MUSEUM STATUS: Open Seasonally • Tue–Sun 10am–5pm
Preserving Caledonia & North Queens History Since 1854
(902) 682-2989 25 West Caledonia Rd Email Us Facebook

The Heritage House

For 172 years the Douglas house has stood on West Caledonia Road. Step inside one of the oldest homes in North Queens.

Built 1854 June–Sept, Tue–Sun, 10am–5pm Admission by Donation
An earlier photograph of the Heritage House with its hand-lettered North Queens Heritage House sign
172 Years On West Caledonia Road
Since 1854

A Pioneer Home, Now a Community Museum

The North Queens Heritage House was built in 1854 by Milton Foster Douglas, with his father John - one of the eight pioneers who settled Caledonia in 1820.

It is one of the oldest houses in the area: a modest farmhouse with a centre dormer and a pedimented front entry, raised on land the family had cleared a generation before. It remained in the Douglas family for well over a century, and Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Lee Ross - later a pioneering paediatric cardiologist - was born in it in 1927.

Today the North Queens Heritage Society keeps the house as a museum and archive. Its rooms are furnished as they would have been in the late 1800s, and its shelves hold the photographs, registers and ledgers that make it the research centre for the northern half of Queens County.

Period rooms from the 1880s
Library & genealogy archive
N.F. Douglas Store display
Wheelchair accessible
Inside the House

Room by Room

Every room is furnished with objects given by North Queens families. Click any photograph for a closer look.

The Kitchen at the North Queens Heritage House 01

The Kitchen

The wood-fired cookstove, the table set for tea, an old-model washing machine and a muzzle loader with a story behind it.

The Pantry at the North Queens Heritage House 02

The Pantry

Crocks, butter moulds, sifters and the wooden tools of a nineteenth-century North Queens household.

The Parlour at the North Queens Heritage House 03

The Parlour

The pump organ, the good chairs and the family portraits - the room kept for Sunday visitors.

The Barbershop at the North Queens Heritage House 04

The Barbershop

A fully appointed 1930s barber's chair and the bottles, brushes and razors to go with it.

The Nursery at the North Queens Heritage House 05

The Nursery

Cribs, cradles, a wicker pram and hand-stitched quilts from local families.

The Bedroom at the North Queens Heritage House 06

The Bedroom

A turned-spindle bed, a patchwork quilt and period clothing, laid out as if the owner had just stepped out.

Ruth Baxter Memorial Library at the North Queens Heritage House 07

Ruth Baxter Memorial Library

Local histories, family genealogies, school texts and the reference shelves of the research room.

The Study at the North Queens Heritage House 08

The Study

A heavy office typewriter, ledgers and the writing desk where the business of the district was done.

Woodsmen & Forestry at the North Queens Heritage House 09

Woodsmen & Forestry

Crosscut saws, peaveys, pulp hooks and the "Rusty Blades and Razor-Sharp Memories" display.

Plan Your Visit

Come and See It for Yourself

A few minutes from Kejimkujik National Park, just off Route 8 in the village of Caledonia.

Where

25 West Caledonia Road
Caledonia, NS B0T 1B0

When

June to September
Tuesday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
Research visits by appointment

Admission

By donation, always. Groups and school classes welcome - please call ahead.

Access

Wheelchair accessible. On-site parking and picnic tables. Call us about specific needs.

Directions & Contact See the Exhibits