The Yarmouth County Museum & Archives is a museum located in

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

, Nova Scotia, Canada. This museum explores the history of

Yarmouth County Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo-Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It ...

. Located in the heart of Yarmouth's heritage residential district, the museum is housed in a former church as well as two historic houses. It also operates a summer display in the restored Killam Brothers Shipping Office on the Yarmouth waterfront.

History

The museum began in 1935 with the creation of the Yarmouth County Historical Society. The society formed the museum in 1958. It moved to its current location in 1969, the former Tabernacle Congregational Church, an 1892 granite church listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The museum expanded in 2000 incorporating two adjacent historic homes including the Abram Little House with a wing providing climate controlled storage and conservation facilities and an archival research centre. The museum grounds include the Pelton-Fuller house, an 1892 Italianate summer home of

Alfred C. Fuller Alfred Carl Fuller (January 13, 1885 – December 4, 1973) was a Canadian-born American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who was the original "Fuller Brush Man". He created the Fuller Brush Company, a multi-million dollar corp ...

, "the Fuller Brush Man" which was donated to the museum by his widow in 1997 and restored by the museum to showcase its extensive collection of Victorian furniture and costumes. The museum has won numerous awards for exceptional museum and archival work.

Collection

The museum has the third largest collection of marine paintings in all of Canada and the largest community archives in Nova Scotia. The original second order fresnel lens used at the

Cape Forchu Lighthouse The Cape Forchu Lighthouse is located in Cape Forchu, Nova Scotia. The lighthouse is located 11 km from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. History The lighthouse was constructed in 1839 and was operational in 1840. The original station was demolished i ...

is displayed in the centre of the museum's main gallery. It was preserved by the society in 1962 when the original 1840 lighthouse was replaced by a new concrete tower. Two

stagecoaches A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

are also displayed in the museum, a locally-built example and a well-preserved Concord stagecoach, both used for service between Yarmouth and Tusket, Nova Scotia in the mid-1800s. A special display evoking the bridge of the MV ''Bluenose'' features the wheel, compass, telegraph and bell from the long-running Yarmouth ferry. A circular, metal plaque in the museum collection was constructed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce in memory of its employees who served during the First World War. The plaque was found in the Home Life Building, which had formerly been the Yarmouth branch of the Bank of Commerce Building. The museum houses the mysterious

Yarmouth Runic Stone The Yarmouth Stone, also known as the Yarmouth Runic Stone or the Fletcher Stone, is a slab of quartzite that first came to the attention of the public in the early 19th century. The stone appears to have an inscription carved into it which invest ...

, one of the best known items of Yarmouth's history, although its actual status as a

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

artifact is very much in dispute.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarmouth County Museum and Archives Museums in Yarmouth County History museums in Nova Scotia Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Archives in Canada