Former Canso Post Office - B0H 1H0 - Canso, NS
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 45° 20.202 W 060° 59.785
20T E 656985 N 5022307
The town of Canso has two post offices, an old and a new one. This, the old post office, was built in 1906.
Waymark Code: WMQ9Y6
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 01/19/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member GeoKs
Views: 5

Designed by David Ewart (1841-1921), then Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works, Canada, this is just one of dozens of post offices designed by Ewart between 1898 and 1915. He was also responsible for a great many other public buildings in Canada, including Hospitals, Schools, Armoury and Drill Hall Buildings, Court Houses, Immigration Buildings, Museums, even the Royal Canadian Mint.

A three storey brick building, the old post office is trimmed with stone window sills and headers and three stone beltlines. On one corner, over the entrance to the post office, is a tall clock tower, with round clock faces on each of its four sides, surrounded by brick circles with keystones above, below and on each side.

When built, the main floor of the building was the post office while the second floor used to house the department of fisheries and the top floor was the caretaker's quarters. Also on the second floor was the customs office and bond room which was a store room for confiscated rum during rum running days. The building was sold into private hands when the new post office opened, then in 1991 was purchased by the Town of Canso. In 2013 the building was again on the market. Its present status is uncertain.

The Town of Canso itself has a major claim to fame, that of having been first settled in 1604, along with Port Royal. This would make it one of the very oldest settlements in North America north of the Gulf of Mexico and the "Oldest Fishing Port on Mainland North America".

Though a fishing village since 1604, Canso, on Chedabucto Bay, the easternmost point of mainland Nova Scotia, was not incorporated as a town until 1901. Twice destroyed, first by the French in 1744, then by the Americans during the American Revolution, it has soldiered on, being rebuilt each time.

On July 1, 2012, though it still stands where it had for 408 years, the Town of Canso ceased to exist. In an attempt to save money on administrative and other costs, the town was unincorporated and became amalgamated with the Municipality of the District of Guysborough.
Post Office Type: Main Branch

Province/Territory: Nova Scotia

Historical Significance: Yes - Older than 50 years

Location has a philatelic display: no

What brought you here?:
The Town of Canso itself. Couldn't miss the oldest fishing village on the continent.


Friendly and helpful service: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
To post a log to an existing Canada Post waymark, you will need to post a unique picture of the Canada Post sign. Including your gps device in the picture is not neccesary, but wouldn't be cause for disapproval, as long as all other details of your log are acceptable.

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Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
DND.Fireman visited Former Canso Post Office - B0H 1H0 - Canso, NS 08/04/2021 DND.Fireman visited it