The Guardian of Charlottetown's Mitch McConnell writes about how 19th century Rustico priest George Belcourt, a leader in the Island's Acadian community, was the first owner of an automobile in all Canada in the 1860s.

Although few Prince Edward Islanders are aware of it, the wheels of Canadian automobile history first began rolling a little over ( Read more... )

• Beyond the Beyond notes an upcoming exhibition of photos of Vaclav Havel.
• blogTO notes a local controversy over the demolition of a community-built skate park.
• Centauri Dreams considers how advanced starfaring civilizations might deal with existential threats.
• Crooked Timber looks at how presidential debates could be used to teach logic.
• Language Hat ( Read more... )

Michael Conor McCarthy, writing for The Guardian of Charlottetown, notes Parks Canada's interest in renaming the Port-la-Joye-Fort Amherst National Historic Site. The Amherst of the name was associated with atrocities against indigenous peoples and Acadians. Is renaming the site a good way to make a rhetorical break with the past? I do wonder.

A ( Read more... )

• The Boston Globe's Big Picture reports on the scene from Palmyra after the expulsion of ISIS.
• James Bow links to a documentary on the search for Planet Nine.
• The Dragon's Tales speculates that the ability to enter torpor might have saved mammals from the en of the Cretaceous extinction.
• Honourary Canadian Philip Turner discovers the Chiac dialect of ( Read more... )

CBC's Éric Grenier reports on Liberal strength in Atlantic Canada, with New Brunswick's Francophones and Nova Scotia being particularly strong.

Atlantic Canada is not the largest prize in this election campaign, with only 32 seats at stake. And with the Liberal Party polling strongly in the region ever since Justin Trudeau became leader, there are ( Read more... )

My cousin Diane linked on Facebook to Francies Willick's Halifax Chronicle-Herald article on the rug hooking craft that has made the Acadian community of Chéticamp, on the western shore of Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, famous. It turns out that the economics of this folk craft just aren't enough to sustain it.

[... Lola] LeLievre fears [... r] ( Read more... )

This bronze bust of Napoleon III was an unlikely centrepiece of the Farmer's Bank of Rustico collection. Napoleon III was a patron of the Acadians, it turns out.

The Bust of Napoleon III unveiled at a special ceremony held at St. Augustine's Church on Saturday, April 3, 2004, with representation of the various groups present as part of the 400th ( Read more... )

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South Rustico's Doucet House is of note in Island history, as noted at HistoricPlaces.ca.

The Doucet House is rare example of Acadian vernacular construction in PEI. A dendrochronological study has dated the surviving original wood frame of the building to 1768, making it possibly the oldest dwelling in PEI. The Doucet House is significant to the ( Read more... )

St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, located in the north shore community of South Rustico perhaps a quarter-hour's drive east of Cavendish, is of considerable note architecturally and historically. Not only is it one of the oldest churches in Prince Edward Island, but it has traditionally been a focus for the Island's Acadian community; Rustico ( Read more... )