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.