About
An editorial archive covering the maritime history of Canadian port towns, shipbuilding industries, lighthouse networks, and the working communities of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Brick & Harbor documents specific, verifiable aspects of Canada's maritime past. The focus is on the working infrastructure of port cities and coastal communities: the shipyards, fishing operations, lighthouse stations, and harbour facilities that defined the economic and social character of Canada's coastline from the colonial period through the mid-twentieth century.
Coverage draws on federal and provincial archival records, published historical accounts, and primary documentary sources where accessible. The site does not present original research in the academic sense, but it attempts to represent the secondary and primary literature on its subjects accurately and to indicate where the documentary record is thin or contested.
The archive's primary focus is the Atlantic Canadian provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador — where the density of maritime heritage is greatest and the documentary record most developed. Material on British Columbia and the St. Lawrence is included where it is directly relevant to the themes of port history and shipbuilding.
The temporal range runs roughly from the early European settlement period through the mid-twentieth century, with the period 1800 to 1950 receiving the most detailed coverage. Events and conditions after 1970 are generally outside scope except where they bear directly on the fate of heritage structures or communities.
Content on Brick & Harbor is written in an informational register, without commercial advocacy or promotional language. Facts that appear in the archive are drawn from sources that are cited inline or in section notes where available. Where the historical record is ambiguous, that ambiguity is acknowledged rather than resolved by assertion.
Images used on this site are sourced exclusively from Wikimedia Commons and are used under their stated Creative Commons licences. Image captions include attribution information.
Corrections, additions, and questions about sources are welcome. Brick & Harbor is not in a position to respond to all correspondence, but factual corrections supported by documentary evidence are taken seriously and will be reflected in updated text.
For editorial corrections, research inquiries, or general correspondence:
Use the form below for research inquiries or to submit corrections.
The content on this site is for informational and historical reference purposes only. Brick & Harbor makes no claims of completeness regarding historical records.