Patricia Whidden
Past President, East Hants Historical Society
What a great resource to nail down where our ancestors lived, or even to confirm that they did live there. If you're into socio-economic history, churches, saw mills, grist mills, quarries, and general stores offer clues to the resources available to our ancestors. The prevalence of mills and stores in communities speaks to the reliance of residents on local goods and services. The establishment of churches of various denominations suggests the religious persuasions of settlers who built them.
Rebecca Ritchie
Past President, Association of N.S. Land Surveyors
When I became a land surveyor some 35 years ago, my father gave me the A. F. Church lithograph for Kings county, and, unbelievably, he was able to snap it up at an estate sale. In doing so, he was acknowledging and approving my choice of occupation. The Church maps are one of the resources that Nova Scotia land surveyors often employ in their research to carry out their work. The cartography itself is quite beautiful and I am in awe of the level of detail and labour which was required to complete each map.
Donald Forbes
Research Scientist Emeritus, Geological Survey of Canada
The Church maps, along with the Meacham maps in NS and PEI, are a rich source of information on the late 19th century cultural landscape, heads of household, industrial and institutional structures, roads, and topography in this region. Along with historical navigation charts, we have found them to be useful sources, with some reservations, for the extent and nature of coastal erosion, buildings lost to the sea, and changes in coastal morphology and habitat.
If you want to add your own testimonial - tell us about how you used the maps, or located your ancestors, or imagined the kinds of life our forebears led, or just wondered at the beauty of the maps, then send us an email with your story:
Send us an email: I Love the Maps: Here is my Story !!
KITH is working with heritage groups in Antigonish, Hants and Halifax counties to preserve and digitize the A. F. Church maps and match the map information with existing genealogical records. The goal is to improve our understanding of the history and social relations in nineteenth century Nova Scotia, and make this data publicly accessible.
