Market and Fire Bell - Sydney, Nova Scotia
Posted by: 
denben
N 46° 08.571 W 060° 11.925
20T E 716345 N 5113734
Now a museum, St. Patrick’s Church was built as a Roman Catholic Church in 1828. It is located at 87 Esplanade in Sydney Nova Scotia.
Waymark Code: WM16G13
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/24/2022
Views: 0
This bell is on display at the St. Patrick’s Church Museum. The information sign reads: "Market Bell & Fire Bell - Market House, on the corner of Amelia and Charlotte streets, became the brigade headquarters, the market bell doing service as a fire alarm. The regulation was that when a fire broke out, a fireman ran to the station and rang the bell until a sufficient number of people gathered to fight the fire. The initials on the bell likely refer to Clement Hubert Harrington, a merchant and the first mayor of the town of Sydney in 1885."
St. Patrick’s Church is a one and one half storey, Gothic Revival style stone building. It is the oldest standing Roman Catholic Church in eastern Nova Scotia. Adjacent to the church is a small graveyard with the earliest gravestone dating from 1798. St. Patrick’s was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places on July 22, 2005. The church, cemetery and surrounding property are included in the designation.
St. Patrick’s Museum was originally built as a Roman Catholic Church in 1828. The church stands on the former site of a wooden edifice built for the pioneers in 1805. The congregation came from North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Bras d’Or, Low Point and Louisbourg. In 1850 a balcony was added to accommodate the burgeoning population of the area. Due to the increasing size of the congregation, a new church, Sacred Heart, was built and dedicated in 1874.
Lebanese Maronite immigrants worshipped at St. Patrick’s from 1912 to 1950. After that period The Ancient Order of Hibernians took it over until the early 1960s. The Old Sydney Society began to restore St. Patrick’s Church in 1966, and it now serves as a museum devoted to preserving and promoting the culture and heritage of Sydney and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
The museum officially opened in 1969. The exibits reflect both the natural and cultural heritage of the area with an assortment of artifacts that reflect aspects of life in Sydney over the centuries.
Opening Hours: June 01 - August 31; Mon to Fri 10h to 16h; September & October by appointment.
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