In all my years of living in the Annapolis Valley and driving around on the back roads looking for interesting places I never once discovered Margaretsville. I feel like I’ve missed out on a wonderful part of Nova Scotia and am giddy now that I have found it.
The one thing I remember about Margaretsville is that years ago it was a haven for soap opera stars who wanted to get away, specifically those from Another World. Most have left and have now been replaced by German tourists.
The Margaretsville lighthouse is one of Nova Scotia’s noted lighthouses because it is the first one to be built on the Bay of Fundy. It was erected in 1859 and like most lighthouses has its share of ghost stories. The one still circulating amongst the older residents is of a lighthouse keeper who used to take off his hat, bow before an invisible entity and say: “Good evening, Dave” before entering the lighthouse.
Residents say that he was talking to the ghost of a man who committed suicide by jumping off the wharf at high tide. When the body of the jumper was recovered it was taken to the lighthouse and left there overnight before being buried in an unmarked grave the next day. Apparently his spirit stayed behind.
While by the wharf, Uncle Jeff, La Niña and I discovered an ice cream parlour. I think we’ll have to come back one evening for a good old fashioned treat…
