T oday, this fishery remains one of the Island’s most important industries. PEI’s Basin Head Fisheries Museum exists to tell the tale of our area’s fascinating oceanic history, sharing with locals and visitors alike the heritage and culture that are uniquely Prince Edward Island. With photos, displays, and exhibits chronicling the past, the museum offers a journey back in time to see how our ancestors lived, making it a real Maritime treasure. “The museum showcases what life was like in the past, with a true PEI flavour and an authentic PEI interpretation,” says Dr. David Keenlyside, executive director of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation. “The kinds of treasures you’ll see are quite typical of Maritime culture, which has evolved over hundreds of years,” he says. “They provide stories of the people that lived and died here. They’re true Maritime stories of how people adapted, how people met the challenges, and how they survived.” Situated on the bluff overlooking the Northumberland Strait, and within steps of one of our country’s most idyllic beaches, the museum hosts countless artifacts just waiting to be discovered, says Elizabeth MacDonald, museum site manager. “It’s exciting, especially for the younger crowd, to come in and see how things were done back then, and how technology has changed,” MacDonald says. “In some ways, things are so advanced, and in other ways, things are very much the same.” Of particular interest to many guests is the museum’s two-metre diameter Fresnel lens. A type of composite lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses, this treasure has been coined “the invention that saved a million ships” by a 1 BBC article. 1 http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190620-the-inven- tion-that-saved-a-million-ships
The Fresnel lens is made of crystal prisms that concentrate light to increase its power, explains MacDonald. “It was so innovative for its time. It could take the energy of a candle or a kerosene bulb, and condense that light to make it so strong that it could be seen 20 miles out to sea.” Many guests are also intrigued by the museum’s 80-year-old fish Cannery, which is the only original structure that remains on the property. Home to many different types of watercraft and fishing equipment, the Cannery also holds one of the last remaining Island iceboats. Before icebreakers and ferries existed, iceboats provided Islanders with the only access to the mainland across the Northumberland Strait in winter. Relics such as iceboats not only give a glimpse into the past, but also demonstrate how much technology has changed. “As the years accumulate, it’s easy to lose our history,” says Dr. Keenlyside. “When we go to one generation from the next, unless you deliberately preserve the stories in this fashion, you risk losing your past. And it is the essence of what people have been through over many hundreds of years. It’s about our roots; our ancestors. It can tell us about the past, but also show how we are moving into the future.”
A visit to the Basin Head Fisheries Museum, paired with a stop at the impressive “Singing Sands” beach, is the recipe for a perfect day for families and people of all ages. During the summer months, be sure to set aside enough time to enjoy a cold treat (or two!) from the Cannery’s ice cream parlour.
Fun Fact: The waterway, the lagoon behind Basin Head, and the coastal dunes have the status of Marine Protected Area under Canada’s Oceans Act. They are home to many diverse species, including a rare type of Irish moss called Chondrus crispus.
Basin Head Fisheries Museum 336 Basin Head Road, Souris 902.357.7233 Off-Season: 902.368.6600 basin_head@gov.pe.ca www.peimuseum.ca
GPS: N46 22.734 W-062 6.594
SPRING 2020 www.pei-living.ca
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