Connecting Albert County - Culture and Heritage - Connecting Albert County

Albert County Historical Society Presents an Exciting Community Project

2/8/2024

Submitted by Dawne McLean

Local history comes to life with heritage drama

“Tall Trees & Fresh Fields”

What is the project?

The community project is a collaborative partnership between the Albert County Historical Society and the professional heritage actors and script writers of Character Matters Miramichi theatrical troupe. An entertaining Heritage Drama of professional quality will be produced and performed in Albert County community venues, portraying an important era of Albert County’s past … the bygone days of the lumbering industry with log crews, pike poles and river-dries and the past days of self-sufficient, family-run farms throughout the county.

Recap of the R. B. Bennett Day Celebration

31/7/2023

A Recap of the R. B. Bennett Day Celebration at the Albert County Museum & RB Bennett Commemorative Centre
by Dawne McLean, ACHS President

The Albert County Historical Society, through the “New Horizons for Seniors Program”, was pleased to offer a “bring to life” heritage experience to the community.

The highlight of the 2023 RB Bennett Day celebration was the live theatre heritage drama performance, “Just Between Friends”, provided by professional actors, Thomas Daley and Shawn McCarthy of “Character Matters Production Company,”in Miramichi, NB. The drama script was written specifically for the July 3rd Bennett Day event by the performing actors. Not only did the drama performance provide enjoyable community entertainment, but the audience was provided a memorable experience of learning more about two significant political figures born in New Brunswick.

Albert County Museum Open for Season

30/5/2022

by Janet Clouston

Albert County Museum Officially opened May 21st for the 2022 season. To kick-off the celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of the Museum, which opened to the public May 19, 1962, a symbolic ribbon cutting took place at 1:00pm in front of the Albert County Court House (1904) with some of the original artefacts that were on hand 60 years ago! We made an announcement on a special program along with our new “$60 for 60 Years” campaign. We welcomed long-term residents as well as those new to Albert County to discover the history of their new home!

The Monarchy Celebrated Once Again at the Court House!

2/5/2022

by Dawne McLean, President ACHS

In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ascending to the throne, the Albert County Historical Society will host a Platinum Jubilee Ceremony at the Court House on the grounds of the Albert County Museum, Hopewell Cape, on Saturday, June 4, 2022. This event will provide an opportunity to pay tribute to “our Queen of Canada”, who, for many of us, is the only Monarch we have ever known.

Museum Celebrating Diamond Jubilee

27/2/2022

Donald Bishop, Warden of Albert County, is pictured cutting the ribbon to officially open the Albert County Museum at Hopewell Cape on Saturday, May 19, 1962. Looking on is Allison Steeves, President of the Albert County Historical Society, which operates the museum.

by Janet Clouston

We are pleased to share the content from this article from 1962 with the readers of Connecting Albert County. The Albert County Museum opened with 200 items in their collection and we now have nearly 9000 items!

One of the items is the Guest Book from the 1962 season with the names of the guests who visited during the first year the Museum was in operation. We hope you enjoy the article and photo. We look forward to welcoming you to the Museum during the 60th Anniversary in 2022!

Love Your Covered Bridge Day at Sawmill Creek Bridge

21/8/2021

By Dawne McLean

The “Love Your Covered Bridge Day” event hosted by the Albert County Historical Society on Sunday, August 1st, was a well-attended celebration and show of appreciation for the 113-year-old Sawmill Creek Bridge in Hopewell Hill. This followed the NB Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s major preservation project of replacing the roof on the covered bridge.

Love Your Covered Bridge Day

6/7/2021

By Dawne McLean

The Albert County Historical Society invites one and all to the “Love Your Covered Bridge Day” event on Sunday, August 1st from 2pm-4pm at the Sawmill Creek Covered Bridge in Hopewell Hill, Albert County.

Albert County Museum 2021

26/5/2021

By Janet Clouston

The Albert County Historical Society is excited to showcase a new exhibit at the Albert County Museum. The Grindstone Island exhibit features heritage photos taken on Grindstone Island by Hugh Wright (lightkeeper from 1939 to 1950), as well as photos of Wainwright “Pappy” Weston and his family. Pappy was the last Grindstone lightkeeper; he served as lightkeeper from 1950 to 1970.

A special feature shares personal memories from two lightkeeper families. Mary Russell, daughter of James Russell (lightkeeper from 1899 to 1913), wrote a fascinating and detailed account of her childhood experiences when she and her eight siblings lived on Grindstone Island more than 120 years ago.

Albert County Historical Society Presents Lifetime Membership to Beulah Morrissey

20/11/2020

By Dawne McLean

It was an honour for the Albert County Historical Society at the 2020 AGM to present a Lifetime Membership to Beulah Morrissey of Riverside-Albert in recognition of her passionate dedication in sharing the rich heritage of her community and of Albert County.

As a well-known and respected local historian, Beulah has contributed greatly to helping people of all ages gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the proud heritage of their community.

Fundy Quilt Show and Sale

8/5/2019

Submitted by Linda Rose

The Albert County Historical Society will hold the 43rd Annual Quilt Show and Sale from July 9-13th. We are inviting area quilters and fiber artists to register articles for sale. We hope to display more than 100 quilts, plus a wide variety of lap quilts, baby quilts and quilt tops. There will be numerous, small, finished articles: everything from pincushions, potholders, hand towels, baby items, purses, scarfs, socks, mitts to wool-hooked rugs. Sewn, knitted, cross-stitched, crocheted, hooked and felted articles are welcomed. If it is made with fibre, you can register the article at our Show and Sale. Registration forms are on the Albert County Museum website www.albertcountymuseum.com/fibreartquiltshow.

New Managing Director at the Albert County Museum

8/5/2019

The Albert County Museum & RB Bennett Commemorative Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of new Managing Director Janet Clouston. “We are very excited to have Janet in place to work with us to lead the Museum into the future,” said Stuart Liptay, President of the Board of Directors of the Albert County Historical Society.

Aaarrr...Here be Pirates!

28/9/2018

Greetings from the Albert County Museum.
The 2018 summer season is behind us and my motley crew of dedicated summer employees are back to school. Usually, that's the end of our Museum hours, but I'm pleased to report that thanks to a grant from the New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, the Museum was able to hire three "experienced employees” (that's over the age of 55) to extend our season to October 14th. What a great opportunity for our older fall tourists to take tours of the ACM under the umbrella of the glorious fall foliage of our wonderful County.
In this installment of Connecting Albert County, I thought I would spin a story of days gone by. A story of the early settlers of our area that dates back to the year 1698.

Canada without R.B. Bennett?

27/6/2017

By Melody Land

This year, the Albert County Museum is celebrating the 7th Annual RB Bennett Day in conjunction with our Canada 150 celebrations. Why, though, do we have such a day? Why is RB Bennett so important? Sure, he was born and raised in Hopewell Cape.

He was the 11th Prime Minister of Canada. But really, what’s the big deal with this guy anyway?

Sometimes, the best way to answer a question is with another question: What would Canada look like without Richard Bedford Bennett?

RB Bennett Day Celebrations

6/7/2016

By James Wilson

Despite the rain, the Albert County Museum's 6th Annual R.B. Bennett Day went ahead on Saturday. The day, meant to fall close to Bennett's July 3rd birthday, honours Canada's 11th prime minister and the only Canadian prime minister born in New Brunswick. The morning breakfast brought out 41 people and the kitchen had only three pancakes and a little bit of bacon left over at noon. Due to the rain the plan to barbecue hot dogs was abandoned and they were boiled instead.

Exciting Change at the Albert County Museum!

5/7/2016

Haven't been to the Museum in years? Then it is a perfect time to go explore our local history as effective immediately, the Albert County Museum is now offering scheduled guided tours and special activities.

The schedule is located here. Please note that admission is now valid for two consecutive days to allow visitors the opportunity to experience each of the different tours at their convenience.

A brief history of the Steeves family name

13/5/2016

Heinrich and Regina Stief left their homeland Germany in 1749 and settled in Pennsylvania. From there, in 1766, they and a small group of fellow settlers migrated to the rough terrain around New Brunswick's Petitcodiac River.

Faced with starvation, frigid winters, and abandonment by their sponsors-‐among them Benjamin Franklin‐-the settlers defied the odds by not only surviving, but prospering. The Stief family finally settled in what is now Hillsborough, Albert County, New Brunswick.

In the Return of Inhabitants of the Township of Hillsborough taken in 1783 the Stief name disappeared and was anglicized into Steeve. The Walling Map of 1862 records the name as Steves and after a couple other subsequent ‘clerical errors’ the name has become Steeves. Steeves descendants now number upwards of 300,000 worldwide.

Albert County Museum Plans for 2016

11/1/2016

The Albert County Historical Society held its first meeting of the year on January 7th to discuss the operations of the Albert County Museum for the 2016 season.