Though this little country church was built as a Methodist Church, it can't be stated with certainty when. One source has it that construction was begun in 1858 and ongoing in 1864. A plaque on the church states that it was a Methodist Church from 1885 to 1925. We'll just say that it was built in or before 1885 and let it go at that.
In 1925, with
Church Union in Canada, all Methodist Churches, Congregational Churches and two thirds of Presbyterian Churches in Canada joined the United Church. The sign affixed to the front of the building indicates that it was a United Church from 1926 to 1967. We suspect that the sign may have been a centennial project, made in 1967, meaning that the church closed some time after 1967. Indeed, the
Maritime Conference of the United Church states that the church was sold in 1969.
To the rear and the side of the church is
its cemetery, still in use though the church itself is now closed. The oldest headstone in the cemetery dates from 1861, supporting the contention of an earlier date of construction of the church. There are now upward of two hundred headstones within.
PEMBROKE, Hants County
This settlement is located on Rainy Cove, west of Walton on the Minas Basin shore of Nova Scotia. An Indian name for Rainy Cove was Kwanaskwe-gachech. "Driftwood". An early name was Mutton Cove. The name Pembroke probably commemorated the 10th Earl of Pembroke.
On April 1, 1785 a grant of 3000 acres was made Winckworth Tonge and his children. Settlement in this area was largely carried out by loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies in the 1780s and '90s.
A Methodist church was begun in June, 1858 and was still under construction in November, 1864.
A new school-house was built here in 1886.
Farming. fishing and lumbering are the main industries.
Population in 1956 was 130.
From the Nova Scotia Archives