mapannapolis

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

KING’S ORANGE RANGERS ENCAMPMENT AT NORTH HILLS MUSEUM, GRANVILLE FERRY, NS OCT. 17 & 18

Have you ever heard of the King’s Orange Rangers? They were a British Loyalist battalion from New York but ended up serving in Nova Scotia.

They were raised in 1776 to defend British interests but arrived in Halifax in November two years later.

If you want to learn more about the Rangers, and their dubious duty to the Crown, join folks at North Hills Museum in Granville Ferry on October 17-18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days for the King's Orange Rangers Encampment. “History will be brought to life during two full days of family-friendly fun,” says the Annapolis Heritage Society: Making Connections in a recent social media post.

mapannapolis will be there to join in the fun with the King's Orange Rangers Living History Unit as they tell the tale of Major Samuel Bayard and how he took his troops to Port Williams to intimidate the Planters, and later ended up with a massive land grant in Wilmot Mountain.

“Today, the King's Orange Rangers Living History Unit is a local group of volunteers who interpret the skills and experiences of a 1776-83 Loyalist Regiment, including musketry, cooking, and traditional crafts,” the AHS post said.

To see more from the Annapolis Heritage Society, go to: https://tinyurl.com/2v2rd284

To visit the Orange Rangers’ page, go to: https://www.facebook.com/kingsorangerangers

Visit Mapannapolis here:
https://www.mapannapolis.ca/

10/12/2026

ANNAPOLIS COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA IS THE LAND OF PLENTY

Celebrating Thanksgiving in a place where plenty is part of the landscape and abundance is a way of life should be a daily observance in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia.

From the foraging, fishing, and hunting by the Mi'kmaq going back millennia, to the Acadian farming practices of the 1600s and 1700s, to the larger-scale farming and fishing practices of today there is a lot to be thankful for.

Some of the most fertile farmland in Canada exists because of the Acadian d***s.
Annapolis County is a microcosm of Canada and the place from which modern-day Canada evolved as the French explorers met the Mi'kmaq in friendship in 1605 at Port-Royal.

mapannapolis and all of its many volunteers wish you the bounty of the season and best wishes for abundance in the future. Many thanks to all our volunteers and partners.

To explore Annapolis County using our website, go to:
https://www.mapannapolis.ca/

10/09/2026

200th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSECRATION OF ST. LUKE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH IN ANNAPOLIS ROYAL

This year St. Luke’s Anglican Church is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its consecration in 1826—that’s 11 years before Queen Victoria came to the throne.

Completed in 1822, St. Luke’s has been a landmark on St. George Street ever since.

Once a garrison church, it has been the backdrop of life events for many residents of Annapolis Royal. Generations have worshiped here, celebrated marriages and baptisms, and mourned loved ones in those hallowed walls.

Mapannapolis encourages you to join the Parish of Annapolis – St. Luke’s Anglican Church on Sunday, October 18, at 10 a.m. to celebrate this historic milestone.

Images of St. Luke’s Anglican Church courtesy of the Annapolis Heritage Society’s Flickr:
196386193@N03/" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/196386193@N03/

Visit Mapannapolis’ website here:
https://www.mapannapolis.ca/

10/07/2026

PORT-ROYAL JOURNAL 42: JEAN PRÉJEAN DIT LE BRETON, A MAN OF PARADISE

JOURNAL DE PORT-ROYAL JOURNAL 42: JEAN PRÉJEAN DIT LE BRETON, UN HOMME DE PARADIS (En Français: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LdBrCuiDg/)

Jean lived between Paradis-terrestre and Village Gaudet (Bridgetown). His nickname suggests that he was from Britany, France. Jean likely arrived in Acadia after 1671. Around 1 683 he married Andrée Savoie. They had 12 children.

The Préiean family lived on the north side of the Dauphin (Annapolis River) about 25 km east of the French fort at Port-Royal. The family owned 1 arpent of land, 1 hog and 2 guns in the 1686 census. In the 1693 census with 4 children, the farm had grown to contain 6 cattle, 8 sheep, 5 pigs, 14 arpents of land and 1 gun. By 1698, the prosperous family owned 17 cattle, 19 sheep, 5 hogs, as well as an orchard of 60 fruit trees. In 1714. There were 10 children.

One can only imagine that life was good for this family based on the growth they experienced in this short time. What are the missing bits of information that would help us understand the lives of these people? Politically, times were turbulent. Perhaps living far away from the fort offered the Préjean family the peace necessary for prosperity?

The Port-Royal Journal is a series dedicated to revealing the stories of everyday life in the community.

To see more Port-Royal Journals, go here:
https://www.mapannapolis.ca/port-royal-journal

For more information on Jean Préjean, go here:
https://tinyurl.com/mvham4wf

Image: Early Acadia by Claude T. Picard

10/05/2026

TREATY DAY, MI'KMAW HISTORY MONTH A CHANCE TO LEARN IN ANNAPOLIS COUNTY, NS

We started October with Treaty Day on October 1, a celebration of the anniversary of the 1752 Treaty of Friendship and Peace. And it marked the beginning of Mi’kmaw History Month in Nova Scotia. The day, and the month, are intended to promote public awareness about the Mi’kmaw culture and heritage for all Nova Scotians.

Mi'kmaq History Month in Nova Scotia was proclaimed in 1993 by then Premier John Savage and Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy.

“A vibrant new poster titled “Nepisulti’k — We Are Healing” launches Mi’kmaw History Month (MHM) this October, inviting people across Mi’kma’kik to reflect on healing as a lifelong journey — one rooted in understanding ourselves, our histories, our relationships, and our connectedness to one another,” it says on the Mi’kmaw History Month website.

The website said the heart of this year’s theme comes from teachings shared by the late Elder Murdena Marshall, whose guidance continues to shape cultural learning across Mi’kma’kik.

“Healing and health are not something a person achieves, Elder Murdena taught, but rather a journey that people live every day,” the site explained. “Healing is an ongoing process, she said, one that takes courage and is unique to each person.”

The month’s purpose is to promote public awareness about the Mi'kmaw culture and heritage for all citizens of Nova Scotia.

To learn more about Mi’kmaw History Month, go to:
https://mikmaqhistorymonth.ca/

See our blog on Mi'kmaq artist Lorne Julien here:
https://tinyurl.com/2pp3szswQ

Read about treaties in our Treaty Day blog: https://www.mapannapolis.ca/blog/treaty-day

See our blog on Mi'kmaq art and culture:
https://tinyurl.com/39wrztmk

See our blog on Mi'kmaq archeological work in the Annapolis Valley: https://tinyurl.com/5d25ajjw

See our blog on The Nature of Place Names: https://www.mapannapolis.ca/blog/the-nature-of-place-names

Look up local Mi'kmaq place names here:
https://mikmawplacenames.ca/

To explore the Kespukwitk Conservation Corridor storymap, go to : https://tinyurl.com/Kespukwitk

A video included in the Kespukwitk Conservation Corridor storymap is about birchbark canoe builder Todd Labrador:
https://tinyurl.com/ToddLabrador

To explore the many Storymaps of Mapannapolis, go to: https://www.mapannapolis.ca/

To see the Mapannapolis blog 'The Mi'kmaq and their Language', go to: https://tinyurl.com/MikmaqLanguage

For more information from the Nova Scotia Archives, go to: https://museum.novascotia.ca/whats-on/tan-mej-tel-keknuoltiek-how-unique-we-still-are

To see our Mi'kmaq video, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGGmV-W9JOM&t=31s