Displayed out front of the museum as teasers are several artefacts, including an old mill stone, a small cannon, a pair of old ship's anchors and a davit and bollards from a ship. The ship was the three-masted schooner
City of New York which foundered on Chebogue Point, Yarmouth County, N.S. in 1952. Formerly the
Samson, this vessel is believed by many to be the "mystery ship" sighted in the vicinity of the
Titanic when she sank in 1912.
Judging by the style of this cannon and the pitting of the metal, as well as the history of the area, this cannon would have been made/put into service at one of two times. The first may have been during the American Revolution, when all coastal towns on both the British and American sides needed to fortify their cities against the threat of privateers, which were utilized by both sides until well after 1776. The second possibility would be the war of 1812, during which the same threats were realized by coastal towns.
Given its relatively small size, this could well have been a ship's cannon. No information, pro or con, has yet been unearthed.
Purchased by the Yarmouth County Historical Society in 1967, the building became the Yarmouth County Museum in 1969. The museum itself was founded in 1958. It is a noteworthy museum for its collections, not the least of which are:
• the third largest collection of ship paintings in Canada
• the third largest costume collection in Nova Scotia
• the largest community archives in Nova Scotia
A nice
Virtual Tour is available at their website. The museum is also the repository of the Yarmouth County Archives.