Argyle Township Court House & Gaol | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Used as a museum |
Type | Government |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
Address | 8168 Hwy #3 |
Town or city | Tusket |
Country | Canada |
Coordinates | 43°51′18″N65°58′28″W / 43.8549°N 65.9745°W Coordinates: 43°51′18″N65°58′28″W / 43.8549°N 65.9745°W |
Construction started | 1801 |
Completed | 1805 |
Owner | Municipality of the District of Argyle & AMHGS (current) |
The Argyle Township Court House & Gaol is a provincially and federally recognised heritage building along Route 308 in the present-day community of Tusket, Nova Scotia. Predating Canadian Confederation, it played a significant role in the administrative, judicial, and political spheres of life in the Municipality of the District of Argyle during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Also known as the Tusket Court House, the building is held to be "the oldest surviving combined court house and jail in Canada." [1] No longer an active court house, the local landmark now serves as a museum and tourist destination.[ citation needed ]
Construction of the court house was initiated in 1801, taking place over a period of nearly five years, and ending in 1805 with the first sitting of the Court of the General Sessions of the Peace being held on 29 October. [2]
During a Supreme Court sitting at Tusket in 1922, presided over by Sir J.A. Chisholm, Omar Pasha Roberts was found guilty of the murder of Miss Flora Gray of Kemptville, Nova Scotia, and subsequently sentenced to hang for the crime. [3]
In 1983, the Argyle Township Court House Archives were formed, becoming the "first Municipal archives in Nova Scotia." [4]
Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo-Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It comprises three municipalities: the Town of Yarmouth, the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, and the Municipality of the District of Argyle.
New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait.
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. Halifax is one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, and as of 2022, it is estimated that the CMA population of Halifax was 480,582,with 348,634 people in its urban area. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia.
The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia is the highest appeal court in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. There are currently 8 judicial seats including one assigned to the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. At any given time there may be one or more additional justices who sit as supernumerary justices. The court sits in Halifax, which is the capital of Nova Scotia. Cases are heard by a panel of three judges. They publish approximately 80 cases each year.
Argyle, officially named the Municipality of the District of Argyle, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business districts within the Municipality, Downtown Halifax serves as the business, entertainment, and tourism hub of the region.
Argyle is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada which existed between 1981 and 2013 and since 2021. It elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was created in 1981 when the district of Yarmouth was split into two separate districts. The district comprises most of the Municipality of the District of Argyle, an Acadian area occupying the eastern half of Yarmouth County.
Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.
The Principality of Outer Baldonia is a defunct micronation that claimed sovereignty over approximately 4 acres (16,000 m2) of Outer Bald Tusket Island, the southernmost of the Tusket Islands off the southern tip of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Black Nova Scotians are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As of the 2021 Census of Canada, 28,220 Black people live in Nova Scotia, most in Halifax. Since the 1950s, numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities. Before the immigration reforms of 1967, Black Nova Scotians formed 37% of the total Black Canadian population.
The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act is an Act of the Parliament of Canada for the designation and preservation of historically significant Canadian lighthouses. It was passed by the Canadian Parliament in May 2008. The act set up a public nomination process and sets heritage building conservation standards for lighthouses which are officially designated. First introduced in 2000 as Bill S-21 in the Senate of Canada the bill enjoyed consistent multi-party support despite the unpredictable legislative agendas of minority Parliaments and was repeatedly re-introduced. The final vote of approval was made by the Canadian Senate in 2008 and the bill received Royal Assent on May 29, 2008.
The Yarmouth County Museum & Archives is a museum located in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. This museum explores the history of Yarmouth County. Located in the heart of Yarmouth's heritage residential district, the museum is housed in a former church as well as two historic houses. It also operates a summer display in the restored Killam Brothers Shipping Office on the Yarmouth waterfront.
Isaac Smith Hatfield was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Argyle township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1863 to 1867 as a Liberal-Conservative.
Kemptville is a rural community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Yarmouth Municipal District and Yarmouth County. It is located approximately 38 kilometers northeast of the town of Yarmouth.
Boisdale is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality on Cape Breton Island. It was named for Lochboisdale, the main village of the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Neil Campbell was granted land in the area in 1836. In 1821, Thomas Lockman, an Irishman who came to Cape Breton in 1799 and lived at Lloyds Cove, petitioned for land, and got a grant next to Neil Campbell's lot in 1842. Angus McIntyre got a grant in 1846, and in 1869, land at what was then called Boisdale was granted to Dugald O'Henley. Farming and lumbering were the basic industries. In 1840, a small log church was constructed by Father John Grant on where the present-day church resides. It was replaced by a new building in 1862, which burned down in September 1928. In 1846, Boisdale Parish was officially erected. A post office was established at Boisdale Chapel in 1854. On October 1, 1873 a new post office was established with Michael McIntyre as office keeper. In 1874, the total population of Boisdale, was that of 500. During this time, the area had 1 store, 3 sawmills, 1 grist mill, and a post office, of which mail was delivered bi-weekly. By 1908, it contained 1 hotel, 2 general stores, 1 saw mill, and 2 gristmills. The population at that time, was 300. In 1915, a newer 40,000 gallon open-wood tank was built replacing an older 40,000 gallon wood tank, for the water services within the area. Father Alexander F. MacGillivray, whom was the fifth pastor of Boisdale, had installed the bell within St. Andrew's Church in Boisdale, in 1882, and had built the Glebe house there in 1890. A new and larger bell, cast by the Meneely Bell Company of New York, was installed in St. Andrew's Church, by Father MacGillivray, on Nov. 14, 1897. In 1921, Father Gillis built St. Andrew's Parish Hall, James Johnston of Red Islands, Nova Scotia was the contractor. The formal opening of the hall was held on September 13, 1921. The original St. Andrew's Parish Church was destroyed by fire on Sunday, September 11, 1927. Construction of a new stone church commenced in June 1929, with help from workers from Quebec. The design style of the church was inspired by the Norman architecture as well as the St Mary the Virgin, Iffley church in England. Link, Weber, and Bowers, architects hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed the architecture of the church. The approximate cost of the church was $55,000, but the exterior walls had to be repointed during the summer of 1930, which added an extra $7,500 to the total cost. The new church was blessed on Sunday, August 31, 1930, by Bishop James Morrison, assisted by the late Bishop Alexander MacDonald. In 1931, the total population of Boisdale was 449. There was also a train station located on Station Road, in Boisdale during this time. The former Glebe House for St. Andrew's Church was burnt down in 2011, due to a fire. Dugald Smith was the teacher in 1839, and a school-house had been constructed by that time. A new school-house was completed in 1917. Education within the area dates back to the early 1800s, with the Boisdale Consolidated School closing in 2003. The enrolment for the school, in the 1957–1958 academic year, were 82 students, and 3 teachers. By the 1987 Academic year, there were only 21 students, all within grades primary-second, and fourth. In 1943, within what is now known as Ironville, then known as Boisdale Barrachois until 1907, a youth summer camp was built. The two-week summer camp operated from 1943, until its closure in the 1980s. Efforts were made in 1997 to re-open the camp in the spring of 1998. The camp officially closed in 2010, due to the deterioration of some of the buildings. The property in which the youth camp was on, was sold in 2013. In August 1977, the community of Boisdale, as well as Father Webb, unveiled and held a ceremony for the opening of an indoor stone, ice-skating rink. Father Webb also built a Co-op store, in the 70s. A new hall above the store replaced the old Holyrood Hall, which burned down on December 18, 1975. By 1956, the population of Boisdale was 133. Over the years the population decreased, down to 138 by 1991, and estimated to be 105 by the 2001 Census.To the Hill of Boisdale,a book on the genealogical history of Boisdale was published in 1986, and later in a revised edition in 2001, by Father Allan MacMillan, then Priest of the Diocese of Antigonish. Highland Gold Maple, a family-owned and operated sugar maple producer, has been operating within the area for over fifteen years. In late April 2018, their operation burned to the ground due to a fire. By March 2019, Highland Gold Maple had rebuilt the Sugar Shack and are back in operation.
Cornelius Forman Hatfield was a merchant, shipbuilder, ship owner and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Yarmouth County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1890 to 1894 as a Liberal member.
Abraham Lent was a land surveyor and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Shelburne County in the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia from 1818 to 1820 and from 1833 to 1836.
Ranald MacKinnon was a soldier and a civil servant of the British Empire from 1758 until his death in 1805.