The Story Behind ‘Farewell to Nova Scotia’
‘Farewell to Nova Scotia’ is a Maritimes anthem that has been performed by everyone from Stan Rogers to Stompin' Tom Connors; from Anne Murray…
June 22, 2026
1900s Nova Scotia Women Long Read Popular
Popular Stories
The most shared, liked, and downright viral Backyard History stories on social media — check out what everyone’s talking about!
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Clara Dennis Comes Home to Confront Her Halifax Explosion Legacy
Here we see Clara Dennis during her solo Nova Scotia roadtrip that formed the backbone of her internatsional bestselling book "Down In Nova Scotia."…
December 2, 2025
1900s Nova Scotia Women Long Read Popular
Comedy on the Rocks: A Maritime Tale of Ice and Improv
A map of Pictou Island in 1879, from the book "Illustrated Historical Atlas Of Pictou County Nova Scotia." Pictou Island, Nova Scotia, is so…
May 27, 2025
1900s Nova Scotia Strange Tales Long Read Popular
The Mysterious Lost and Found Diary of the Tobique
A mysterious Englishman sailed to New Brunswick in the 1850s. His name and his fate are unknown. All that remains of him is his…
February 18, 2025
1800s North Shore Strange Tales Long Read Popular
The Candy Killer: The Serial Killer Who Stalked Saint John
Terror gripped the gritty streets of Saint John in 1889. The city had its very own serial killer — but this murderer didn’t use…
August 27, 2024
1800s Saint John Long Read Popular
Unfinished Dreams: Rise and Fall of the Chignecto Ship Railway
An ambitious project to build an oversized railway to carry ships along the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia border from the Northumberland Strait to the Bay…
May 15, 2024
1800s Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia Long Read Popular
Liberty On The Rocks (Part Two) Initiation Of A Rum Runner
LISTEN to the full version of this story on the Backyard History Podcast! Read Part One: Liberty On The Rocks: Shootout At Bouctouche Listen…
April 3, 2024
1900s Nova Scotia Rum Runners Long Read Popular
Message In A Molasses Barrel
The author with a reproduction of the molasses barrel, called a ponchon, which sailed from the Iles de la Madeleine to Cape Breton to…
February 11, 2024
1900s Strange Tales Long Read Popular
The Second Halifax Explosion
On 18 July 1945, an ammunition barge blew up at the Naval Magazine jetty on Bedford Basin. Fire spread quickly to piles of ammunition.…
November 19, 2023
1900s Nova Scotia War Long Read Popular
The World’s Worst Nazi Spy
On the moonless night of November 9th, 1942, during the Second World War, a German U-Boat lay in the Bay de Chaleurs, watching through…
September 15, 2023
1900s Strange Tales War Long Read Popular
The Saxby Gale Was Predicted A Year Before Devastating Maritimes
A tapestry titled ‘The Saxby Gale’ from the ‘New Brunswick Legends’ series, designed by Michael J. McEwing and woven by Ivan H. Crowell. (Provincial…
June 20, 2023
1800s Bay of Fundy Moncton Nova Scotia Strange Tales Long Read Popular
The REAL Klondike Kate
A Tale of Two Kates: Catherine Ryan (left) would be one of the first women to arrive to the Yukon in the Gold Rush.…
May 23, 2023
1900s Women Long Read Popular