the prism blocks to increase and strengthen them and two feet in depth of concrete was placed over all to found the masonry of the new bridge upon. The cutwaters () of piers are of large stones, dressed on beds, joints and face, the courses are clamped vertical and doweled to prevent displacement bu the heavy ice floes so prevalent here. Freestone of excellent quality was found in the neighbourhood and was employed throughout. The bridge is proportioned to carry a rolling load of 80 lbs per square foot of roadway, plus the static load of bridge."

The bridge was designed and constructed by the Dominion Bridge Company of Canada, Montreal. The contract for masonry was awarded to Mr. R. L. McDonald of Pugwash. When everything was said and done, the Engineer reported the cost of building at $27,229.50. Sadly, not even five years later, a 1901 report in the Halifax Herald noted that, “The pivot pier has settled and the draw is hanging by either end. It is said some five or six inches of stone will have to be cut out to allow the beds to swing.” In the photos below you can see the circular span that allowed the bridge to swing out clearly in the Clara Dennis photo. In the one from the NCHS photo collection, you can actually see the swing section open :)

March 13, 2026 - I've been remiss in posting on Fridays, my apologies. I've been trying to find this ONE photo that I kn...
03/13/2026

March 13, 2026 - I've been remiss in posting on Fridays, my apologies. I've been trying to find this ONE photo that I know exists but cannot figure out where in my travels that I saw it. It features a young Terry Smith sitting on the cement steps outside of what used to the Post Office building on Water St. I thought it was in a magazine article about Cyrus Eaton and the conferences but have yet to find it. Putting that to the side for now, the photo for this week is of a local hockey team. This picture has been a bit of a mystery as nothing was known about it or the people in it. I just made a breakthrough though and discovered the team's name! So I would like to introduce the ...(drum roll)... Pugwash Black Hawks! :) They played in the 1935-36 NS Junior Playoffs only to lose to the Amherst Canucks. Good, that's one answer. Now to figure out the names of these fine fellows...

03/13/2026

I bet that you haven't seen this video before. https://archives.novascotia.ca/nsfilm/films/?ID=1&Language=English (Source: W.G. MacLaughlan Nova Scotia Archives 1984-36 film no. Fb 16). It's footage from the Halifax Explosion taken by a photographer who once had a shop in Pugwash: W G MacLaughlan. He was born in Charlottetown, PEI and moved with his family to Boston in 1890 where he opened his first shop. Somewhere in his travels, he met one Ella Jane Murray from Pugwash and in 1895, they married and started their family there. For the next decade and a half, he took photos across the province until moving to Vancouver in 1908. From this body of work, only one is known to be of Pugwash. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&idnumber=3261713 (Source: Library and Archives Canada R9271, RG105, item no. 23364). This photo was taken from the smokestack at the Maritime Clay Works.

Year later, after moving from Vancouver to Halifax in 1914, he became the official military photographer for the City of Halifax. This included taking pictures of the Canadian Expeditionary Force battalions during WW1 and later on, the immediate aftermath of the Halifax Explosion. Can you guess who the assistant was that helped him with the Explosion photos and footage? It was none other than W. R. MacAskill, early in his career, before becoming a famous photographer in his own right.

02/24/2026

Just to note to say that we will be closed for today, Tuesday the 24th, but will open tomorrow from 1 to 4pm instead when the roads (and my driveway) are clearer.

Feb. 20, 2026 - Well, Dianne is off to warmer weather and we all hope that she has the best time :) The photo for today ...
02/20/2026

Feb. 20, 2026 - Well, Dianne is off to warmer weather and we all hope that she has the best time :) The photo for today is of the Red Cross Outpost Hospital that one stood on the way out of town, just before you reach the Murray Road turnoff. In 1945-46, a committee was created to look into the matter of establishing an outpost Hospital in Pugwash as a memorial to the boys who never returned from WWII. A major question was its location and eventually the Betcher property was chosen. A committee consisting of Fraser MacDonald, John Allen, Mrs. Earl Fullerton, Harry Dunbar, and Mrs. Harold Wood were put in charge of converting the home into a hospital. It officially opened on November 13, 1947 to much fanfare and was the 7th of its kind to be built in Nova Scotia. Percy Black donated two silver cups that were to be presented to the first girl and boy born in the hospital. So accordingly, the first was awarded on November 13th to Mr. and Mrs. Kristian Larsen of Wallace for the birth of their daughter, Hazel. The second to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Mattinson on December 8th for the birth of their son, Keith Mattinson.

The local women's institutes of this area played a very important role in the continued operation of this hospital. The Wallace Bay Institute pledged to take care of the room dedicated to Weldon Tuttle. The West Pugwash Institute took charge of the room dedicated to Douglas Peers. These institutes, along with the Oxford, Pugwash River, and Pugwash Junction branches all worked together in spearheading fundraising and donations, as well as taking care of many of the day-to-day demands, like sewing and mending.

There are many stories that could be told about this hospital and the people who used its services up until the North Cumberland Memorial hospital was officially opened on August 27, 1966. Unfortunately, as always, we are limited by time and space. We leave you with these two snippets for now, so that these memories may never be forgotten. Have a lovely weekend, everyone :)

Feb. 13, 2026 - Happy Valentine's Day - and Heritage Day.Every now and then we pick a property to feature. Today's prope...
02/13/2026

Feb. 13, 2026 - Happy Valentine's Day - and Heritage Day.

Every now and then we pick a property to feature. Today's property is the Clarke house which is on the corner of Victoria and Water Street. The Clarke house was built by Dr. Clarke, an Irish immigrant who worked as a family physician and a dentist. It was a surgery, pharmacy and home. He was known to be a very good doctor, and he went out in all weather to look after his patients. He also served many other functions in the town. Here is a brief summary of the house:

The lot was purchased in 1847 and the house, surgery and pharmacy were built. Dr. Clarke died in the house in 1880 under horrifying circumstances. His widow Olivia and daughter Cyrilla continued living in it.

In 1898 the house was completely lost in a fire. It was rebuilt. In 1901, the house was damaged in a theft attempt. Some months later it was again burned out. They rebuilt. In 1910, Olivia died.

Different members of the family lived in it until it was bought by John Caraberis and Bonnie Bond in 1996. Walden Pond, a restaurant was opened. Peter Seitl bought it when the restaurant closed. It has again been purchased by John and Bonnie who have restored it to the beauty it once was.

Read about this house and the Clarke family of Pugwash on our webpage at https://ncumbhistorical.wixsite.com/genealogyhistory/pugwash-properties

Today's photos show the house from Water Street after 1902 when the meat market was built and the house today from Victoria Street.

Feb. 6, 2026 - We had the Van Vulpens in with lots of good stories about Washington Hart. He was quite the character. I...
02/06/2026

Feb. 6, 2026 - We had the Van Vulpens in with lots of good stories about Washington Hart. He was quite the character.

I have posted today's photo before, but it strikes me as such a good February scene. It was taken in Feb. of 2018. It shows Darlene Ripley at Howard Bridge. That was quite the year.

Helen Feeley was telling us about her son Aaron. He went to see the ice and climbed up on it to take a photo. He dropped his keys - and they were gone. Everyone came to look for them, but no keys. In the spring, the ice melted and the keys showed up.

Jan. 30, 2026 - Looking for winter pictures for our page. Unfortunately, I don't know who these two are. Anyo...
01/30/2026

Jan. 30, 2026 - Looking for winter pictures for our page. Unfortunately, I don't know who these two are. Anyone recognize them? They may be Dingles. Also, I would love to profile someone who was in the Olympics from the area. Looking for names. Hunker down in this cold everyone!

Address

10222 Durham Street
Pugwash, NS
B0K1L0

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1am - 4am
Friday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

902-243-3348

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