Artifacts

Our Artifacts

The gallery below features a snapshot of some of the artifacts you’ll find at the LaHave Islands Marine Museum. There are over 3700 artifacts and photographs in our entire collection, so we recommend visiting us in-person to get the full experience!

You can also explore our entire collection online at Nova Muse.

Barber’s Chair: From local Barber Shop on Wolfe’s Island. Used by Mark Wolfe. Island residents would travel by boat to Wolfe’s Island for a haircut.
Broom: Hand made from one piece of birch wood. The shavings were tied down at one end to make the bristles on the broom end.
Dory: Used by a local teenager, David Hirtle, who drowned, donated by his mother. The dory is filled with artifacts that would have been traditionally found in a fishing vessel.
Fish Ear Earrings: Made from the otoliths or fish ear bones of a cod fish. Each fish has two of them located in the top of their head behind their eyes. They can be used to determine the age of a fish by slicing them crosswise and counting the rings like those of a tree.
Hand Carved Shovel: Carved by “Jerome,” a man found by two fisherman at Sandy Cove, Digby County, Nova Scotia. His legs had been freshly amputated and he was unable or unwilling to speak. His origins were unknown but it was commonly believed that he was the heir to a fortune and had been crippled and cast away to make way for someone else seeking his inheritance. While living in the area the stranger only uttered 3 words. To make money he would carve these shovels which were used to move salt for preserving caught fish on fishing vessels.
Lobster Claw: From a 28 pound lobster. Most lobsters are around 1 to 2 pounds. Note the loonie in the picture for scale.
Rosary: Was found in the mouth of a codfish by a seven year old Island resident.
Brown Rum Barrel: May have been used to by the Rum Runners to carry alcohol smuggled into Canada during the Prohibition era in the 1920s.
Gunning Tub: Also called a sink tub. Used by Theophilus A. Bush for duck hunting. People would sit in the tub and wait for ducks to come in, then they would stand and shoot the ducks. The duck decoys were attached to the tub to attract the ducks. This is the last one in the area.
Nine-Pointed Starfish: A very rare find in Nova Scotia, most starfish in the area have only five points.
Swordfish Sword: The blade of this sword is made from an actual sword fish jaw bone.
Cutch: Used in tanning cotton fish nets so they would not rot, be camouflaged in the water and would keep algae from growing on them.