Neither church is actually in Petite Riviere, both being outside of the village proper, surrounded by forest and small farms. St. Michael & All Angels stands on the west side of Highway 331 at Covey Lane, a short distance south of the Lahave River. Built in 1886, the church opened for services on September 29, 1886 and was consecrated February 27, 1889.
A wood frame building, it still stands on its stone block foundation, now deteriorating slightly but still relatively sound. At least the church remains upright and plumb. The Gothic Revival style is quite typical of churches of the era while the small size of the building relates directly to the size of the community. The size of the building can be appreciated by the fact that the double entrance door in the bell tower nearly fills the width of the tower. Above the entrance the belfry is open on all sides, housing a single bell. All openings in the tower and the building are Gothic arched, with leaded glass in the windows, a few with stained glass. The tower has eaves both above and below the belfry, with the spire above being eight sided and having a simple, unadorned top. Beside it, on the peak of the steeply pitched gable roof, stands a simple wooden cross.
The interior of the church is finished in plaster below and angled tongue and groove boards on the ceiling. Adornments on the ceiling consist of decorative trusses with three arcs on the bottom chord which, when two trusses join, they form a Gothic arch at the peak of the vaulted ceiling. Small murals adorn the bottoms of the windows in the nave.
In the churchyard to the west and south of the church is the Anglican cemetery, in use since shortly after construction of the first St. Michael & All Angels, in 1853-55. The oldest headstone on record is that of infant Uriah C. Wentzel, who died September 30, 1864 at the age of 4 years and 6 months. There are a great many older stones here, with some relatively new stones indicating that the cemetery remains in use.
Roots Web lists just over 100 headstones in the cemetery, a figure we know to be low, as not all headstones have made it to their list.
Given that the church shares a pastor with other churches in the
Parishes of Petite Riviere and New Dublin, services are only held at St. Michael & All Angels once every fourth week.
PETITE RIVIERE,
Lunenburg County
It is about eight miles south of the Lahave River and on the west side of Green Bay. This is a French name meaning "little river" and the place was so named by Champlain. The Indian name was Simkook. In the 1630s Razilly placed a few settlers here but by 1745 there were only two settlers. Benjamin Harrington and James Parks were among the earliest English settlers. Parks came in 1769.
A Methodist Church was given by Richard Taylor to that denomination in 1817. The present Wesley United Church was built in 1866.
St. Michael's Anglican Church was built about 1853 and completed in 1855. It was taken down and a new church was opened on September 29, 1886 and consecrated on February 27, 1889.
From the Nova Scotia Archives