Lunenburg Things to Do

Next to the Visitor Centre you can find the Founders Monument.

The first monument was placed in 1988 dedicated to those founding settlers who had come from the Montbeliard Region of France. A second monument was added in 2003 as part of the 250th Lunenburg Anniversary Year, to commemorate the arrival of all the other founding families.

Lunenburg,is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is displayed at this plaque dedicated to the people of Lunenburg.

I had a hard time locating it and I even used our travel forum to pin point the location.

The Lunenburg Academy is the biggest building in town and wonderful to see.

It's a school building build in 1894–1895 after a fire destroyed the former school building.

Since 1984 it's an historic landmark and house the local elementary school.

There are 5 churches in Lunenburg. Much work is done to restore all of them in their full beauty.

Before the Sunday service that starts at 10:30AM you are welcome for a chat and some hot coffee or tea.

The building itself is a late nineteenth-century landmark for the old town.

Next to the Town Hall you can find several war monuments.

The World War One Memorial is the main one. Besides this one there are two more memorials; one to commemorate World War II and one for a Norwegian contingent that trained in the area in WWII.

One of the strangest houses I saw was the Odd Fellows' Hall.

I never had heard of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) until I came across this building.
It's a humanitarian organisation that started in the early 1700s.

Like most Nova Scotia towns, Lunenburg has a bandstand. It's next to the town hall.

This one is called the Lunenburg Heritage Bandstand.

Concerts are at 2PM every Sunday from the Canada Day weekend to the Labour Day weekend.
In the event of rain, the concert is moved into the Central United Church Hall on Lincoln Street.

Easily the most beautiful and unique church in a town of beautiful churches, St john's stand above the rest. St John's was built in 1753 and is the second oldest protestant church in Canada. It as rebuilt in 2004 after a fire in 2001.

Great little museum on the Nova Scotia fishing industry. Besides the exhibits in the museum , there are a couple of fishing schooners on the wharf you can tour. This museum is probably the main attraction in Lunenburg.

The Masonic Temple is opposite the Knaut-Ruhland House Museum.

It's a characteristic building, a bit build in a Greek style dating from 1866.

The temple is home to the grand lodge of Nova Scotia unity #4.

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church dates from 1828. It was founded by the oldest Presbyterian congregation in Canada, that started in 1753.

The current church is the second on this location; the first and smaller church was constructed in 1769.

I have written a tip on this page about the Theresa E. Connor vessel attached to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic which was an old saltbanker eventually put out of business by more modern steel trawlers with a larger capacity and in a strangely fitting way, the other large vessel here is exactly the type of craft that would have superseded the older dory boats.

Built in Holland in 1962 she fished for 20 years before she, in her turn, was superseded by larger stern trawlers. Although just a little over 20 years younger than her sister vessel, there is a marked difference in the two, especially the crew quarters which seem much more comfortable on the newer vessel. The march of progress, I suppose.

As with the other vessel, the great joy of visiting the Cape Sable is being able to chat to the wonderful old mariner who is what they call a Heritage Interpreter here. He really made everything come to life, it was great.

If you do want to visit the Museum here are the logistics, taken from the website (details for 2014).

May 17 – June 21
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

June 22 – Sept. 7
9:30 am – 5:30 pm

Sept. 8 – Oct. 11
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

Closing for the season Sat. Oct. 11th
Adult $10.00
Seniors: $7.00
Children (6-17): $3.00
Children (5 and under: Free
Family: $22.00

School Groups: $3.00/student | $7.00 univ. students with student ID card
Tour Groups
(10 or more): $7.00/each
Adult Season Pass: $18.00
Family Season Pass: $42.00

If you have your Nova Scotia Museum Pass, the Museum and the two vessels are covered in that. Additionally, CAA and AAA members may obtain 10% discount on admission and gift shop purchases on production of their membership card.

The Museum building is wheelchair acessible including toilet facilities although the vessels are regrettably not. Photo albums of the interiors of both vessels are available. there are two wheelchairs available on a first come - first served basis.

I have written about the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic on another tip on this page and mentioned the two fascinating vessels that lie alongside the wharf there. This tip concerns the first of them, the Theresa E Connor, the oldest saltbank schooner still in existence.

Built in 1938 in the town which is still her home she was involved in the long since commercially ended type of fishing known as dory fishing. Under this system a relatively large vessel would put pairs of men out in small boats called dories from there they fished with baited trawl before returning to the larger vessel. By the 1960's larger steel trawlers had taken over and the old saltbankers were just about obsolete. There is a rather poignant tale that on it's last voyage under it's old captain in 1963, he could not even muster enough of a crew to fully man the vessel. Fishermen were just not willing to undego the hardship and risk the danger any more. The vessel fished for a few more years when it was sold to the local Marine Museum Society which was the beginning of the excellent facility you see today.

If you are wondering where the term saltbanker comes from, it refers to the fact that in summer the fish caught were preserved in salt until they returned to port. During the winter, ice served the purpose. If you are further wondering who Theresa E Connor was, well her middle name was Eleanor and she was part of a family that owned one of the the biggest fishing companies in the area. Sadly, she dies in 1954.

If you are wondering anything else then this is where the best part of the whole experience comes into play. Both vessels in the Museum have proper old sailors / fishermen aboard who are happy to chat about anything, give tours etc. and this really brings the old vessels alive, lovingly maintained as they are in their own right.

This really is part of a great day out, and I do recommend it.

If you do want to visit the Museum here are the logistics, taken from the website (details for 2014).

May 17 – June 21
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

June 22 – Sept. 7
9:30 am – 5:30 pm

Sept. 8 – Oct. 11
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

Closing for the season Sat. Oct. 11th
Adult $10.00
Seniors: $7.00
Children (6-17): $3.00
Children (5 and under: Free
Family: $22.00

School Groups: $3.00/student | $7.00 univ. students with student ID card
Tour Groups
(10 or more): $7.00/each
Adult Season Pass: $18.00
Family Season Pass: $42.00

If you have your Nova Scotia Museum Pass, the Museum and the two vessels are covered in that. Additionally, CAA and AAA members may obtain 10% discount on admission and gift shop purchases on production of their membership card.

The Museum building is wheelchair acessible including toilet facilities although the vessels are regrettably not. Photo albums of the interiors of both vessels are available. there are two wheelchairs available on a first come - first served basis.

We all know about fishermen's tall tales about "the one that got away" and so on but the great thing about visiting the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is that all the tales are true.

Apart from the excellent museum itself, there are two perfectly preserved vessels for the visitor to explore, the Cape Sable which is a 1960's side trawler and the Theresa E. Connor which is Canada's oldest surviving saltbank schooner. Because there is so much to write about in the museum building, I shall deal with the vessels in separate tips on this page.

The main building appears to be housed in an old warehouse or similar building built in the traditional Maritime Provinces style and striking in it's red paintjob. After passing the obligatory (and rather large) giftshop, you come to an aquarium with a decent selection of species on display. There is also a "touch tank" for youngsters and, indeed, the whole place is very good for children.

There are verious activities during the day and we were there in time for a surprisingly interesting presentation on lobsters including how to tell male from female. I cannot remember the fine detail now but it seemed to make sense at the time. On the subject of lobster, they also have the preserved remains of the largest lobster I have ever seen (see the image). Incidentally, I was not being untidy, I deliberately left my cigarette lighter there to give a sense of scale. If memory serves it was about 24 pounds weight or something ludicrous like that.

There are numerous exhibits in this rather splendid place including an actual boatbuilding workshop which normally turns out dorys, the mainstay of the fishing fleet at one time. You may get a chance to try your hand at rug-hooking or even launch a model boat (kids seem to love this one). Do give yourself plenty of time to visit, as you will need it, especially if you visit the two vessels which you really should.

If you do want to visit the Museum here are the logistics, taken from the website (details for 2014).

May 17 – June 21
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

June 22 – Sept. 7
9:30 am – 5:30 pm

Sept. 8 – Oct. 11
9:30 am – 5:00 pm

Closing for the season Sat. Oct. 11th
Adult $10.00
Seniors: $7.00
Children (6-17): $3.00
Children (5 and under: Free
Family: $22.00

School Groups: $3.00/student | $7.00 univ. students with student ID card
Tour Groups
(10 or more): $7.00/each
Adult Season Pass: $18.00
Family Season Pass: $42.00

If you have your Nova Scotia Museum Pass, the Museum and the two vessels are covered in that. Additionally, CAA and AAA members may obtain 10% discount on admission and gift shop purchases on production of their membership card.

The Museum building is wheelchair acessible including toilet facilities although the vessels are not. Photo albums of the vessels interiors are available. there are two wheelchairs available on a first come - first served basis.

I have already constructed another tip on this page concerning taking a walk on one of the very pleasant trails hereabouts but this tip concerns a different type of walking and is, I suspect much of the reason many people visit here. Old Town Lunenburg is a UNESCO Wrold Heritage Site and rightly so in my opinion.

In the introduction to a fairly lengthy explanation, UNESCO states, "Lunenburg is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Established in 1753, it has retained its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid pattern drawn up in the home country. The inhabitants have managed to safeguard the city's identity throughout the centuries by preserving the wooden architecture of the houses, some of which date from the 18th century.". It really is a joy just to wander round even with no set plan. In a reasonably short walk you will come upon many beautifully preserved houses, often with a small wooden plaque as shown indicating who the house was constructed for and when.

Although I chose not to use one, there are guidebooks available locally but you really don't need one. You can also take a guided walking tour or a tour in a hors-drawn carriage but, again, I prefer just to wander about at my own pace. It is great fun, very photogenic and completely free.