Lunenburg: Then and Now

Margaret Conrad is Canada Research Chair in Atlantic Canada Studies at
the University of New Brunswick. She is the author of Atlantic Canada: A
Region in the Making, and coauthor of Intimate Relations: Family and
Community in Planter Nova Scotia, 1759–1

In 1995, UNESCO designated Old Town Lunenburg as a World Heritage Site.
As one of only two Canadian towns to receive this honor (Quebec City’s
historic district is the other), Lunenburg is increasingly a tourist
destination for people from all over the world. This illustrated volume,
an updated version of Cuthbertson’s Lunenburg: An Illustrated History
(1996), also published by Formac, admirably fills the growing demand by
tourists and locals alike for a brief overview of the history and
current condition of this picturesque community.

Cuthbertson writes an authoritative narrative that begins with a
chapter on the present, in which he describes the remarkable
architectural heritage, including the distinctive Lunenburg “bump”
(an extravagant dormer window) that defines many homes in the community.
Succeeding chapters focus on the founding of the town that still retains
the grid pattern of streets so beloved by 18th-century town planners;
the rise in the 19th century of prosperity based on the fisheries, which
helped to finance the magnificent wooden structures that still dominate
the waterfront; the era of the Bluenose, a Banks fishing vessel that in
the interwar years bested all competitors in the race for the
International Fisherman’s trophy; and the post–1945 development of
the fisheries that, until recently, made Lunenburg “the fisheries
capital of Canada.”

Other than a few typographical errors (Imperial Order Daughters of the
Empire always seems to get mangled), this book is an excellent starting
point for anyone interested in the Lunenburg story. Published just in
time for the 250th anniversary of the community’s settlement in 1753
by German- and French-speaking settlers from central Europe, it includes
a short list of sources for readers who would like to learn more.