Village Squire, 1978-05, Page 305,300, founded in 1812, straddles its banks,
24 km (15 miles) from the open sea.
Bridgewater produces thousands of Christ-
mas trees each year, as well as gas
engines, Michelin tires, building materials
and fishing equipment.
It all sounds very business -like but
Bridgewater is really a good -life sort of
place with its gardens, parks and wildlife.
Probably the chief man-made attraction in
the town is the DesBrisay Museum, a
modern building in a 25 acre park and bird
sanctuary. It was opened in 1967 as a
Centennial project, but its roots go back
about 150 years. It was named after Hon.
Mather B. DesBrisay (1828-1900), a jurist,
politician, historian and, most of all, an
avid collector with an eye for beauty and a
sure sense of patrimony.
•Judge DesBrisay lost his first collection
of treasures in a fire but he started all over
again with curios and antiques from Nova
Scotia and many parts of the world. Most of
the items in the museum consist of Indian
artifacts, old coins and objects related to
the sea and the life of early settlers. There
are ship models, home-made farm
implements and settlers' equipment such
as plows, spinning wheels and scythes.
Four sections in the museum are
dedicated to the four settlement groups:
Indian, French, English and German.
Early tools and implements of the four'
groups are displayed, with the appropriate
description, but perhaps the most
interesting item is an Indian cradle made
and decorated with dyed porcupine quills.
The museum also boasts an interesting
collection of birds, animals and shells.
It is administered by the Nova Scotia
Museum which also operates the Wile
Carding Mill, the oldest surviving
industrial plant in Bridgewater. It was built
in 1860 and is still in working condition.
Lunenburg, with a population of 3,400, is
no doubt the best known of the four South
Shore towns.
Its claim to fame rests on several
important achievements but the most
easily recognized is the success it has had
mixing business with pleasure. In 1921, the
Bluenose, a fishing schooner that was to
dominate international schooner races for a
quarter of a century, was built. Until her
construction, New England schooners had
practically no opposition. Then along came
the Bluenose. It was so successful that it
wrote the last chapters in the history of
schooners the world over. It was a working
ship since it was built for commercial
fishing. It was also a speed demon and -
watching it overtake the wind and the
opposition, under full sail, was a sight to
remember. Its racing career ended with the
threats of war in 1938 and it finally sank in
a storm off Haiti in 1946.
Such a ship could not easily be forgotten
so, in 1963, Bluenose II was launched amid
much cheering from the Lunenburg
shipyard. Above deck, it is in all ways
similar to the original Bluenose. The ship
has served as a Nova Scotian goodwill
ambassador to several countries and in
summer offers two-hour cruises from
Halifax harbor.
Lunenburg shipyards have also produc-
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PHZfl1
hair fashiQns
there are four hair stylists to pamper your hair ... a
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application and depilatory work ... and for ladies, massages
... you'll find a unique boutique ... handcrafts, handmade
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do come in and browse ... we're close to downtown
68 nile street, at albert...
STRATFORD
or call for an appointment... 271-3401
PG. 28. VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1978.
ed a full-size replica of the Bounty. It is
fitting that the local museum be on the
water. It consists of three ships and is
called the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum.
The three ships are the dragger Cape
North, the Reo 2, believed to be the last
rum runner of the prohibition era in the
United States, and the Theresa E. Connor,
the last Lunenburg schooner to fish the
Grand Banks with dories.
The story of the Bluenose is vividly told
in pictures and equipment aboard the
Theresa E. Connor while an aquarium and
a gift shop. on shore, complete this
unusual museum.
Lunenburg, which was founded in 1753.
was settled mainly by German, French and
Swiss immigrants. It has one of the largest
fish packing plants in the world and, in
Dauphirtee Gardens. one of the finest
private flower gardens in Canada.
Zion's Lutheran Church and St.
Andrew's Presbyterian Church are the
oldest of their denominations in Canada
while St. John's Anglican Church is the
seconti oldest Protestant church in the
country. Also worth a visit is the Memorial
Room in Lunenburg's Community Centre.1
It honors hundreds of fishermen lost at sea.
From Yarmouth, it's a pleasant 326 km
(203 miles) drive through these four
historic towns to Halifax, a modern city
with first-class accommodation and several
attractions of its own. For general
information on Canada as a travel
destination, please contact the Canadian
Government Office of Tourism, Ottawa,
Canada, K 1 A OH6.
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