Habitation at Port-Royal - Replica Construction in 1939

Replica Construction in 1939

On May 25, 1925, the Government of Canada's Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada recognized the original Habitation at Port-Royal in the community of Port Royal, Nova Scotia for its heritage significance and granted the designation of the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada.

In the 1930s the site of the original Habitation was located in the community and the results of archeological excavations fed public interest in the period of the original French settlement. This interest had been increasing since the publication of Quietly My Captain Waits, an historical novel by Evelyn Eaton set in Port-Royal in the early 17th century.

In the early 1900s, chiefly under the leadership of Harriet Taber Richardson, native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and summer resident of the nearby town of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotian preservationists and historians began lobbying the Government of Canada to build a replica of the Habitation which stood from 1605 until its destruction in 1613.

The government agreed, after much persuasion, to have the replica built on the original site. Construction took place from 1939-1941 and was based on a duplicate set of plans for the original Habitation that had been recently discovered in France. This reconstruction was the first National Historic Site in Canada to have a replica structure built.

Today, this replica serves as the cornerstone of the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada, and coupled with the nearby Fort Anne National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal, continues to commemorate this important historic region for Canadians and visitors. Today, the replica of the Habitation is considered a milestone in the Canadian heritage movement. Open to the public and staffed by historical interpreters in period costumes, it is a major tourist attraction. Costumed interpreters provide demonstrations of such historic early 17th century activities as farming, building, cooking, fur trading and Mi'kmaq life.

• Blason

• Courtyard

• Outside view