In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

wanted: fifty hogsheads of lime

An announcement in the local newspaper at the beginning of 1787 requests bids to build the lightkeeper's dwelling house at Cape Roseway. There's also a request for proposals for fifty hogsheads of lime delivered to the Landing-place on McNutt's Island. I think that this is the same landing place that would come to be called Ross's Landing. Shelburne merchant George Ross bought Lot No. 1 from Loyalist grantee Moses Pitcher a few months later, as the work on the lighthouse was gearing up. The provincially funded lighthouse project would have been a boon to Shelburne's economy at a time when the fortunes of the town were already receding.

This image is courtesy of Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management. To read more, visit NSARM's virtual exhibit of Nova Scotia Historical Newspapers.

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