The links below should lead to to many areas of interest.

MUSEUMS:  The Dory Shop Museum - Muir-Cox Shipyard - Ross-Thomson House & Store Museum - Shelburne County Museum - Black Loyalist Heritage Society - Barrington Woolen Mill - Old Schoolhouse Museum

MUIR-COX SHIPYARD: Interpretive Centre open June 1 - September 30 daily 9:30 a.m. to 5: 30 p.m. Boat shop open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, year-round  (about admission fees)

The Muir-Cox Shipyard at the south end of Dock Street in Shelburne is one of the oldest shipyards in Nova Scotia, having been in almost continuous operation from the 1820s (William Muir) until 1984 (William and George Cox).  It turned out everything from stately square-rigged barques to internationally acclaimed yachts and workmanlike fishing boats.  The Yacht Shed re-opened in spring of 2001 as a year-round working boat shop, building wooden boats to order. The shipyard is also home to a seasonal Shipbuilding Interpretive Centre, describing much of the rich shipbuilding history for which the Shelburne area has been known the world over. The Centre depicts some of the history the many shipyards which once lined the shores of Shelburne and neighbouring communities and sports a display of original shipbuilding tools used by the shipwrights in the area.  Find the museum on the Historic Waterfront District Map

JOHN C. WILLIAMS DORY SHOP MUSEUM: June 1-Oct. 15 |  9:30 am-5:30 pm daily (about admission fees)

For almost one hundred years the dory was one of the most important small boats in the Atlantic Provinces and parts of New England. When JC William's Dory Shop was established in 1880, it was part of a dory-building industry, which, at its peak, included at least seven shops along the Shelburne waterfront. During the early part of this century the Williams Shop employed five to seven men and produced 350 dories per year. Most of these dories were sold to Nova Scotian and American fishing captains who called at Shelburne to outfit their schooners before sailing to the offshore fishing grounds.

Visitors to the Dory Shop can see from start to finish how dories were built. The museum is managed by the Shelburne Historical Society for the Nova Scotia Museum. Find the museum on the Historic Waterfront District Map

{back to top}  {history links}  {ShelburneNovaScotia.com} 

ROSS-THOMSON HOUSE & STORE MUSEUM:  June 1-Oct. 15 |  9:30 am-5:30 pm daily

By 1784 Loyalists on the run from the American Revolution had swelled Shelburne's small population to 10,000 - twice as many as Halifax and more than Montreal or Quebec. The new settlers included George and Robert Ross, sons of a Scottish merchant, who opened a store on Charlotte Lane, adjoining their house. They traded Shelburne's pine boards, codfish and pickled herring in foreign ports for salt, tobacco, molasses and dry goods which they then sold to the new settlers. The store eventually closed in the 1880s. Today Ross-Thomson House, the only original store building remaining in Shelburne, is restored as it was in the 1820s. It is operated by the Shelburne Historical Society for the Nova Scotia Museum. Find the museum on the Historic Waterfront District Map 

SHELBURNE COUNTY MUSEUM: Open year round, June to October 15, 9:30am to 5:30pm daily; Off-season, 2:00pm to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday (about admission fees)

This museum features one of the oldest fire pumpers in North America, permanent exhibits of Shipbuilding in Shelburne and the Shelburne Loyalists, and temporary and traveling exhibits. For the summer of 2000 the exhibit is on 20th century Shelburne. There is also a resource centre which includes microfilms of 18th to 20th century Shelburne newspapers, private papers and Court of Session records. Genealogy of many Shelburne County families is also available. Find the museum on the Historic Waterfront District Map

BLACK LOYALIST HERITAGE SOCIETY MUSEUM

The British extended their offer of freedom to include grants of land and provisions to the former slaves once the rebellion was defeated. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 slaves had taken refuge behind British Lines. By the summer of 1782, it became evident that the Americans were winning the war and the British began to make preparations for their departure.

They left a number of blacks behind as they retreated, who were recaptured into slavery. Other Black Loyalists were resettled in Florida, the West Indies, and British North America ( Canada). More than 3,500, the largest group of Black Loyalists, were transported to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

With a population of more than 2,500, Birchtown Nova Scotia became the largest settlement of free blacks outside Africa. There were 649 male heads of families in Birchtown during the muster of 1784. Out of bureaucratic incompetence and racial inequality, only 184 heads of families received the promised crown land. Their granted lands measured and average of 34 acres. 

{back to top}  {history links}  {ShelburneNovaScotia.com} 

HISTORY LINKS

• The Dory Shop Museum
• Muir-Cox Shipyard
• Ross-Thomson House & Store Museum
• Shelburne County Museum
• Black Loyalist Heritage Society
• Barrington Woolen Mill 
• Shelburne County Genealogy Society
• Living History Centre