Nova Scotia Archives
Built Heritage Resource Guide
Nova Scotian Settlement Landscapes
Early travel accounts in books, magazines and newspapers offer mixed results regarding substantive information for the province’s built heritage. While most outlines focus on the physical landscape only, or provide minimal and very general community descriptions, some accounts do include references to public buildings and private residences. In the images presented below, we’ve selected a variety of communities across Nova Scotia from 1750 to the early years of the 20th century, and paired them with contemporary accounts describing their built landscape and appearance.
"A View of Halifax Drawn from Ye Topmasthead [1750]"
Date: 1750
Artist: Moses Harris and D'Anville; published according to an Act of Parliament, 25 January 1750; printed for T[homas] Jefferys, St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross [London, England]
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Map Collection: S.B. 4
"View of the Town and Fort of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia"
Date: ca. 1753-1755
Artist: John Hamilton
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection: Places: Annapolis Royal: General View
"Church of Saint Paul and the Parade at Halifax in Nova Scotia"
Date: 1 March 1764
Artist: Richard Short
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Documentary Art Collection: 1979-147.168
"South-East View of Lunenburg, 1816"
Date: 1816
Artist: Henry Pooley
Reference: Dalhousie University, Special Collections, William Inglis Morse Collection, Morse Print No. 45
"View of the Front Street of Windsor"
Date: ca. 1829
Reference: In History of Nova Scotia by Thomas C. Haliburton, (Mika Reprint, 1973), opp. p. 103.Nova Scotia Archives Library: F107 H13 Vol. 2
"Lochaber Lake, County Sydney, Nova-Scotia"
Date: 1830
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Library: AK F100 M78
"Pictou from Fort Hill"
Artist: Wm. Eager
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Documentary Art Collection: 1979-147.134
"Forest St., Looking East, Yarmouth, NS"
Reference: Edith ReadNova Scotia Archives accession no. 1996-78 no. 77
"Yarmouth"
Date: ca. 1893
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection: Places: Yarmouth: General
Church Street, Kentville, NS
Reference: Dickey familyNova Scotia Archives accession no. 1984-567 no. 1
"Kentville, Probably 1896"
Date: ca. 1896
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection: Places: Kentville: General View
"Baddeck, Cape Breton, NS"
Date: 1861-1874
Reference: Walter KauzmanNova Scotia Archives accession no. 1989-268 no. 1
"Esplanade, Sydney, C.B."
Date: ca. 1908
Reference: Thorpe familyNova Scotia Archives accession no. 1986-466 no. 118
"General View, Truro, NS"
Date: ca. 1908
Reference: Annabel EllsNova Scotia Archives album box 2 no. 117
"Truro, NS, from East"
Date: ca. 1908
Reference: Annabel EllsNova Scotia Archives album box 2 no. 118