Uncovering the Lost Town of Shulie, Nova Scotia: Nothing Left but Memories
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Published 2023-09-05
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Cumberland County is a large section of land in Nova Scotia, Canada, jutting into the Bay of Fundy. Thickly forested, its history is made up primarily of logging, mining, and shipbuilding, with its southern shore producing famous ships, including the infamous Mary Celeste, previously explored on this channel.
But, on its north shore, once sat a thriving community now erased from most maps. We’re exploring the site of an old logging camp and mill and the small town that was built around it. There’s not much left here to actually see, but there are countless stories to uncover and tell. This is the town of Shulie, Nova Scotia.
Today, in the heat, humidity, and swarms of bugs, we’re exploring what little remains of this once thriving community alongside Fred Priest, who is a descendant of several residents of Shulie. He also happens to be my wife’s grandfather.
We also explore the story of the giant logging rafts sent out from near Joggins down to New York City in the 1880's.
For genealogical purposes, here's a list of family names discussed in this video: Priest, Patterson, Colbourne, Warren, Hoeg, Goldstein, Copp, and Greer.
All Comments (21)
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It’s hard to put to words the feeling I get hearing of people who lived and loved and existed in a town that sadly can just fade away into time. Life is so vast, we can live our lives and will still be forgotten by time.
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The guy sailing his entire house and livelihood along the coast to a nicer spot is hilarious, he's a true Nova Scotian lmao
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It is both amazing and somewhat sad to realize how many lost fishing/logging communities there are around Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec. I can't help but think of all the hours of work and danger they went through to raise a community out of the wilderness. And how little remains to commemorate their struggles. It isn't often I get to hear stories about the history of the areas I grew up, so I really appreciate it. There is a rich history in Nova Scotia, but it can be startling how little we are taught of it.
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When a wild goose chase turns up ANYTHING even a nail, to me, that’s SOOOOOO exciting. When I was a child my mom used to take me exploring abandoned houses. That still excites me at almost 68!!!
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"That's not him, that's his dog" Never stop Tom.
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As a Nova Scotian I really appreciate your channel. Thank for you telling our history ❤
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As an Acadian Ocean Liner and history enthusiast this means so much to me. Thanks for exploring more of Atlantic Canada’s history.
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I’m from PEI but have many roots in Nova Scotia, thank you for sharing our history which is so often forgotten, and thanks to your wife’s grandfather for keeping history alive
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Tom, this was such a fun video. Your personal attachment to the area and people was very special and there were many many parts where my husband and I were either surprised or amazed. Great video
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I like poking around old former town locations such as you did at Shulie. It never ceases to amaze me when walking through dense forest and rugged terrain that it was even possible that anyone erected buildings on the land. Yet in old photographs it would look level and fairly groomed. There are thousands of locations just like this. Thank heavens that historians chronicle these tales for people to learn, enjoy, and pass along to future generations.
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As a French Canadian, the term sous lis, yes can mean under read, but the context is missing. It most likely means sous lis, under the lily as in the fleur de lis, Symbol of French Crown. Meaning they are under French rule, not English rule. At the time the distinction was important because of tension and wars between French and English.
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I know you said in a previous video that your ghost town videos don't have as many views as your ship videos but I very much do enjoy and appreciate them made me appreciate the smaller quiet towns in the United States and gets me interested to visiting them
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What a beautiful memory for you, your grandfather-in-law, and your father-in-law! This will be something you can show your son when he's older and share the generational love of exploration and adventure!
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I like the way you merge the old photo’s into the new landscape, helps to get a feel for it
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Please consider a segment on the "lost town" of Valsetz, Oregon, at one time a thriving community with a high school, many businesses, and high employment, until limited access to timber and the environmental consciousness forced its demise within a generation: abandoned, bulldozed and razed. It was not a logging camp, it was a town with hundreds of people.
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Wonderful story, Tom. Good to see your Emma's grandfather, too. History lives on. Thank you for presenting this story.
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Hello from North of Sweden, and old logging county of Västernorrland. Nice video. Most hardware lost from this era but the storys are still around. Story from my childhood: We keept loggin the old way by-water in to modern age here. So interesting timber canals was built to get around the waterpowerplants. When they shut down the timber-by-water method, the canals were used as a means to travel, by walking, skateboards or riding bikes between villages for a time. These canals mostly built in wood roted away ofc and was torn down in the end. Missed by a lot of the locals.
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On behalf of my family the Pattersons’, I would love to thank you for this! Not only are you preserving long lost history… you are preserving memories for the newer generations, and I appreciate it more than any words than I could express at this moment. So again Thank you from my family and myself Darcy Patterson.. one of many descendants of the Patterson’s from Shulie, NS. 💕
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2 years ago on the way to Joggins I stopped on that bridge and took some pictures of the river, not realizing that so much history was around me. Thanks for putting this together.
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That was beyond repulsive that those wooden crosses were kicked over. Those were placed there by people who loved them. Desecrating a grave is absolutely vile. Nova Scotia is my very favourite place in the world, what a shameful thing to see there! You really packed alot of information in this video, well 👏🏻done young man, thank you for sharing this!👍🏻😄🐾🌈☮️🇨🇦(Ottawa)
