Vessels of the Avon River
Mi’kmaq, who lived along all the major river routes in Nova Scotia, built canoes for thousands of years, long before the Planter shipyards were built on this location. Mi'kmaq canoes were 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9 meters) in length and made out of birch bark. Used on both rivers and ocean, they were made higher on the sides so that water wouldn't get in. Mi'kmaq also made boats out of moose skin and sometimes added sails. They travelled across the Bay of Fundy and as far as Newfoundland and Maine in their vessels.
Most Acadian families lived along the river banks, and most families kept boats for fishing. Acadians used hooks and lines, spears and weirs made of brush to trap fish moving on the tides, a technique they learned from the Mi’kmaq. Acadians also established trading links with New England and other French settlements; larger vessels were used to export their excess agricultural produce. The British denied Acadians access to their chaloupes or fishing boats in the mid 1700s, causing some to abandon their farms for French-held territory.
African-Nova Scotians have played a key role in ship-building and seafaring since Mathieu da Costa arrived in the Bay of Fundy around 1604. Between 1740 and 1865 seafaring was one of the most significant occupations for both enslaved and free black men on the Atlantic seaboard and tens of thousands of black seamen, both enslaved and free, sailed on clippers, coasters, whalers, warships, and privateers. One out of every five North American seamen in the early 1800s was of African descent.
New England Planters and their descendants built a number of shipyards all along the Avon River and its tributaries; thousands of wooden ships were built during the 1800s “Golden Age of Sail”. The first large ship constructed in Newport was built in 1807 by Nicholas Mosher, son of original Planter land-grantee, James Mosher. The Avon River area became one of the great square-rigged wooden shipbuilding centers in Nova Scotia. During the “Golden Age of Sail”, about 165 vessels were built at the Harvie and Mosher shipyards at the site of this museum.
The last coastal cargo schooner built in Nova Scotia was the FBG, built in 1929 in Kingsport. It carried coal and other cargo to ports along the Avon River until 1954. In 1995 George Mounce, grandson of Captain George Mounce Sr., was instrumental in construction of a replica of the FBG, the Avon Spirit, which was built at this museum as part of a boat-building school. As with its forerunner, the Avon Spirit was damaged in a hurricane and eventually destroyed.
Most Acadian families lived along the river banks, and most families kept boats for fishing. Acadians used hooks and lines, spears and weirs made of brush to trap fish moving on the tides, a technique they learned from the Mi’kmaq. Acadians also established trading links with New England and other French settlements; larger vessels were used to export their excess agricultural produce. The British denied Acadians access to their chaloupes or fishing boats in the mid 1700s, causing some to abandon their farms for French-held territory.
African-Nova Scotians have played a key role in ship-building and seafaring since Mathieu da Costa arrived in the Bay of Fundy around 1604. Between 1740 and 1865 seafaring was one of the most significant occupations for both enslaved and free black men on the Atlantic seaboard and tens of thousands of black seamen, both enslaved and free, sailed on clippers, coasters, whalers, warships, and privateers. One out of every five North American seamen in the early 1800s was of African descent.
New England Planters and their descendants built a number of shipyards all along the Avon River and its tributaries; thousands of wooden ships were built during the 1800s “Golden Age of Sail”. The first large ship constructed in Newport was built in 1807 by Nicholas Mosher, son of original Planter land-grantee, James Mosher. The Avon River area became one of the great square-rigged wooden shipbuilding centers in Nova Scotia. During the “Golden Age of Sail”, about 165 vessels were built at the Harvie and Mosher shipyards at the site of this museum.
The last coastal cargo schooner built in Nova Scotia was the FBG, built in 1929 in Kingsport. It carried coal and other cargo to ports along the Avon River until 1954. In 1995 George Mounce, grandson of Captain George Mounce Sr., was instrumental in construction of a replica of the FBG, the Avon Spirit, which was built at this museum as part of a boat-building school. As with its forerunner, the Avon Spirit was damaged in a hurricane and eventually destroyed.
