Yarmouth and Acadian Shores

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Western Branch
341 Main Street, Yarmouth

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Western Branch brings the art of the world to Nova Scotia and the art of Nova Scotia to the world. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is the only provincial art gallery in Canada to have a satellite branch. Its establishment helps to make art more accessible across the province and bring the visual arts and Nova Scotians together.

Tobeatic Wilderness & Southern Nova Scotia Biosphere

Spanning parts of 5 counties, the Tobeatic Wilderness Area remains the largest wild area in the Maritimes. Unique barren and semi-barren landscapes with outstanding undisturbed glacial landforms characterize the area, including esker fields, moraines, kettles and outwash plains. It protects remote and undisturbed wildlife habitat, protects expansive wetlands, pockets of old-growth pine and hemlock forest, and the headwaters of 9 major river systems flowing to both the Atlantic and Fundy coasts.

Taken together with the neighbouring Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site the Tobeatic Wilderness Area forms the central core of an expansive protected landscape within interior southwestern Nova Scotia.The Tobeatic Wilderness Area contributes significantly biodiversity protection in Nova Scotia. An historic refuge for wildlife, today the Tobeatic Wilderness Area protects native biodiversity, with undisturbed wildlife habitat for many species, including a small but provincially significant remnant native Nova Scotia moose population, healthy and abundant black bear, and a re-introduced population of American marten.

A Brief History of the Tobeatic by Andy Smith

In the late 1930s, Chief Sanctuary Warden, Chester Gray of Kemptville, Yarmouth Co., led Burton Spiller, a writer for the American magazine Field & Stream, on a 10-day fishing trip into the newly created Tobeatic Game Sanctuary. In his account of the trip, Spiller described portaging his canoe in the area of Siskech Lake:

"I was struggling along . . . when I suddenly heard a great organ playing. The sound came from somewhere before me and I went on eagerly, for organ music has a strange power to stir my soul. Presently I found myself in a great cathedral. Towering hemlock trunks rose all around me, stretching upward of fifty - sixty - seventy feet to where the lofty and interwoven branches barred the sunlight. Among these branches the winds stirred, and the effect was one of celestial music. Soft, resonant, deep, it sang of a time when God walked in the cool of the forest. Then as the wind played upon muted pipes, the chorus rose, full, swelling, triumphant, a mighty diapason of sound that held me breathless." [Burton L. Spiller, Fishin' Around, New York: Winchester Press, 1974, p. 53.]

What Spiller described was a remnant of what the Mi'kmaq called "Tupsie'katik," or "place of the alder, known today as "the Tobeatic." For more see (http://www.swpaddlers.com...)

"Into the Tobeatic" Guide: (http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/...)

Tobeatic Wilderness Area Map: (http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/...)

Sea Captain's Home Heritage Walk
Town of Yarmouth

In Yarmouth, clustered from Albert Street through to Parade Street. Yarmouth is home to 400 sea captain's homes, built between 1850 and 1900. These impressive homes testify to the area's rich heritage as a seasport. Architectural styles include: second empire, Greek revival, Queen Anne revival, Gothic revival, Georgian, Italianate, vernacular and eclectic.

Cape Forchu
902-742-4522

This stunning lighthouse sits atop a 17 acre park. Facilities include: museum, tea room, 2 gift shops, walking trails and look-off points. This is Nova Scotia’s 2nd most photographed lighthouse and is the Beacon to Canada. Many events take place throughout the summer.

Historic Acadian Village
Hwy 103, Exit 31 to Rte 335, south 10 km (6 mi), left on School St, right on Old Church Rd. Lower West Pubnico.
1-888-381-8999

An historic village featuring the colourful culture of the Acadians, in the oldest Acadian region still inhabited by descendants of its founder; pre-1920s work and lifestyle; houses, fish sheds, and blacksmith shop from the 1800s; old Acadian cemetery; lighthouse dating to late 1800s. Panoramic view of beautiful Pubnico Harbour. Bilingual guides.

Sweeney Fisheries Museum
112 Water St, Yarmouth
902-742-3457

he W. L. Sweeney Fisheries Museum was created by his son and daughters to tell the story of the men and women of Laurence Sweeney Fisheries Limited, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Step across the threshold and back in time. Explore the Sweeney marine heritage through unique exhibits: a simulation of a traditional fishing wharf, complete with fishing, processing and ship repair sheds, wharf decks and even a coastal freighter. Nothing is roped off in this interactive museum - come in for a unique and authentic experience, hands-on!

Argyle Township Court House & Archives
8168 Hwy 3, Tusket, NS
902-648-2493

The oldest standing courthouse in Canada a National Historic Site, built in 1805 and restored in 1982. Includes cell-block, jail-keepers’ quarters, furnished courtroom, grand jury room and judges’ chambers. Guided tours.

Yarmouth County Historical Museum & Archives
22 Collins St., Yarmouth, NS
902-742-5539

Award-winning general history museum with an emphasis on Yarmouth's rich 19th-century seafaring history. Collections of china, glass, costumes, furnishings, toys, tools, musical instruments, ship portraits and models, etc. Period rooms. Archives and genealogical research centre. Next door is the Pelton-Fuller House, summer home of the "Fuller Brush Man".