The Beaton Institute, and its predecessor Cape Bretoniana, has served as the regional archives for Cape Breton Island/Unama’ki for over six decades. The Beaton Institute collects and preserves the social, economic, political, and cultural history of…

In 1966, historian Robert Morgan and chemist Don Arseneau were teaching at Xavier Junior College (now Cape Breton University) and wanted a student project for Canada’s Centennial celebration. A few blocks away was the empty and deteriorating St.…

Archibald Dodd was born sometime between 1740 and 1745 in the North of England. Although he came from a wealthy family, Dodd lost his inheritance, so he became a lawyer. In 1775, Dodd married a woman named Bridget – unhappily, it seems, as soon…

Captain John Butler Wilson arrived in Sydney in 1785 and became the first captain of the Sydney Garrison. Soon thereafter, Captain Wilson met and married an Irish Catholic named Margaret Caverly. Unlike his wife, Captain Wilson was an Anglican. The…

Sister Rita Clare (1933-2017) grew up in a musical family in Sydney. As a child she attended St. Joseph's School and Holy Angels Convent. She graduated from Holy Angels High School, the school where she would teach music for thirteen years. She…

Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres was born in 1721, probably in Switzerland. He came to North America after studying at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In 1756 he was commissioned Lieutenant in the Royal American Regiment and took part in the…

War Memorials are located in communities around Nova Scotia, but none are like the one in Wentworth Park in Sydney, Cape Breton. The monument is very impressive, standing well over three metres high, and is inscribed with the names of 61 Nova…

The steel plant in Sydney, Cape Breton, opened in 1901. It promised to be a modern facility with state-of-the-art Coke Ovens and an advanced steel making process. After the First World War, the steel industry experienced a recession, which caused…

Following the Second World War, the federal government sought to develop nuclear energy in Canada. The Crown Corporation, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), was established in 1952 for nuclear energy research and development. By 1962, AECL had…

On the morning of July 25, 1917, at No. 12 Colliery in New Waterford, Nova Scotia a devastating mine explosion erupted causing many casualties. It remains the worst mining disaster to have occurred on Cape Breton Island. There were 270 men and boys…