Photograph from the West Hants Historical Society collection showing excavation at Kentville with a Windsor and Annapolis Railway flat car No. 84, likely the leveling of the glacial hill behind the Kentville Station, later the site of the Cornwallis Inn, circa 1890.

Cataloguing Information:

West Hants Historical Society Museum Print, Photographic Accession number: 12.6.07.24 Category: Graphic Documents Date: before 2007 Materials: Paper Measurements: 12.5 cm L x 20 cm W Narrative: Kentville is one of the main towns in the Annapolis Valley. Kentville owes its existence to the Cornwallis River which becomes a tidal river just downstream from Kentville. Kentville was the limit of sailing ships and the most accessible crossing point on the river. The area was first settled by the Acadians who built many dykes along the river to keep the Bay of Fundy tides out of their farmland. The led to the fertile nature of the soil. The Acadians were expelled by the British in 1755 because they would not swear allegiance to the British King. The area was then settled by New England Planters and later by Loyalists during and after the American Revolution. The settlement was originally known as Horton's Corner but was named Kentville in 1826 after Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, visited the area in 1794. The settlement was smaller than other neighbouring communities and gained a reputation for rowdiness. The prosperity of the settlement grew after 1868 when the Windsor and Annapolis Railway established its headquarters in Kentville and began shipping apples to British markets.

Description: Photograph of a quarry in Kentville, Nova Scotia.

Link to record on NovaMuse database: http://www.novamuse.ca/Detail/objects/139931