Closure of Ross-Thomson House & Store Museum

The Shelburne Historical Society is shocked and dismayed by the decision of the provincial government to close 12 museum sites in Nova Scotia, including our own Ross-Thomson House & Store Museum, especially in light of the extensive renovations to the exterior of the building that have been undertaken over the past two years.

The Ross-Thomson House was the first artefact donated to the Shelburne Historical Society.  In fact, the Society was organized in 1947 in order to accept it.  For almost seven decades, the SHS has operated the museum, during which time generations of Shelburne's teens have worked their first summer jobs there.  Opened as Shelburne's local history museum, in the 1970s the SHS convinced the Nova Scotia Museum of the building's interpretive importance as the last remaining loyalist-era store in Nova Scotia, and it became part of our provincial family of museums.  Since then, we have worked in partnership with NSM to preserve and interpret the many stories connected with the building, about work, commerce, agriculture, craft and lifeways in early Shelburne.  Recently, we have been energized by expanding the stories to include that of Catherine Edwards, a woman enslaved at the Ross-Thomson House who self-emancipated and successfully secured her freedom in a court of law.  We are disappointed that this expanded narrative will likely never be exhibited in the way we had envisioned.

The provincial government's investment in the Ross-Thomson House & Store Museum, as well as the other 11 sites slated for closure, represented not only an investment in history and heritage, but was also an investment in rural communities.  The operating grant at RTH allowed us to pay staff wages, which were then spent, largely, in the local community.  Repairs and renovations, paid for with provincial funding, were made by local contractors.  From May – September, the museum provided employment for two seasonal Heritage Interpreters as well as summer students, so the closure will have some impact on staff at Shelburne’s Museums by the Sea as well as the community.

Like 24 of the 28 sites of the Nova Scotia Museum, the 12 museums slated for closure were operated by volunteer boards and organizations, made up mainly of members from the communities in which they are located.  Many, RTH included, became provincial museums only through the passionate campaigning of community members who saw the value of these places to their towns and to the province at large. 

The province’s museums generate significant tourism attraction and revenue, as well as community pride.  While we are sensitive to the financial difficulties being faced by the province at this time, we believe that the return on investment in these rural sites far outweighs the small costs to run them.  

We are hopeful that as a provincially and municipally designated heritage building, this historic edifice will not be lost.  We are also hopeful that the Nova Scotia Museum will see fit to transfer back to our care artefacts that were donated to the Society in the past and were absorbed into the NSM's collection during the reorganization in the 1970s.

The Shelburne Historical Society will continue to operate the Dory Shop Museum, which remains a site of the Nova Scotia Museum, and the Shelburne County Museum, both of which will have extremely contracted budgets for the coming year.  We want to thank those who have been active in their advocacy on our behalf and those who have offered support directly.