Atlantic Canada’s Hidden Histories
Atlantic Canada‘s Hidden Histories GeoTour consists of geocaches that have been placed at sites that demonstrate the rich, diverse histories of Atlantic Canada. These histories have previously been underrepresented or perhaps are little known.
Visit the geotour homepage at geocaching.com: https://www.geocaching.com/play/geotours/atlantic-canada
CBC interview with Graham Nickerson and CRAG regarding this initiative: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2055974979517
Places
Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Home of the Black Loyalists, the largest free Black settlement in the 1780s.
Salome’s Well (or Salome’s Tub)
Saint Marys Parish
Farmstead of Ira and Salome Gosman's farmstead. A popular watering spot for travellers.
The Gordon House
Prince William, New Brunswick
The Gordon house is one of several structures on the King's Landing site to depict Blacks.
St. Anne’s Chapel of Ease
Fredericton, New Brunswick
St. Anne's Chapel of Ease known for it's remarkable architecture and Willie O'Ree.
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame
Fredericton, New Brunswick
To recognize and honour New Brunswick athletes, teams and builders.
The Journey of Nancy, and her son Lidge
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Nancy and Lidge fled enslavement launching a canoe from the mouth of the Nashwaaksis.
The Making of Slavery: Caleb Jones
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Caleb Jones Land Grant: Caleb Jones and loyalist slavery, a narrative.
Saint Peter’s Anglican Church
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Built in 1838, St. Peter's Anglican Church was constructed by the local Black community.
Disney Chapel
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Built in 1877, Disney Chapel commemorates Black AMEC Bishop Richard Randolph Disney.
Hatfield House
Tusket, Nova Scotia
Built in 1793 by Black Loyalist Abigail Price. Abigail disappeared but her house stands.
David George and his Baptist Church
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
The Birthplace of the Black Baptist Church in Canada along the banks of Blacks Brook.
Marybelle: The Last Black Servant in Louis Head
Nova Scotia
Black Loyalists from Queens County took up employment to boat builders and sea captains.
Black Methodist Episcopal Church, Liverpool
Hunts Point, Nova Scotia
Black Church at the heart of a Black community from 1841 - 1908
Sylvia’s War
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Sylvia participated in the defense of Lunenburg against American privateers.
The Black Watch and the Black Loyalists
Nashwaak Bridge, New Brunswick
Discover the common histories of the Black Loyalists and the 42nd Highlanders
The Hectors, The Peters and contradicting histories
Gagetown, New Brunswick
The ties between Andrew Hector, the Peters and enslavement.
The Miller Flanger
Fredericton, New Brunswick
The design and patent of the Miller flanger commemorated here.
Tomlinson Lake Hike To Freedom
New Brunswick
North America’s northernmost route of the Underground Railroad.
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Home of great art created by, or depicting Black people interacting with their world.
Poor House, Saint Andrews
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
The old poor house, "Slab Town" and Saint Andrew's Black Community.
No Slave Masters Admitted: The Quaker Meeting Hall, Beaver Harbour
Beaver Harbour, New Brunswick
Founded by American Quakers, this community was racially desegregated.
Kings College (and the slave economy)
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Where the ideals of the enlightenment meet the barbarity of the slave economy.
Monument to William Hall V.C.
Hantsport, Nova Scotia
The final resting place of William Hall V.C., first Black awardee of the Victoria Cross.
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia
Early Black Refugee Church built in Hammonds Plains by Rev. John Burton in 1822.
Uniacke Square
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Vibrant community settled by those displaced by the razing of Africville.
Government House and the Maroons
Halifax, Nova Scotia
One of two sites constructed by the Jamaican Maroons.
Maroon Hill
Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia
Not all Maroons chose to settle in Preston or work as labour in Halifax.
Dembo Sickles and Planter Era Slavery
Montague, Prince Edward Island
Dembo Sickles arrived in the region in the 1760's and is believed to be buried here.
Memorial for the Forgotten – Highfield Cemetery
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Commemoration to unmarked Black graves on Prince Edward Island.
Black Islanders: The Shephards
Cardigan, Prince Edward Island
The settlement of David and Keisha Shepard
WH and the Black Atlantic
L'Anse-au-Loup, Newfoundland and Labrador
The burial of a mysterious Black Sailor
TURN – Hewlett House and the real story of Colonel Hewlett
Queenstown, New Brunswick
Featured in the miniseries TURN!, Hewlett was a man of his times.
Sam Langford and the Weymouth Black settlements
Weymouth, Nova Scotia
Weymouth Falls produced Sam Langford, perhaps Canada's greatest boxer.
George Braxton: Pioneer Black Chef
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
This bar and restaurant is named after early Black chef George Braxton.
Rose Fortune Monument
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Rose Fortune was a successful business woman and Canada's first female police woman.
The Jordantown Acaciaville Conway Betterment Association
Acaciaville, Nova Scotia
The face of equity after centuries of discrimination
Encounter at Kwacha House
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Historic interracial gathering place of Black intellectuals.
Neripis River, Those That Stayed, Those That Left, and Just Passing Through
Grand Bay-Westfield, New Brunswick
Free Black land grants for several companies of Black Loyalists.
Lucy Mitchell vs. Annapolis Country Poor Farm Cemetery, Bridgetown, N.S.
Bridgetown, Nova Scotia
Black, female and poor in the only segregated poor house in Nova Scotia
Old Holy Trinity Church, Charles Hill and exhuming Black Loyalist history
Middleton, Nova Scotia
Tombstones reveal a number of Black families tied to the area.
The Van Buskirks, Loyalist nomads
Aylesford, Nova Scotia
The typical loyalist experience of roaming the lands looking to settle down.
Milkish
Milkish, New Brunswick
From fugitive to settler, Milkish, like Peter Cox represent the turbulent beginnings.
Belleisle Creek Birthplace of Canada’s First Black Lawyer: A. B. Walker
New Brunswick
Black lawyer and intellectual Abraham Beverley Walker was born here in 1851.
Trinity Church
Kingston, New Brunswick
Kingston Blacks attended this church, but until the late nineteenth century were segregated to the last two rows of the church.
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Clifton Royal, New Brunswick
Built to minister to the local communities, and seafarers.
The Kimble Witch Trial
Long Reach, New Brunswick
1816 brought the Black Refugees to the region, but also the “year without summer”, and religious persecution.
Napadogan, the first mission for the No. 2 Construction Battalion
Napadogan, New Brunswick
Another instance of Black history in unexpected places.
Green Lantern Building
Halifax, Nova Scotia
The Green Lantern Building was formerly called the Keith Building, and from 1915 to 1917 was the site of the Atlantic Advocate news magazine—one of Nova Scotia’s first Black news magazines. From this location, Dr. C.C. Ligoure, Wilfred and Miriam DeCosta, and others published the magazine, which contained contributions from Black literati, activists, and intellectuals from many communities in the province and the wider Black Canadian Community.
The Atlantic Advocate was instrumental in the call for Black men to enlist in the Number 2 Construction Battalion. In 1917, the newspaper moved to North Street, where Ligoure had taken up residence and established the Amanda Hospital. A decision that would prove invaluable later in the year.
About the Image:
The Atlantic Advocate
The Atlantic Advocate was Nova Scotia’s first African Canadian newsmagazine. Its publishers, Wilfred A. DeCosta, Miriam A. DeCosta and Dr. Clement Courtenay Ligoure, incorporated as The Atlantic Advocate Association Ltd. on 8 June 1916. Only four issues have survived — the first, for April 1915 (held by Nova Scotia Archives) and three others, namely January, April and May 1917 (held by Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS). The magazine covered a range of topics — historical, religious, economic, political, military, literary, social and local. Community notes appeared from across Nova Scotia, including Amherst, Digby, Halifax, Hammonds Plains, Liverpool, Shelburne, Westville, Weymouth and Wolfville, as well as from New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. (Nova Scotia Archives)
Reference: Esther Clark Wright Archives, Acadia University
Old Black Luce (Pioneer Cemetery)
Lockeport, Nova Scotia
Probably the earliest Black person known to reside in the region.
Amanda Private Hospital
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia's first Black hospital run by Nova Scotia's first licensed Black Doctor.
Stag Inn
East Preston, Nova Scotia
A gathering spot for both Black and White patrons interested in fishing and hunting.
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Shelburne, Nova Scotia to East Preston, Nova Scotia
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