Not Your Grandfathers Mining Industry, Nova Scotia, Canada

Amherst Post Offices

Mining built Nova Scotia!

Amherst had two beautiful historical post offices made of Wallace sandstone that are still standing today.

The Old Amherst Post Office (50 Victoria St. East) was built between 1884-1886 of red and grey sandstone from Wallace, Cumberland County.

After Confederation in 1867, the Dominion Government embarked on a program of constructing numerous buildings to symbolize its authority and presence in the new nation. The office of the Dominion Architects was created in 1871. Its most notable chief architect was Thomas Fuller (1823-98), an Englishman who had designed the original Ottawa Parliament Buildings (1859-60), the New York State capital building, and the San Francisco City Hall, before accepting his appointment to the office of the Dominion Architects in 1881.

He was responsible for about 140 federal buildings, including combined post offices/customs houses that were mainly built in small urban centres where they were often the most distinguished buildings in the towns. He also built armouries, office buildings, customs warehouses, immigrant reception sheds, hospitals and court-houses.

The Old Amherst Post Office is one of his designs. It was built to house the Intercolonial Railway solicitor, Customs, Internal Revenue and Weight and Measures as well as the Post Office.

The Old post office was eventually replaced due to capacity issues by the Amherst Dominion Public Building (98 East Victoria St. East).

The Dominion Public Building was built between 1934 and 1936, also mainly of sandstone from Wallace. Its granite columns came from Scotstown, Quebec.

The federal government's post office building program of the 1930s was designed to stimulate local economies during the Great Depression. Halifax’s Dominion Public Building, the city's first skyscraper, was also built thanks to the program (https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/halifaxs-dominion-building).

The Amherst Dominion Public Building served as the town’s post office from 1936 to 1976 and it is Amherst’s town hall today.

Both buildings were built by Rhodes, Curry & Company, the largest construction company in the Maritimes from 1880 until 1920.

Rhodes and Curry was founded in 1876 by Nelson A. Rhodes and Nathaniel A. Curry, brothers-in-law in Amherst. Initially, they opened a door and sash factory, which burned down, was rebuilt and burnt again. After obtaining long-term financing, they diversified into construction and building railcars with the purchase of the James Harris Car Company in Saint John. To maximize profits, the company acquired timber lands, sawmills, lime deposits and brickyards, so they could use their own materials and build everything from the foundations to roofs of buildings.

Rhodes and Curry built thousands of homes and buildings in the Maritimes, including Halifax’s city hall, Sydney’s St. Andrew’s United Church (now the Highland Arts Theatre) and stations, offices, and roundhouses for the Intercolonial Railway including Pugwash’s train station. They built much of historic Amherst, including its courthouse, armoury and hospital. They also built hundreds of company houses for coal miners in New Glasgow and Sydney.

"Busy Amherst," as it was called, grew rapidly after the Intercolonial Railway was built through town in 1876 and with the growth of industries like coal mining, transforming it from a village to a bustling industrial town. Many of Amherst's beautiful buildings date from that era.

The Amherst Red Stone Quarry provided distinctive red sandstone for many of Amherst’s most beautiful and historic buildings. Today, it is a lovely pond in a field, an example of how former mines and quarries are often hidden in plain sight! See its story at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/amherst-red-stone-quarry

The vast majority of sandstone produced in Nova Scotia has come from the Wallace area. See the story at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/wallace