Discovering  The Heritage Of Your Home Or Building Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library Research Guide

This guide is to assist in locating information about the history of a building. It is intended primarily for those living in Pictou County. All materials are found in the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library and most can be borrowed from any branch library. A few are for reference use only and must be used in the New Glasgow Library. If you require assistance locating or using these resources, please ask our staff.

If you are interested in applying to have your building recognized as a Heritage Property we recommend you contact the following:

Municipal Heritage Designation

Pictou County District Planning Commission or

your local Town/Municipal Office

Provincial Heritage Designation
NS Department of Housing and Municipal Affairs
P.O. Box 216, Halifax, NS, B3J 2M4
Telephone (902) 424-4141

Research and Documentation:

An Act to Provide for the Identification, Preservation and Protection of Heritage Property. Ch. 199 of the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia. Ref 348.716 Nov( Vol 5).

Researching a Building in Nova Scotia. Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. 720.9716 Res.

Registering Heritage Properties. Heritage Unit Nova Scotia Department of Housing & Municipal Affairs. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Houses".

Heritage Grant Programs. Heritage Unit Nova Scotia Department of Housing & Municipal Affairs. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Houses".

Heritage Conservation Districts. Heritage Unit Nova Scotia Department of Housing & Municipal Affairs. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Houses".

Registering Provincial Heritage Properties Dept. of Culture, Recreation & Fitness. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Nova Scotia - History".

Deeds and Documentation of Early Nova Scotia Buildings. Martin, Margaret Burns. The Occassional, Vol III #1, Summer 1975, p. 10-20. Also located in the New Glasgow Library Grey Box Collection.

Heritage Protection in Nova Scotia. Nov 1979 A Discussion Paper prepared by the Committee on Heritage Protection. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Nova Scotia - History".

Provincially Registered Heritage Properties Data Summary. June 1994 (lists property, community, county, category and date). New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Nova Scotia - History".

General Sources:

An Album of Drawings of Early Buildings in Nova Scotia. Wallace, Arthur W. 720.9716 Wal.

Landmarks : historic buildings of Nova Scotia. Pacey, Elizabeth 971.6 Pac.

Country Roads : Rural Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Jenson, L.B. 971.613 Jen.

Century Buildings of Rural Pictou County. Local Initiatives Project 1973. New Glasgow Library Grey Box Collection.

Building Canada : an architectural history of Canadian life. Gowans, Alan 720.971 Gow

Seasoned Timbers. Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. 917.16 Her

Affairs With Old Houses: personal stories about preserving historic houses in Nova Scotia. (ed.) Lotz, Pat. 728.37 Aff

Sources to help identify architectural style:

A Nova Scotian's Guide to Built Heritage: Architectural Styles 1604-1930. Dept. of Culture, Recreation & Fitness. 728.09716 Nov

Houses of Nova Scotia : an illustrated guide to architectural style recognition. Penney, Allen 728.09716 Pen.

Exploring Nova Scotia. ed. by George Rogers for the Nova Scotia Association of Architects. 917.16 Exp.

Gingerbread : & house finish of every description. Robertson, Barbara R. 728.09716 Rob.

The Buildings of Canada: a guide to pre-20th-century styles in houses, churches and other structures. Humphreys, Barbara A. and Sykes, Meredith. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Houses".

Sources to help identify architectural style (continued):

Sight Lines : looking at architecture and design in Canada. Freedman, Adele 720.971 Fre.

The Elements of Style : a practical encyclopedia of interior architectural details from 1485 to the present. Calloway, Stephen (ed). Ref 721 Ele.

Sir Banister Fletcher's A history of Architecture. Fletcher, Banister 720.9 Fle.

Architectural and Building Trades Dictionary. Putnam, Robert E. 721.03 Put.

Architects:

Architects of Nova Scotia : a biographical dictionary, 1605-1950. Rosinski, Maud. Ref 720.92 Ros

Rich in Interest and Charm : the architecture of Andrew Randall Cobb 1876-1943. Weir, Jean B. 708.971 Art.

Directories:
Town and County directories are useful in determining ownership of a building and when a house was built. Unlike larger population centres they were not published each year. Some of the more recent directories also have "criss-cross" listings that provide street by street ownership information.

Teare's directory of Pictou and New Glasgow, N.S. for 1879-80. REF 971.613 Tea.

Pictou County Directory, 1914. Ref 917.1613 Pic.

New Glasgow directory for the years 1919-20 : including Stellarton, Trenton, Westville, Pictou and Pictou County. Ref 917.1613015 New.

Purchaser's guide and general classified business directory of the town of New Glasgow, 1938. Ref 917.1613015 Pur.

Might's New Glasgow Nova Scotia city directory 1975. Ref 917.1613 M.

Maps:

Listed below are several maps that indicate ownership and also placement of buildings on the property.

Illustrated Historical Atlas of Pictou County, Nova Scotia 1879. Ref 911.71613 Ill.

A.F. Church Map of the County of Pictou 1864. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Pictou County - Maps".

Town of New Glasgow. New Glasgow Library Vertical File "Pictou County - Maps".

Town of Pictou. New Glasgow LibraryVertical File "Pictou County - Maps".

Newspapers:

Newspapers can be valuable sources of information but the researcher must know the date they are looking for. Currently there is no index to the microfilm copies.

Eastern Chronicle" New Glasgow 1843-1953 (incomplete).

Evening News New Glasgow 1946 + (incomplete).

Census Records:

Census records provide valuable information about the persons living in a dwelling. The originals (which are recorded on microfilm) usually are arranged by street number as the census taker traveled from door to door. The print copies are indexed by surname.

Microfilm and print copies: 1861,1871,1881 and 1901

Pictorials:

New Glasgow and surrounding towns (c1910). Ref 971.613 New.

Nova Scotia's Industrial Center: New Glasgow, Stellarton, Westville, Trenton. 1916. Ref 971.613 Nov.

Ritchie Records:

Information compiled from cemetery records and other sources. Useful for tracing family histories.

NcompasS:

Use the subject heading Pictou County or the town name to search the online public catalogue available on the Information Express computers at any Branch Library or on the Internet at http://www.parl.ns.ca.

Heritage Properties websites:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/search/searchjoe.stm and enter heritage property in the Joe Howe search box.

Information on conserving/restoring historic homes:

The Preservationist's Progress : architectural adventures in conserving yesterday's houses. Howard, Hugh. 728.028 How.

Victorian Exterior Decoration : how to paint your nineteenth-century American house historically. Moss, Roger W. and Caskey Winkler, Gail. 698 Mos.

Church Structures:

Thy Dwellings Fair : churches of Nova Scotia, 1750-1830. Duffus, Allan F. 726.5 Thy.

More Stately Mansions : churches of Nova Scotia, 1830-1910. Pacey, Elizabeth 726.509716 Pac.

Visit your local library on the web at http://www.parl.ns.ca
or email us at info@parl.ns.ca

Branches and Telephone Numbers: New Glasgow: 752-8233 Pictou: 485-5021 River John: 351-2599 Stellarton: 755-1638 Trenton: 752-5181 Westville: 396-5022 Antigonish: 863-4276 Books By Mail and Regional Library Headquarters: 755-6031