Kings County Museum - The Museum

The Museum

The Kings Historical Society was founded in 1978. The Kings Historical Society is a non-profit organization which owns and operates the Kings County Museum. When the courthouse closed in 1980, the Society successfully campaigned to save it from demolition and restore it to serve as a county museum. raising $64,000 for restoration and $15,000 for neglected repairs. It officially opened to the public as the "Old Kings Courthouse Museum" on May 27, 1981, timed to coincide with the Apple Blossom Festival, marked by the museum's first exhibit, a history of the Festival and the success of Kentville's Dominion Atlantic Railway in attracing tourism.

A highlight of the new museum was the restoration of the court room's extensive use of the lost art of painted wood grain. Little of the original finish remained but a local resident named Brad Forsyth, who had learned the technique from his father, repainted and restored the room's panelling, complete with secret figures of birds and animals hidden in grain patterns.

The Society at first leased the courthouse from the county but purchased the building in 1993. The Museum changed its name to the "Kings County Museum" in 2002. Working out of the former registry vaults of the courthouse basement, a Family History Committee built a large research centre for genealogists and successfully recorded and indexed every grave in Kings County. Parks Canada selected the Museum to permanently host its National New England Planters Commemorative Exhibit in 1989. The Museum has hosted a large number changing exhibits for a municipal museum, an average of six a year. A number of rare objects were repatriated by the Museum, including the handcrafted desk of Kentville's first mayor John Warren King. The Museum celebrated the 100th anniversary of the building and the 25th anniversary of the Historical Society in 2004 by inviting the current Kings County Council to re-enact the first January 12, 1904 meeting in the building. However the Kings County Museum has faced challenges in recent years such as declining government support and a drop in tourism visitation in rural Nova Scotia. These challenges resulted in the formerly year-round museum closing during the winter months beginning in 2006. However the Kings Historical Society has continued to offer a year round series of historical programs and special events to finance the operation of the Museum.