Barrington Museum/© Kathy Johnson
Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
Barrington Woolen Mill/© Kathy Johnson
Barrington Woolen Mill/© Kathy Johnson
Home to the largest number of preserved Loyalist buildings in North America, our County Town Shelburne is a "must see" for all our visitors, and home to the Shelburne Museums Complex, featuring the living history in the Dory Shop, where traditional Nova Scotia dories are still built in the time honoured way, and the Ross-Thompson Museum where a glimpse of 18th Century life can be yours.
Barrington features the Woolen Mill Museum, a traditional Mill building where wool from local sheep was spun into woolen goods for the local fishermen, farmers and their families. The Old Meeting House, also in Barrington, will take you back in time to the days of the earliest settlers in the area.
Throughout the County our museums and heritage centres are the preservers of our rich cultural heritage and traditions.
Western County Military Museum
Archelaus Smith Museum
915 Hwy 330, Cape Sable Island B0W 1P0 902 745 3361
Founded by the Archelaus Smith Historical Association in 1970 to preserve artifacts that illustrate the history of Cape Sable Island.
Barrington Woolen Museum
2368 Hwy 3, Barrington B0W 1E0 902 637 2185
Operational from 1884 to 1962 the Mill was purchased by the Province of Nova Scotia in 1966. THe Woolen Mill contains a mural featuring the first piece of Nova Scotia tartan. Also on show are artifacts and machinery from the days when the Mill was operational.
Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
119 Old Birchtown Road, Birchtown B0T 1W0 902 875 1310 | 902 875 1352 | Visit our website
Chapel Hill Museum & Sea Tower
5492 Hwy 3, Shag harbour B0W 3B0 902 723 2949
Step back in time and discover the lives of the people from Shag Harbour. A former United Baptist church built in 1856 the museum stands on the location of a 17th Century Acadian trading post “Le Vieux Logis”. The Sea Tower gives a panoramic view of Shag Harbour and the surrounding area.
Little School House Museum
29 Locke Street, Lockeport B0T 1L0 902 656 2216 | 902 656 2935
An original 1845 Schoolhouse, restored in 1967 for Lockeport’s Centennial. Features a replica of an early schoolroom and displays of local history.
Ross-Thompson House & Store Museum
9 Charlotte Lane, Shelburne B0T 1W0
Unique in that it houses the only authentically stocked 19-Century store and Chandlery in Nova Scotia. Built in 1785 the house and garden typify the Loyalist lifestyle.
Seal Island Lighthouse Museum
2422 Hwy 3, Barrington B0W 1E0 902 637-2185
The museum, a replica of the top half of the Seal Island Lighthouse, displays lighthouse equipment and memorabilia, and tells the fascinating history of the lighthouse and area's light keeping families on Cape Sable Island, Bon Portage and Seal Island, as well as the hundreds of shipwrecks that made the waters surrounding Seal Island a graveyard in the days of wooden sailing ships. The building is topped by the cast iron lantern that was removed from the tower on Seal Island in 1978. From the third level, you can climb the iron stairs as the keepers did for 76 years and see the original clockwork mechanism and the only installed Fresnel lens in Nova Scotia. From the top, you can take in the spectacular view of Barrington Bay.
Shelburne County Museum Complex
20 Dock Street, Shelburne B0T 1W0 902) 875-3219 | 902) 875-4141
Open all year round the Shelburne County Museum on the historic waterfront is housed in a home built by David Nairn around 1787. You will find an impressive collection of artifacts spanning over two centuries of settlement in Shelburne County.
The JC Williams Dory Shop Museum
11 Dock Street, Shelburne B0T 1W0 902-875-4446
A living museum, dories are still built here in the same way there were built in the 19th and 20th centuries. Find displays of various types of dories and our gift shop on the ground floor.
The Old Meeting House Museum
2408 Hwy 3, Barrington B0W 1E0 902 637-2185
The oldest non-conformist place of worship still in existence in Canada, and the only surviving of five similar congregationalist church buildings in Nova Scotia built before 1770.
Western County Military Museum
2401 Hwy 3, Barrington B0W 1E0 902 637 2185
Military collection dating back to 1809.
