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Difference between revisions of "Grand Pre Park"

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File:Grand Pre Postcard.jpg|Photographic postcard of [[Grand Pre]] circa 1915.
 
File:Grand Pre Postcard.jpg|Photographic postcard of [[Grand Pre]] circa 1915.
 
Image:Highlightscover.jpg|Cover of [[Highlights of Nova Scotia History]] showing the [[New Yorker]] passing the [[Grand Pre Park]].
 
Image:Highlightscover.jpg|Cover of [[Highlights of Nova Scotia History]] showing the [[New Yorker]] passing the [[Grand Pre Park]].
 +
File:Acadian June 9, 1922.jpg|Article and photos of the construction of the [[Grand Pre Park]] memorial chapel and the [[Grand Pre Water Tower]], "Memorial Building at Grand Pre" in ''The Acadian'', June 9, 1922
 
File:Rail_Cars_Grand_Pre_1922_HH_Reid_cJamieRobertson_Full_Width.jpg|Circuit camera shot of Evangeline statue in the [[Grand Pre Park|memorial park]] with station and warehouses in the background, Aug. 16, 1922.
 
File:Rail_Cars_Grand_Pre_1922_HH_Reid_cJamieRobertson_Full_Width.jpg|Circuit camera shot of Evangeline statue in the [[Grand Pre Park|memorial park]] with station and warehouses in the background, Aug. 16, 1922.
 
File:Rail_Cars_Grand_Pre_1922_HH_Reid_cJamieRobertson_Zoom_in.jpg|Detail of circuit camera shot of Evangeline statue in the [[Grand Pre Park|park]]with the [[Grand Pre Station|station]], and warehouses in the background, including the [[Grand Pre Fruit Company Warehouse]] to the far left, Aug. 16, 1922.
 
File:Rail_Cars_Grand_Pre_1922_HH_Reid_cJamieRobertson_Zoom_in.jpg|Detail of circuit camera shot of Evangeline statue in the [[Grand Pre Park|park]]with the [[Grand Pre Station|station]], and warehouses in the background, including the [[Grand Pre Fruit Company Warehouse]] to the far left, Aug. 16, 1922.

Revision as of 18:28, 18 June 2022

Grand Pre Park, Nova Scotia

Description & History

A line of willow trees and an old well associated with the vanished Acadian village across the track from the Grand Pre Station station quickly became a scenic attraction for tourists attracted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" which was set at Grand Pre. The Windsor & Annapolis Railway promoted the surrounding landscape to attract American tourists. In 1907 a Wolfville resident with Acadian roots, John Frederic Herbin, bought the land across from the station believed to be the site of the Acadian church so that it might be protected and built a small memorial cross.

Herbin sold the land to the DAR in 1917 on the condition that Acadians be involved in its preservation. The railway made major investments at the site hiring a landscape architect to work with the DAR's head gardener to create a large memorial garden at the site. In 1920 the Dominion Atlantic erected a statue of Evangeline created by the Canadian sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert. The railway donated a piece of the land in the park to the Acadian community to build a memorial church in 1922. A new picturesque, log-cabin stye station was built on the north side of the tracks in 1925 connected to the park by landscaped paths. The church opened as a museum in 1930 jointly run by the Acadian community and the DAR. After the decline in passenger travel in the 1950s, the DAR sold the memorial gardens to Parks Canada in 1957.

Gallery

References & Footnotes


Reference Tag

External Links