The Sutherland Steam Mill Museum is a restored steam woodworking mill from the 1890s located in
Denmark, Nova Scotia. The mill operated until 1958. Today it is part of the
Nova Scotia Museum
Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) is the corporate name for the 28 museums across Nova Scotia, Canada, and is part of the province's tourism infrastructure. The organization manages more than 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, and speci ...
system.
The museum represents the transition from water powered mills, such as that preserved at the nearby
Balmoral Grist Mill Museum, to the more powerful and efficient
steam-driven mill. The mill was located in at the centre of a vast woodland area and was situated next to a railroad. Thus it had excellent access to both raw materials and to markets though shipping terminals at
Pictou
Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Gla ...
and
Wallace. At its peak, the mill employed more than a dozen workers, and it produced sawn lumber, sleds and carriages, sashes and doors and other architectural products such as
gingerbread trim
Gingerbread is an architectural style that consists of elaborately detailed embellishment known as gingerbread trim. It is more specifically used to describe the detailed decorative work of American designers in the late 1860s and 1870s, which w ...
. The founder of the mill, Alexander Sutherland retired in 1940 and his son and successor Wilfred Sutherland retired in 1958. The mill became a museum in 1970 and it was adopted into the Nova Scotia Museum Complex in 1975.
The museum lies next to the Shortline Railbed section of the
Trans-Canada Trail
The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extend ...
. The Museum offers free bike loans for day use on the trail. It also offers free woodworking space within the museum.
Sutherland Steam Mill Maker Space
Accessed July 8, 2018.
References
;Sources
*Barbara Robertson, ''Sawpower: Making Lumber in the Sawmills of Nova Scotia'', Halifax, Nimbus Publishing and the Nova Scotia Museum (1986), pages 129–132.
;Notes
External links
Sutherland Steam Mill Museum
Sutherland Steam Mill Museum on Facebook.com
Museums in Colchester County
History museums in Nova Scotia
Technology museums in Canada
Nova Scotia Museum
Steam museums
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