AVON RIVER HERITAGE CENTRE
  • About
    • Avon River Heritage Society
    • Artifacts & Archives
    • The Avon River
    • Meet the People in our Neighbourhood >
      • Dawn Allen, August 21st, 2020
      • Sara Beanlands, July 22nd, 2021
      • Carolyn Connors, July 30th, 2020
      • Carolyn Connors, July 21st, 2021
      • Louis Coutinho, August 13th, 2020
      • Sean Coutinho, January 13th, 2021
      • Eva Evans, July 24th, 2020
      • Elizabeth Ferguson, July 27th, 2020
      • Nicholas Hughes, August 6th, 2020
      • Olwynn Hughes, August 11th, 2020
      • Kim Lake, January 18th & 21st, 2021
      • Trudy Lake, March 13th, 2022
      • Raymond Parker, August 12th, 2020
      • Raymond Parker, July 7th, 2021
      • Zacchary Paul, August 21st, 2021
      • Tacha Reed, August 27th, 2020
      • Allen Shaw, January 18th, 2021
      • Carolyn vanGurp, July 16th, 2020
      • Abraham Zebian, August 24th, 2020
    • Avondale Walking Tour
    • Fundraising
    • Book an Appointment
  • History
    • Natural History >
      • Highest Tides in the World
      • Tidal Bore
      • Avon Peninsula Ecology
      • Birds of the Avon
      • Marine and Freshwater Species of the Avon
      • Karst Environment
      • Gypsum
      • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society >
        • Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society, Interview with President, Raymond Parker
        • Avon-Shore Seed Library
    • Mi'kmaq >
      • Mi'kmaq Birch Bark Canoes
      • Mi'kmaq of the Avon River >
        • Treaty Truckhouse 2 & Zacchary Paul
    • The Coming of the Europeans
    • The North American Colonies
    • Acadians >
      • Pisiquit
      • Acadians of the Avon River >
        • Babin
        • Breau
        • Cheverie
        • Forest
        • Landry
        • LeBlanc
        • Rivest
        • Thibodeau
        • Trahan
        • Vincent
        • Other Families
      • Village Thibodeau (Poplar Grove)
      • Acadian Families After Expulsion >
        • Broussard
        • Brun
        • Comeau
        • Deveau
        • Girouard
        • Johnson
        • Leger
        • Pellerin
        • Poitier
        • Robicheau
        • Suret
    • New England Planters >
      • New England Planters in Avondale >
        • Genealogy
        • Samuel Bentley
        • Benjamin Borden
        • John Chambers
        • James and John Harvie
        • Caleb Lake
        • James and Lydia Mosher
        • Nathaniel Reynolds
        • Benjamin Sanford
        • James Smith
        • Henry Tucker
        • James Weedon
    • Loyalists
    • African Nova Scotians
    • Local Home Histories >
      • 28 Chip Hill Road
      • 51 Avondale Road
      • 38 Avondale Road: The Clifford Mosher House
      • 58 Avondale Road
      • 60 Avondale Cross Road
      • 71 Avondale Road: The John A. Harvie House
      • 354 Belmont Road: The Yellow House
      • 603 Belmont Road: Wallace Point
      • 801 Avondale Road
      • The Acadia House
      • The Avondale Church
      • The Avondale Parsonage
      • The Church Farm
      • The Fred Robart House
      • The Henry Lyon House
      • The House Across From The Church
      • The John E.F. Mosher House
      • The Knowles Homestead
      • The Mounce Mansions >
        • Captain George R. Mounce House
        • The Thomas A. Mounce House (Honeymoon House) >
          • Interior of the Honeymoon House
      • The Mrs. Dunham Hotel
      • The Old Newton Mosher House
      • The Old Stone House >
        • The Mystery of the Fieldstone House
      • The Roley Mosher House
      • The W.H. Mosher House
    • The Avondale School
    • Avondale Wharf & The Landing
    • The Avon Spirit
    • Golden Age of Sail >
      • The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Sail in Newport
      • The Mosher Shipyards
      • Sailing Ships, Sugar, and Salt
      • Vessels of the Avon River
      • Shipbuilding Process
      • Shipbuilding Tools
      • Ship Directories
      • Kings Wharf
      • The Hamburg >
        • Obituary Capt. Andrew B. Coldwell
        • The Hamburg and Alice Coalfleet’s Diary
      • Captain George Richard Mounce Sr
      • Annie Armstrong Mounce Correspondence 1875-1892
      • Captain Daniel William Dexter & The Emma Payzant >
        • Captain Daniel William Dexter and Family, Interview with Debbie Siler, July 21st, 2021
        • Diary of Sarah Dexter, 1892-1893
      • The Rotundus
    • Community Orchard
    • Edmund McCarthy
  • Arts & Culture
    • The Great Little Art Show >
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2021 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2022 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2023
      • Great Little Art Show 2024 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2024 - Artwork
      • Great Little Art Show 2025 - Artists
      • Great Little Art Show 2025 - Artwork
    • Artists Landing Art Gallery
    • Open Studio
    • Full Circle Festival >
      • Sofa Sundays
      • Solstice Market
    • Paint Avondale
    • Avondale Wharf Day
    • Honey Harvest Festival
  • Events Calendar
  • Planters Sea Chest Gift Shop
  • Lydia & Sally Cafe
  • Venue Rentals
  • Volunteer and Employment Opportunities
    • Summer Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer Teams
    • New Horizons for Seniors
  • How to find us!
The Bay of Fundy was created 170 million years ago during the Triassic period, when New Brunswick and Nova Scoita were ripped apart. resulting in the highest tides in the world.

The first people arrived in north America 30 thousand years ago. The Mi'kmaq used descriptive names to identify geographic locations. The lands at the junction of the two main rivers, where Windsor stands today, were called Piziquid, meaning "the place where the tidal flow forks".

In 1604, French explorers of the de Monts and Poutrincourt expedition sailed into the Bay of Fundy, which they named "Minas", from their discovery of copper and amethyst. The Acadians left their mark on the area by constructing dykes along the river to protect their crops from flooding.

During the 1750's the majority of the Acadians were deported, to make room for the New England Planters. In 1760 the sloop Sally and the sloop Lydia arrived with the first founding families of Avondale. Many of their homes were built on the burnt out remains of Acadian dwellings, like the old stone house in Poplar Grove, which served as a mission.

Nicholas Mosher built the first of many ships in Avondale, starting in 1807. Together with John Harvie, his descendants ran the Harvie & Mosher Shipyard. 165 ships were built in Hants County during the "Golden Age of Sail", the opulence from this era can still be seen in the surviving ship builder's homes that dot the community.

On the site of the former shipyard now sits our museum, which features exhibits on the early settlers, local home and family histories, Avon River ecology and is home to the Avon River Arts Society and the Full Circle Festival
Mi'kmaq
Acadians
African NS
Planters
Loyalists
Age of Sail
Oral Histories
Natural History

A brief history of the Avon River area


La Baie du Fundy a été créé il y a 170 millions d’années pendant le Trias, quand le Nouveau-Brunswick et la Nouvelle-Écosse ont été déchiré de l’un l’autre causant les plus haute marrées de la monde.
 
Les premières personnes ont arrivé en l’Amérique du Nord il y a 30 mille ans. Les Mi’kmaq ont utilisé les noms descriptifs pour identifier les endroits géographique. Les terres à la jonction des deux rivières principaux, où Windsor est aujourd’hui, étaient appelé Piziquid, ce qui signifie « l’endroit où l’écoulement de marrée bifurque ».
 
En 1604, les explorateurs Français de l’expédition des de Monts et Poutrincourt ont navigué dans la Baie de Fundy, qu’ils ont nommé « Minas », de leur découvert du cuivre et de l’améthyste. Les Acadiens ont laissé leur marque par la construction des digues le longe de la rivière pour protéger leur cultures des inondations.
 
Pendant les 1750’s la majoritee des Acadiens ont été expulsé, pour faire de la place pour les Planters de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. En 1760 le sloop Sally et le sloop Lydia ont arrivé avec les premiers familles fondateurs d’Avondale. Plusieurs de leurs maisons ont été construites sur les vestiges brulés des maisons Acadiens, comme la vieille maison en pierre en Poplar Grove, qui a servi comme une mission.
 
Nicholas Mosher a construit la premier de plusieurs navires en Avondale, commençant en 1807. Ensemble avec John Harvie, ses descendants ont entretenu le Harvie et Mosher Chantier Navale. 165 navires a été construits en Hants County pendant « l’Âge d’Or de Voile », l’opulence de cette ère peut encore être vu dans les maisons survivant des constructeurs de navire parsemant la communauté.    
 
Sur ce site de l’ancien chantier naval maintenant situé notre musée, qui ont les expositions sur les colons précoces, l’histoire locaux et des familles, l’écologie de la Rivière Avon et c’est le siège de la Hants County Conseil d’Art et la Festival de Full Circle.
Avon River Heritage Centre, 17 Belmont Road, Avondale/Newport Landing, West Hants, Nova Scotia, B0N 2A0
Email us at [email protected]
Telephone us, May through October, at (902) 757-1718

The Avon River Heritage Society would like to thank the Municipality of West Hants and the Province of Nova Scotia for their generous support.

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