Backyard History

Home for Christmas: The Pilot Who Returned from the Dead

Declared dead in the Second World War, Atlantic Canadian pilot Allan Spear escaped captivity, survived behind enemy lines, and returned home for an unexpected Christmas reunion.
 
Buy the books at backyardhistory.ca/books

The Residence Ghost

The story of Fredericton's very friendly ghost!

Blue Water: The Movie Hollywood Wanted to Sink

A Maritimes movie is suppressed by Hollywood as it tries to kill off the Canadian film industry ... featuring a surprising appearance by a young Joey Smallwood!
 
This story appears in the new book 'Backyard History: Mysterious Stories From Atlantic Canada's Past' which is available at backyardhistory.ca

When Canada and America Went to War, Two Towns Chose Peace

Canada and the U.S. went to war — but St. Stephen and Calais wouldn’t play along.

Comedy on the Rocks: When Comedians Stuck at Sea Turned Disaster into Drama

Little Pictou Island, Nova Scotia, gets its first ever play in the most unusual of circumstances ... after a winter ferry from PEI gets stuck in the ice and drifts over to the island!
 
Get the Backyard History books at backyardhistory.ca

"Only Men May Vote!" (LIVE!) A Tale of Fredericton Women's Lost and Found Voting Rights

A special LIVE podcast of "Only Men May Vote!" starring special guests Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers, Green Party Leader and MLA David Coon, Poet Laureate Fawn Parker, Minister of Opportunities New Brunswick Luke Randall and City Councillor Cassandra LeBlanc!
 
Recorded in front of a crowd of a hundred people at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre in Fredericton on March 7th, 2025.

The Lost Diary: Journey of a Writer Who Vanished into the Heart of the Forest

A mysterious Englishman sailed to New Brunswick in the 1850s. His name and his fate are unknown. All that remains of him is his diary, which recounts an incredible adventure.
 
Buy the Backyard History books at backyardhistory.ca

Breakfast with the Dungarvon Whooper

A long-lost interview in the forest sheds light on the man behind the Maritimes most famous so-called ghost...
 
Buy the three Backyard History books at backyardhistory.ca/books

The Quarantine Journal of Nellie McGowan

A young girl keeps a secret diary to solve a mystery as she is growing up on an island where new immigrants to Canada are quarantined.
 
backyardhistory.ca

A Halifax Christmas Murder

A dark murder mystery on Christmas in the old garrison city of Halifax changed the Maritimes.

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/books

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...

Princess Louise: A Warhorse’s Tale

The story of a little horse named Princess Louise who was rescued by Canadian soldiers during the Second World War and brought home to New Brunswick (against all the rules!)
 
This story appears in the book 'Backyard History: Forgotten Stories From Atlantic Canada's Past Volume Two' 

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...
 
Buy the books at backyardhistory.ca/books
 
 

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