Artifact: An object showing human workmanship or modification as distinguished from a natural object.

The Museum of Industry collection consists of over 30,000 artifacts that reflect the past, present and future of industry in Nova Scotia. These artifacts represent both traditional industries such as coal mining and steel making, as well as new research and service-based industries. On exhibit are tools and machines, such as saw mills and Canada’s oldest steam locomotive, the Samson. There are also products of Nova Scotia manufacturers such as the MacKay Car, Acadia gas engines, Stanfield’s thermal underwear, and a beautiful collection of Nova Scotia pressed glass.

The Museum of Industry houses thousands of artifacts in its storage. These range in size and nature from art work to axes, locomotives to lunch boxes, washing machines to wrenches, trade union pins to a Bucyrus Erie steam shovel.

The collection is growing continually. As stewards of Nova Scotia’s industrial heritage, we collect artifacts that not only represent the province’s industrial past but also its present, so that a legacy will be preserved in the future. The 30,000 artifacts in the collection of the Museum of Industry represent the varied and numerous provincial industries that have developed in Nova Scotia since the 19th-century. These artifacts reflect the influence those industries have had on the lives of Nova Scotians, the economy and landscape.

A Few Facts:

*The Museum of Industry houses the heaviest collection of artifacts in the Nova Scotia Museum family, including nine locomotives.

*The largest artifact is the Cornish Pumphouse. This large stone structure once housed a pumping engine that could extract 700 gallons of water per minute from the Foord Pit coal mine, the site of which is presently occupied by the Museum itself. Built in 1866, this pumphouse was the first facility of its kind in North America.

*Samson, Canada’s oldest surviving locomotive, is part of the collection.

*The first Volvo manufactured in Canada calls the Museum of Industry home.

*The collection includes 4000 archaeological artifacts that were excavated on the Museum site.

*The Stellarton Via Rail Station, located right beside the museum, was the last passenger station built in Nova Scotia. It was acquired by the Museum as an artifact in 1990.

© Province of Nova Scotia 2003.
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