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| Established | 1981 |
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| Location | 37 Cornwallis Street, Kentville, Nova Scotia |
| Type | Municipal Museum |
| Website | www.kingscountymuseum.ca/ |
The Kings County Museum is a museum located in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada exploring the history of Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is housed in the restored 1903 Kings County Courthouse. The Museum hosts a variety of permanent and changing displays about Kings County. It is also home to the Parks Canada National Commemorative New England Planters Exhibit.
The courthouse was built in 1903, replacing a wooden courthouse from 1850 located just to the north which was so decrepit it was subsequently used as a shed to store apples. The new courthouse was built by Wolfville builder and architect Leslie R. Fairn. It combined Courts, County municipal offices and Land Registry as well as providing offices for Probate, Prothonotory, Treasurer, County Clerk and Sheriff. Fireproof safety vaults were built into the walls and were said to be "the best in the province". The Courthouse was built at a cost of $20,000 from brick and decorative pressed brick made in Avonport, Kings County and sandstone quarried at nearby Cumberland County. [1] The courthouse opened officially with the first meeting of Kings County Council in the new building on January 12, 1904. [2] The first major trial at the courthouse was in June 1904 when it hosted the trial of William Robinson for the axe murder of his wife. Found guilty in a dramatic trial, during which lightning struck the courthouse's brand-new ornate cupola, Robinson was hanged on September 12, 1904 in front of a rowdy crowd at the jail beside the courthouse, the last hanging in Kings County. [3] Trials were held in the building until 1980 when a new 2.5 million dollar municipal complex containing courts, county offices and a jail was constructed in Kentville. [4]
The Kings Historical Society was founded in 1978. The Kings Historical Society is a non-profit organization which owns and operates the Kings County Museum. When the courthouse closed in 1980, the Society successfully campaigned to save it from demolition and restore it to serve as a county museum. [5] raising $64,000 for restoration and $15,000 for neglected repairs. It officially opened to the public as the "Old Kings Courthouse Museum" on May 27, 1981, timed to coincide with the Apple Blossom Festival, marked by the museum's first exhibit, a history of the Festival and the success of Kentville's Dominion Atlantic Railway in attracting tourism. [6]
A highlight of the new museum was the restoration of the court room's extensive use of the lost art of painted wood grain. Little of the original finish remained but a local resident named Brad Forsyth, who had learned the technique from his father, repainted and restored the room's panelling, complete with secret figures of birds and animals hidden in grain patterns. [7]
The Society at first leased the courthouse from the county but purchased the building in 1993. [8] The Museum changed its name to the "Kings County Museum" in 2002. Working out of the former registry vaults of the courthouse basement, a Family History Committee built a large research centre for genealogists and successfully recorded and indexed every grave in Kings County. Parks Canada selected the Museum to permanently host its National New England Planters Commemorative Exhibit in 1989. [9] The Museum has hosted a large number changing exhibits for a municipal museum, an average of six a year. The Museum celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building and the 25th anniversary of the Historical Society in 2004 by inviting the current Kings County Council to re-enact the first January 12, 1904 meeting in the building. [10] However the Kings County Museum has faced challenges in recent years such as declining government support and a drop in tourism visitation in rural Nova Scotia. These challenges resulted in the formerly year-round museum closing during the winter months beginning in 2006. [11] However the Kings Historical Society has continued to offer a year-round series of historical programs and special events to finance the operation of the Museum. [12]
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. Statistics Canada defines the Annapolis Valley as an economic region, composed of Annapolis County, Kings County, and Hants County.
Kings County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. With a population of 60,600 in the 2016 Census, Kings County is the third most populous county in the province. It is located in central Nova Scotia on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, with its northeastern part forming the western shore of the Minas Basin.
Kentville is a town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is one of the main towns in the Annapolis Valley, and it is the county seat of Kings County. As of 2016, the town's population was 6,271. Its census agglomeration is 26,222.
Greenwood is a village located in the western part of Kings County in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley.
New Minas is a village located in the eastern part of Kings County in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. As of 2011, the population was 5,135.
Canning is a village in northeastern Kings County, Nova Scotia located at the crossroads of Route 221 and Route 358.
The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755) of the Acadian Expulsion.
Berwick is a Canadian town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. The town is located in the eastern part of the Annapolis Valley on the Cornwallis River. The town site stretches south from the river and Exit 15 of Highway 101 to Highway 1. Berwick occupies 6.80 km2 and has an elevation of 43 m (141 ft) above sea level.
The Ross Farm Museum is an agricultural museum located in New Ross, Nova Scotia, about an hour's drive from Halifax.
The Cornwallis River is in Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 48 kilometres (30 mi) through eastern Kings County, from its source on the North Mountain at Grafton to its mouth near Wolfville on the Minas Basin. The lower portion of the river beginning at Kentville is tidal and there are extensive tidal marshes in the lower reaches. In its upper watershed at Berwick, the river draws on the Caribou Bog while a longer branch continues to the official source, a stream on the North Mountain at Grafton.
The Apple Capital Museum is a museum located in Berwick, Nova Scotia exploring the history of the Town of Berwick and near-by Kings County communities. The museum is housed in a restored 19th century store, originally the Harry Lyons harness shop. In the 1940s, it was purchased by Howard Margeson who operated a men's clothing store, taxi business and bicycle shop. It was donated to the Museum in 1998 by the Margeson family. The Museum was founded in 1998 and shares the building with the tourist bureau for the Town of Berwick. The apple industry is a major focus and the Museum includes a large working railway model of the town's centre during the height of Nova Scotia's apple industry in the 1930s with the extensive tracks and sidings of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. The museum began an annual vintage car rally in July 2012 which has grown to attract vintage cars and drivers and volunteers in period costume from across Nova Scotia. The Museum is run by the Apple Capital Museum Society and is open seasonally.
Kingsport, is a small seaside village located in Kings County, Nova Scotia on the shores of the Minas Basin, famous at one time for building some of the largest wooden ships ever built in Canada.
Billtown is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Kings County.
Starr's Point is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Kings County two miles west of Port Williams. Starr's point faces the Minas Basin to the east and separates the mouths of the Cornwallis River and the Canard River. It is an agricultural area noted for apple orchards.
Cornwallis Township was one of the original townships of Kings County, Nova Scotia. The township was named after Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It bordered Aylesford Township to the west and Horton Township to the south. While the name has fallen into disuse on maps, overshadowed by the growth of individual towns and villages within the township, many historical places and documents refer to Cornwallis. The Parish of Cornwallis, however, is still in use today by several churches after more than 250 years.
Leslie Raymond Fairn was a Canadian architect whose career is notable for its longevity and for the range of styles it encompassed, including Beaux Arts and Modernism. Most of his work was completed in the Maritimes.
The Gaspereau River is a river in Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Steam Mill Village is a rural community north of Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada beside Camp Aldershot. It is named after an early steam-powered saw mill.
Montague was an armed brigantine of the Nova Scotia government that patrolled Nova Scotian waters during the Seven Years' War as part Nova Scotia's Provincial Marine. Montague played a notable role in beginning New England Planter settlements until she was wrecked in the Canard River in Kings County, Nova Scotia in December 1760.
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Coordinates: 45°04′40.0″N64°29′39.0″W / 45.077778°N 64.494167°W