TRURO – The Hubtown will be featured in a new online exhibit by the Nova Scotia Archives which will allow Nova Scotians to explore unique historic views of the province.
In the summer of 1931, a pilot and a photographer flew over Nova Scotia, taking camera shots along the way. The result was 221 black-and-white images showing 39 different communities from Amherst to Yarmouth, Truro to Halifax, and the South Shore.
Stanfield's Limited and Eastern Hat and Cap are two of the companies visible in Truro.
"The collection of aerial photos is yet another example of how the Nova Scotia Archives is preserving our heritage through valuable documents and photos from our past," said Communities Culture and Heritage Minister Leonard Preyra in a news release. "The archives are pleased to present the images online in a high-resolution, zoomable format for Nova Scotians to explore and enjoy."
‘Nova Scotia from the Air: The Richard McCully Aerial Photograph Collection, 1931’ is named after the man who pioneered commercial aerial photography in Atlantic Canada. The camera captured communities, homes, businesses, churches, farms and waterfronts as they looked in the early 1930s. Many of the structures photographed no longer exist or have been significantly altered.
The collection provides significant aerial coverage of contemporary industrial activity and buildings including Canadian Car and Foundry Co. in Amherst, the Imperial Oil Refinery in Dartmouth and the Yarmouth Cotton Mills.
Other images show the experimental farms in Nappan and Kentville, the Kentville sanitorium, the exhibition grounds and Chebucto Road airport in Halifax, the Halifax Shipyard, the RMS Olympic in Halifax Harbour, and Oak Island in Mahone Bay.
The photos also depict Acadian sites, such as the Grand Pré memorial and Université Sainte-Anne.
Various colleges and universities were also photographed from the air as well as the original Public Archives of Nova Scotia building, opened in 1931.
To view Nova Scotia from the Air, go to www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/mccully.
