By Isla Quinn
Seven streets by seven. That is the plan Lunenburg was laid out on in 1753, according to Nova Scotia’s tourism site, a strict grid on a hillside above the harbour. It still works.
Wikipedia says the town was founded that year as one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. In 1995 UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site, which Wikipedia describes as recognition of the best example of planned British colonial settlement in North America. The 2021 census counted 2,396 people, and Wikipedia says it counted 2,916 in 1901. Small town, big reputation.
Colour on the hill
The waterfront buildings are painted red, yellow and blue.
Look up from the street. A large copper cod weather vane sits on the spire of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. St. John’s Anglican Church, built in 1754, was gutted by fire in 2001 and restored, according to the same tourism guide. The Lunenburg Academy, a Victorian schoolhouse from 1895, is a National Historic Site.
Boats, then more boats
Lunenburg built ships. The Smith and Rhuland yard launched the schooner Bluenose in 1921, and later built Bluenose II in 1963 and the Sherman Zwicker in 1942, according to Wikipedia. The tourism guide says the town’s shipyards launched more than 30 vessels a year at their peak in the 1870s.
The museum on the waterfront
The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic is at 68 Bluenose Drive. It began aboard the schooner Theresa E. Connor in 1967. The museum calls her Canada’s oldest salt bank schooner and its flagship, and it also has the side trawler Cape Sable. It now fills a former fish processing plant on the waterfront. It is run by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society for the Nova Scotia Museum.
This is a good way to understand the town before you buy anything in it. See how the fish were caught, salted and shipped, and you will read the streets differently.
On the water
Bluenose II is a replica of the 1921 original, according to the tourism site, and runs harbour sails. Prices and schedules change, so check before you go. The museum’s own site lists her as operated by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, the same body that runs the museum.
Walking it
Do it on foot. The grid is small. Start at the waterfront, climb a block or two, and then drop back down toward the harbour. The tourism site lists guided walking tours, though prices change, and we have not checked current ones.
How to buy here
We have not yet profiled makers in Lunenburg, and we will not name any we cannot source. Learn the place first. What did the shipyards build with? How did the fish trade change the town? Ask those questions of any shop, studio or yard you pass, and write down the answers.
Roam first. Shop later.