Nova Scotia History & Heritage 1

By Natasha Head, 16th Jun 2010 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/az2943ns/
Posted in Wikinut>Travel>North America>Canada>The Maritime Provinces

Nova Scotia offers many unique and interesting museums, based on the rich, cultural heritage of the province. Here, we visit the Lawrence House Museum as it stands proudly positioned overlooking the rising waters of The Bay of Fundy.

The Lawrence House Museum

The Lawrence House

Believed to be built in and about the time of 1870, The Lawrence House stands on a hill in the heart of the village of Maitland, overlooking the waters of the bay. Driving through now, it is hard to believe that this sleepy little town was once the main gateway to the world for this side of the country, but the money and power that was prevalent in this time is obvious in the huge, sprawling Victorian homes lining the road sides.

William Lawrence, the area's leading ship builder of the time, was strong in his thoughts and opinion as to our provinces future. Opposed to confederation, he believed that the politicians were working on an agenda that had central Canadian interests at heart. With a desire to prove that Nova Scotia was a force to be reckoned with in all interests maritime, Lawrence set to work building the largest, full rigged ship ever to be constructed in the country.

The W.D Lawrence weighed in at an impressive 2,459 tons and took 2 years to build. To this day, the registered historic village of Maitland reenacts the launching with model, costume, events and more.

It is also said by many local residents, that on stormy evenings, William Lawrence can be heard playing his violin while he roams through the many rooms of this National and Provincial historic site.

Get to know more of Nova Scotia through the eyes of a life-long resident!

Meet the author

Natasha Head
Born into a real estate family, Natasha has been a licensed real estate agent since 1993. She has penned many works based on her experience, and enjoys freelancing as well. She has a keen interest in arts, music and spirituality, and enjoys the opp...(more)