Kingsburg Settlers' Barns

Kingsburg Historical Barns: A Living Archive

Recent enhancements to the interactive map and related documentation provide visitors and residents with a portal into Kingsburg’s history. These pay homage to our community’s roots and create a legacy archive of a bygone era. This project has been made possible through the collaborative efforts of the KCA’s Kingsburg Barn Project and the Change Lab Action Research Initiative at St. Mary’s University, Halifax.

There is pride in small places; a sentiment that is sure to resonate with many of Kingsburg’s residents. The seaside barns speckled throughout the Kingsburg landscape encapsulate this pride, representing the rural heritage and settlement history of the foreign protestants and their descendants. These structures embody an agricultural past, which served as a focal point for social and economic life in the coastal village. The goal of the documents and interactive map provided on this webpage is to document and preserve the history of Kingsburg, Nova Scotia, by analyzing and synthesizing historical and geographical data into a living archive.

With ever-shifting landscapes, socioeconomics, and community dynamics, it is paramount that the histories of these structures and the people who interacted with them be recorded. This project has succeeded in mapping some of the existing and demolished barns, as well as compiling historical information regarding their use and ownership throughout the years.

The report on Kingsburg Barns was produced by St. Mary’s University students in April 2021, and we encourage you to explore the interactive maps below.

Can you find any of the barns that are on the interactive map in this photograph taken in 1975?