Pictou Academy - Pictou, NS
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 45° 40.620 W 062° 42.927
20T E 522161 N 5058200
Still active as a public school within the Nova Scotia public school system, Pictou Academy was founded in 1816 by Presbyterian minister Dr. Thomas McCulloch.
Waymark Code: WMY63V
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 04/28/2018
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Bon Echo
Views: 6
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Begun as a non-sectarian secondary school on March 26, 1816, Pictou Academy operated as such until 1831, at which time a grammar school was added to the college. By 1885 it had become the largest secondary school in Nova Scotia with students coming from across the province as well as from abroad. In 1942, by then accepting female students, its college status was removed, making it a grammar school only.

Used until 1879, the first building was constructed in 1818. A second, larger building opened in 1880 but burned in 1895. The third building also burned, to be replaced by Pictou Academy's current building which opened in 1940. Today it operates as a high school in the public school system.

Site of the first Pictou Academy which was erected in 1818 and demolished in 1932. Under the leadership and example of Dr. Thomas McCulloch it opened the door of opportunity to a hitherto neglected element of the population of the Maritime Provinces and gave many prominent men to Nova Scotia and the Dominion of Canada in journalism, literature, science, theology, education, and government.

From the CNHS Plaque

PICTOU Academy will be one hundred years old, March 26, 1916. It is one of the best known and probably, the most famous academy of learning in Canada. Over it was fought the battle of the nineteenth century against unconstitutional government and religious intolerance. It was largely over the rights and wrongs of the Academy, more than any other question, that the fight was waged and won for responsible government in Nova Scotia. It was a great educator in our provincial politics. Under it and through this great conflict our ablest statesmen were educated. The life of the Presbyterian Church hung upon it, for if it was to be perpetuated and extended, it must have a school to educate and train a native ministry. From the walls of the Academy has gone forth a constant stream of strong men and women into all parts of the world, who have graced almost every profession and walk in life. Its founders of rugged Presbyterian stock, esteemed education of next importance to the Bible, and quickly planted a school, on the lines of Edinburgh University, in their eyes, the ideal of what a college should be. It was to attract students from every clime and send them forth to every land.
From Electric Scotland
Pictou Academy
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Pictou Academy National Historic Site of Canada, of which there are no extant remains, is marked by a Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque on a cairn located on the corner of Church Street and Willow Street in Pictou, Nova Scotia. A pathway leads to the monument, enclosed by an iron fence, located on the southeast corner of the property. Official recognition refers to the site of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada monument commemorating the Pictou Academy.

HERITAGE VALUE
Pictou Academy was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1937 because:
- founded by Presbyterian minister and educator, Thomas McCulloch, in 1818, it introduced non-sectarian education to the Maritime Provinces.

In 1803, Thomas McCulloch, a Presbyterian minister, stopped over in Pictou on his way to Prince Edward Island due to inclement weather. He was persuaded to stay there and become the local Scottish congregation’s pastor. In a bid to establish a school for the Scottish community, McCulloch set up a grammar school and (in 1816) founded Pictou Academy. During the 1820s, McCulloch fought for provincial endowment of the Academy as a degree-granting institution and for public support of all educational institutions. Finally, in 1831, the Academy received a permanent endowment from the British to teach both collegiate and grammar school subjects. From that date, Pictou Academy offered classical and scientific education, though collegiate subjects were eventually abandoned. In 1880, the Pictou Academy was moved to a larger building, and the original building served as the West End School until its demolition in 1932. Alumni of Pictou Academy included various prominent Canadian professionals and businessmen.

CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
- its location in Pictou, Nova Scotia;
- its urban setting at the intersection of Church Street and Willow Street;
- the monument’s siting on the property of the original Pictou Academy which was demolished in 1932;
- the cut stone monument, erected in 1938, one side of which features the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque and the other a concrete bas-relief of the Academy building;
- the viewscapes of urban Pictou and of the Northumberland Strait.
From Historic Places Canada
URL of Page from Heritage Register: [Web Link]

Address of site:
27 Willow Street
Pictou, NS
B0K 1H0

Site's Own URL: Not listed
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