Backyard History

The Story Behind the Crosses on Sugarloaf Mountain

100 years ago, a tragedy led to two crosses being painted on Sugarloaf in Campbellton. This is the story of what happened.

The Ghost of Binstead Manor

A Victorian aristocrat moves to PEI and encounters a ghost in her new house: the biggest mansion on the Island called Binstead Manor. She decided to investigate the haunting herself...
 
This story appears in the new book 'Backyard History: Rebellious Women In The Maritimes'! Order your copy at backyardhistory.ca

The Man Who Was Hanged From the Gallows he Built

The Hate Preacher

Causing riots wherever he went, this Maritimer became a leader in the KKK, making a fortune spreading hate and division all over the United States! (He wasn't as popular in the Maritimes, where locals tried to throw him off a cliff!)
 
Buy the book 'Backyard History: Forgotten Stories From Atlantic Canada's Past' at backyardhistory.ca

Nova Scotia's Queen of the Bootleggers

When alcohol was banned in Nova Scotia during Prohibition, reluctant liquor control inspector Clifford Rose encountered a charismatic woman leading a gang selling illegal booze. Her name was Amy Mason but everyone knew her as "The Queen of the Bootleggers."

Painless Parker: Renegade Dentist

A small-town boy from the Maritimes becomes obscenely wealthy and ridiculously famous in America for dentist circuses...
 
This story appears in the brand new SECOND Backyard History book! Order a signed copy at backyardhistory.ca/book

The Rise and Fall of George Black and the Golden Seven

A trip to the Yukon Gold Rush leads to a series of completely unexpected twists, with a young Maritimer becoming the Speaker of Parliament ... and ending up sent to a lunatic asylum!

The Detective and the Trapper

Detective William Carr (who appeared in the Joe Walnut episodes) goes for a relaxing trip into the forest to learn to hunt and fish, but ends up being hunted by rogue trappers...
 
Order the Backyard History book at backyardhistory.ca/book

Denied a Seat: Wolastoqiyik Man Races Stagecoach 100 kilometers

When a Wolastoqiyik man wasn’t allowed on a stagecoach, he vowed to race it to its destination, and won!
 
Buy the book: backyardhistory.ca/book

Liberty on the Rocks (Part 3): Captured in Charlottetown

The dramatic grand finale of the rum running boat The Liberty in part three of the Liberty On The Rocks trilogy.
 
Order a signed copy of the Backyard History book at backyardhistory.ca/book

Liberty on the Rocks (Part 2): Initiation of a Lunenburg Rum Runner

At age 15, Hugh Corkum becomes a rum runner to provide for his family after his father, a Lunenburg Nova Scotia sea captain, loses his job after crashing into an American sumbarine.
 
Part Two of the 'Liberty On The Rocks' trilogy about the Liberty, the fastest rum running ship of Atlantic Canada!
 
Buy the Backyard History book at backyardhistory.ca/book

Liberty on the Rocks (Part 1): Shootout at Bouctouche

The Mounties lay a trap for The Liberty, the most famous rum running ship in the Maritimes during Prohibition!
 
Part one of a three part series called "Liberty On The Rocks."
Book: backyardhistory.ca/book

The Candy Killer: The Serial Killer Who Stalked Saint John

A killer sent boxes of poisoned candies to religious leaders of Saint John, in this, the Backyard History's magnum opus episode!

Message in a Molasses Barrel

Isolated islanders find a unique way to let Canadians know a storm cut them off from the mainland.

Did Babe Ruth Detox in the Woods in New Brunswick?

As Babe Ruth's life fell apart, he headed into the woods of the Maritimes in a secret and mysterious effort to get better...

Hooves and Heroes: Princess Louise, A Warhorse’s Tale

The Canadian Forces in Italy during WW2 rescue a horse who they name Princess Louise who accompanies them throughout Europe and back home.

The Aristocrat & The Canoemaker

Juliana Horatia Ewing, a Victorian British author in Fredericton, formed an unlikely friendship with Welastekokewiyik master canoe builder Peter Polches, challenging societal norms; her transformative experiences led to a notable confrontation defending Indigenous people at a prestigious New Year's Party in 1869.

A Festive Flashback: Unwrapping Christmas 1868

Backyard History's Christmas Special for 2023!

Dr. Leslie E. Keeley Gold Cure for Drunkenness: and the Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Fredericton’s Addiction Treatment Legacy

The dramatic rise and fall of Fredericton's curious detox centre, which involved patients taking a gold-based medicine to cure alcoholism!
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/the-long-reads/f/the-dr-leslie-e-keeley-gold-cure-institute-for-drunkards

The Second Halifax Explosion

As explosions rang out in Halifax in 1945, ordinary Haligonians raced toward the central ammunition storage depot to stop the flames before the city blew up … again!
 
backyardhistory.ca/f/the-second-halifax-explosion

Siberian Expedition: Winslow and Ollie’s Odyssey

Two young men volunteer to for a mysterious secret mission in Russia. One of them will not make it home alive.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/canadas-forgotten-siberian-expedition-ollie-winslows-odyssey

The Mystery of the Ghostly Fire Ship of the Baie Des Chaleurs

One of the Maritimes’ most popular ghost stories is the tale of a cursed, eternally burning sailing ship haunting the waters off of the Northern coast of New Brunswick.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/the-ghostly-fire-ship-of-the-baie-des-chaleurs

Revolutionary Roadblock: Trotsky’s Imprisonment in Nova Scotia

Leon Trotsky missed the beginning of the Russian Revolution because he was in -of all places- Amherst, Nova Scotia.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/trotskys-maritimes-revolutionary-roadblock

American Invaders Stole P.E.I.’s Great Seal (And Still Haven’t Given It Back!)

PEI didn't even know it was at war when the American fleet appeared. The invaders went house to house stealing clothes, carpets, and curtains ... and their Great Seal. However, one Islander who was taken captive went on to become an important spy...
 
 

The World’s Worst Nazi Spy

A spy arrives by U-Boat to sabotage Canada. He isn't very good.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/the-long-reads/f/the-worlds-worst-nazi-spy

The Maritimes Tour That Made Houdini (Part Two: Halifax Residency)

Houdini goes to Halifax. When his circus is arrested, he has to reevaluate his whole career.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/how-his-maritimes-tour-saved-harry-houdini-pt-2-halifax

The Maritimes Tour That Made Houdini (Part One: Saint John Residency)

A young Harry Houdini was on the verge of giving up on magic until a Maritimes tour changed his life.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/how-his-maritimes-tour-saved-harry-houdini-pt-1-saint-john

Forest Fire Destroys Musquash In Only Two Hours

A forest fire approaches the thriving town of Musquash, sending its residents fleeing to a nearby marsh for safety.
 
Musquash was a thriving community on the Bay of Fundy, boasting several factories, mills, a railway station, and a port. All of that came to an abrupt end when the town was completely destroyed in only a couple of hours one afternoon in 1903.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/articles/f/the-forest-fire-that-destroyed-musquash

The Saxby Gale: Storm of the Century Predicted A Year Before It Hit

Everyone ignored the warnings. But the predictions were right: the storm of the century hit at exactly the hour that one man had predicted a year before...
www.backyardhistory.ca
 
 
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Ben Franklin’s ”Worthless” Nova Scotian Land

Nova Scotia (and New Brunswick) came much closer to joining the United States than a lot of Canadians today would be comfortable with!
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/benjamin-franklins-worthless-nova-scotian-land

The Real Klondike Kate

Two Kates go to the Yukon Gold Rush. One becomes famous, the other is forgotten. But who was the REAL Klondike Kate?
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/the-real-klondike-kate

The Principality of Outer Baldonia: Nova Scotia’s Whimsical Micronation

In 1949, a little Canadian island off of the coast of Nova Scotia declared itself to be its own country.  
 
Calling itself The Principality of Outer Baldonia, it quickly developed all of the trappings of an independent nation: it had its own currency, postage stamps, its own flag, and a coat of arms boasting on it pictures of a tuna fish, a sheep, and a smiling lobster. 
 
It soon became “one of the zaniest hoaxes in the history of international affairs.” 
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/the-long-reads/f/the-nova-scotian-island-that-declared-independence

The Mystery of the Russian Buried Treasure

How did 111 Russian coins get buried in Bathurst? Who did it? Where did they come from and what happened to them? Lets dig into this Backyard Mystery!

Giant Squid Attacks in Newfoundland

Giant squid attacked Newfoundland fishing boats in 1873. This was all the more shocking because at the time people didn't believe giant squid were even real. Soon, the entire world's attention would turn towards Newfoundland.
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/giant-squid-attacks-in-newfoundland

The Red Devil

Flying Through History as The Red Devil Takes to the Skies!
 
On a clear Autumn day in 1912 thousands of people gathered to see the world famous Red Devil.
 
Amid a backdrop of the Saint John Exhibition -then the second largest in the country- competing with Toronto’s CNE for position of biggest Exhibition in Canada, another rivalry was playing out.
 
The Red Devil’s pilot, Captain Baldwin, was competing with the airplane's then rival for the future of the skies; the hot air balloon, and its pilot Professor Bonnette. Back then hot air balloons were considered much safer and faster than airplanes, and most sensible people thought the airplane would be a short-lived novelty.
 
The rival airplane versus balloon pilots competed for the public’s approval by engaging in increasingly daring and risky behavior.
After Professor Bonnette wowed the crowd by parachuting out of his balloon –and accidentally ending up in the Harbour– Captain Baldwin decided to one-up him by taking a local Saint Johner along with him aboard The Red Devil.
 
One extremely reluctant and very unhappy reporter was forced by his newspaper editor to go on a trip on the airplane, a then-brand new technology only invented nine years earlier. His vivid description of flying over Saint John in the earliest days of aviation memorably begins with the angry opening line: “The editor is an autocrat...”
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/articles/f/the-red-devil---new-brunswicks-first-airplane

The Cat Who Stopped a Nazi Prison Break

Camp B-70, near Fredericton,  held captured German Nazis and Fascist Italians during the Second World War. The prisoners and guards played an elaborate game of cat and mouse, with constant attempts at escape. Remarkably, one escape was actually stopped by an actual real live cat, who had been performing in the camp as part of a traveling circus..

The Bungling Bank Burglar Who Got Stuck in a Chimney

When a bank robber gets stuck in a chimney on April Fools Day, nobody believes a 12 year old boy trying to save him..
 
On the cold and moonless night in the winter of 1848, the only ever attempted robbery of the Bank of New Brunswick in Saint John took place.
 
It was not the least bit successful, and turned into quite the bizarre -but true- night long incident.
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/bungling-bank-burglar-gets-stuck-in-chimney

The Interrogation of Emile Goguen

“While I am writing to you the shells are screaming and the bullets are hitting but why should I care? I have just had a good meal!” wrote Emile Goguen, an Acadian lumberjack from New Brunswick who had volunteered to go fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War, and who would be interrogated about his activities while there.
 
More than 1500 Canadians volunteered to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. The only New Brunswicker to join was Emile Goguen.

When PEI Banned Cars

Prince Edward Island was the first place in Canada to have a car ... and the only province to ban them!
 
https://backyardhistory.ca/f/when-pei-banned-cars

The Radical Gardener

A beloved Canadian radio host and author had a radical past.
 
In the 1960s a Maritimer achieved Canada wide fame for his talent in gardening. Known as Mr Green Thumbs, this kindly old man put out no fewer than four massive bestselling books on gardening, and ran a popular regular radio show on how to grow plants.
Mr Green Thumbs’ many dedicated fans likely didn’t know that behind the friendly voice and the kindly writing style of the old man, was a devoted lifelong communist who was so dedicated to his cause that soon after the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the communist Soviet Union, the radical gardener went to that new country to see the revolution in action for himself…