Shelburne once was home to no less than seven dory shops, in which the famous Shelburne Dories were built. The Shelburne Dories became legendary for their strength and low cost. As a result, the Shelburne shops churned out thousands of dories each year, selling them to Canadian and American fishermen on the Grand Banks for nearly a century.
Built right on the water's edge on Shelburne Harbour, this shop became active with its construction in 1883 and is the sole surviving shop in the town.
Given its connection to the history of Shelburne and its shipbuilding industry, as well as the fact that the building remains almost completely original, it has been bought by the province of Nova Scotia and incorporated into the Nova Scotia Museum.
The museum is open annually from June 1 to October 15, from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM daily. Admission is $4.00 for Adults, $3.00 for Seniors and Members, while children 16 and younger are admitted free.
Step into this authentic harbour-side dory factory to discover the historic Shelburne Dory and the world of the Grand Banks fishery as it existed from 1880 to 1971.
Lightweight and versatile, dories are small, shallow-draft boats with flat bottoms, high sides and sharp bows. Easy to build, thanks to their simple lines, and able to withstand the rugged ocean, dories were the backbone of the fishing industry, both in Nova Scotia and around the world.
One of Shelburne’s great claims to fame is the town’s rich dory building traditions; a skill which still survives today thanks to the Dory Shop Museum. Known for its exceptional strength, the Shelburne Dory was the preferred dory of local fishermen, making it the most popular small craft in the Atlantic Provinces for almost a century.
From the Dory Shop Museum
The Dory Shop Museum
Step inside the Dory Shop Museum to witness, first-hand, the art of crafting a traditional dory and hear the story of these iconic Nova Scotian small-crafts.
Built by John Williams in 1880, this dory shop was one of seven booming businesses in Shelburne that produced thousands of dories for both Canadian and American fishing schooners during the years of the famous Grand Banks fishery (1880 - 1971).
In the middle of the last century, two innovative ideas revolutionized the way people fished: trawl fishing and dory fishing. Initially, crews would fish the banks from the decks of schooners, using baited hooks and handlines to collect their catch. Realizing they could improve upon this method, crews started hanging lots of hooks off one long line along the ocean floor, where hungry cod and haddock loved to feed. The idea worked and trawl fishing was born.
Dory fishing came from the realization that crews could haul in even more fish if the men could spread out to cover more ocean. By piling a bunch of little boats onto the schooner and then carrying them out to the banks, crews were able to split up and maximize their efforts.
When combined, the two new methods created a fishing technology that dominated the banks fishery until the 1940s.
Dories were perfect for this new practice. Flat bottomed with flared sides, they could be easily nested and lashed in place on the decks of schooners. Until the mid-1880s, they were built using naturally curved wood, or "grown knees," as frames. These knees had to be sawn from crooked wood such as tree roots; a requirement that wasn't always easy to fulfill.
In 1887, a Shelburne boatbuilder, Isaac Crowell, started using something he called the patent "dory clip." This allowed builders to make dory knees by joining together two straight pieces of wood. The result was tough, durable dories that were cheaper to build than conventional ones.
Crowell's ingenuity created a thriving industry in Shelburne. At the height of the banks fishery, seven Shelburne shops churned out thousands of dories each year. They sold their products to both Canadian and American schooner captains, who got used to stopping in Shelburne to buy dories on their way to the Grand Banks.
The Shelburne dory-builders thanked Isaac Crowell and smiled all the way to their own banks.
From the Dory Shop Museum