Pictou Island Heritage Society · Virtual Museum

Pictou Island Heritage Society

Preserving and sharing the history, stories, places and people of Pictou Island.

Explore Our History Search the Collection

This Week in Pictou Island History

5 November 1827

Asadalia — reported loss

The Standard notice reports Asadalia lost at Pictou Island on 5 November 1827. Its association with locally named Asadalia Reef remains attributed local knowledge, not a proven wreck position.

Explore the Timeline

Jack and Mary Rankin’s farm · landscape context; not a photograph of the dated event. · Andrea Rankin Sibley collection

The 1934 Airborne Wedding

The account of a wedding in an airplane over Pictou Island, with differing contemporary reports kept in view.

Read the Article

The East End shoreline — Island landscape context; not a photograph of the 1934 wedding. · Andrea Rankin Sibley collection

Featured Exhibit

Keeping the Island Lit

Three lighthouses and the families who kept them

Explore the Exhibit View All Exhibits

Keeping the Island Lit — Historic Island lighthouse · PIHS collection

An Island life

Archibald “Archie” MacDonald

Archie MacDonald kept the East Light from 1928 into the period when the station was being modernized. He had served in the Canadian Railway Force during the First World War and later returned to Pictou Island, where he and Charlotte MacLean raised their family.

Read the Biography Browse all biographies

Explore the Island

The Historical Map

1953 · The Island on the topographic map

Explore the first-edition Island detail, then open the complete East sheet and its legend.

Explore This Map Browse the Historical Atlas

Pictou Island detail from the 1953 topographic map — Published 1953; mapping information from 1945 and 1947. No geographic alignment is implied. · Canada, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys · NTS 11 E/15 East · Borealis · CC0 1.0

From the Collection · Photograph of the Week

Group at Cape Tormentine, N.B.

Cape Tormentine N.B. is written along the edge; Jimmie is marked beneath the group. Remaining people are unidentified here. Undated; see the source and caption notes.

View the Photograph Explore Family & Community Collections

Group at Cape Tormentine, N.B. · Contributed by Chris Stafford

Explore the Collection

People

Families, residents and the lives of people connected with Pictou Island.

Andrea Rankin Sibley collectionExplore People

Places

Roads, coves, buildings, cemeteries, community sites and changing landscapes.

Ray Hayman / PIHS collectionExplore Places

Exhibits

Explore larger stories and themes from Pictou Island’s history.

PIHS collectionBrowse Exhibits

Pictou Island Heritage Society

PIHS is a volunteer organization made possible by the time and effort of its board, members and community volunteers. The upkeep of Pictou Island’s heritage sites is ongoing. We greatly appreciate everyone who helps with this annual work.

About PIHS Become a Member Volunteer Support PIHS

PIHS is not a registered charity and does not issue tax receipts.