Scenes of Kingsburg from Half a Century Ago

Photographs of the Village Taken by Lunenburg Residents Joseph and Tela Purcell in the late 1950s to early 1970s

by Carole-Anne Mosher - History Committee Chair, 2021

My first introduction to Mr. John Newton was when he reached out to our website of the KCA when I asked if anyone had pictures of the fish stores on Kingsburg Beach to share with our history committee. I was given the email he sent and responded to him directly.

I was told by Mr. Newton that he was the son-in-law of my good friends, the world renowned artists from the Lunenburg area, Joseph and Tela Purcell. Many many years ago when I walked the Kingsburg Beach on a regular basis, I would see the Purcells drawing or taking pictures and always stopped to chat with them. They knew our family as we belonged to the same church in Lunenburg of St. Norbert’s where we were all regular Sunday participants. I have very fond memories of Tela’s artistic talents, for on special occasions she would decorate our church for Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas etc.

A Purcell family storefront on Lincoln Street in Lunenburg still exists today.

I continued reaching out to John Newton and he provided me with the Purcell Family collection of early Kingsburg vintage pictures of which we are forever grateful for permission to use on our website.

Locations identified and annotated by the Kingsburg Community Association’s History Committee members Carole-Anne Mosher and Cameron Pulsifer, 2026

As noted above by long-time Kingsburg resident Carole-Anne Mosher, half a century ago, Joseph and Tyla Purcell were artists and photographers living in Lunenburg. Indeed, a shop bearing their family name still exists at 217 Lincoln Street. They were attracted to Kingsburg where they spent a good deal of time roaming about the community, photographing local scenes. Carole-Anne recalls that as a teenager she often met them on their visits, often chatting with them as they pursued their work. She retains warm recollections of them.

These photographs constitute an important documentation of Kingsburg and its surrounding area at a time just before it was to undergo a radical transformation. They show Kingsburg when it was still a working village, its residents for the most part earning their livings from the resources of the immediate area, most notably the sea, agriculture, and some hunting. The well-kept houses shown remained occupied by families whose ancestors had lived in them for generations. Some, including Carole-Anne’s family, could claim descent from the earliest ‘German Protestant’ settlers of the mid-18th century. By the later 1970s, however, the natural attractions of the Kingsburg were making it increasingly enticing as a spot for people looking for a quiet get-away, initially, along Kingsburg Beach and at Hell Point, as local historian David Mossman points out in his book The Legend of Gladee’s Canteen (Lawrence Town Beach: Pottersfield Press, 2019), 160. (Despite its title this book contains much useful information on the history of Kingsburg generally.)

At the same time changes were afoot that were undermining the sustainability of the old community. The fishing resource, by far the economic mainstay of the community, had begun a serious decline due to overfishing, leading ultimately, in 1994, to a government-imposed moratorium in the area on the catching of ground fish (cod, haddock, flounder, halibut, pollock etc.) This came on top of an earlier disaster when, in 1982, the Large Ritcey Bros seafood packing plant in Riverport, which employed many Kingsburgians, burned to the ground, to be replaced by a much smaller facility. The many decaying barns and fish stores in the outlying areas shown in the photographs could well testify to an even longer period of economic distress in the area. Such developments increasingly led many of the of the original Kingsburg inhabitants to sell their properties to people from outside the village looking for residential and, increasingly, vacation homes in this quiet and beautiful location. This trend continued to the extent that today there are hardly any of the original families left (Carole-Anne Mosher’s being one of the few still here).

From the 1990s, such home seekers have moved on from buying older Kingsburg properties to building new ones in areas that in older Kingsburg times were mostly empty, such as Beach Hill and Rose Head. The former, writes David Mossman, served little more than “a huge sheep paddock complete with indistinctly evident long narrow lots. (”Gladee’s Canteen, 164) The latter was used by villagers mostly for hunting and wood-cutting. Since the 1990s new builds have increasingly burgeoned in both areas. The Purcell photographs show us some of the Kingsburg of old that preceded the community of today. The present community resides in an area with a rich history of which, the Kingsburg Community Association’s History Committee hopes, residents will want to be familiar. It was with this aim in mind that members of this committee decided to identify and locate what these Purcell family photographs actually show. This is in keeping with the ongoing aim of the committee, which is to help ensure that accurate memories of previous times are preserved. It is committed to ensuring that Kingsburg’s rich history continues to be researched and documented so that present and future residents of Kingsburg can have reference to the rich history of the community that thrived here before they arrived.

The information in the following captions is derived from three major sources. 1. The above mentioned Gladee’s Canteen, by David Mossman. 2. The remarkable manuscript put together by are longtime Kingsburg resident, Edith Knock, age 86, in 1975, “A Short Outline of Properties of Lower Kingsburg,” available on the Kingsburg Community Association’s website at: “Outline of Properties at Lower Kingsburg Booklet.” 3. The recollections of Carole -Anne Mosher, a prominent Kingsburg resident since the 1960s. Anyone who disagrees with the identifications made or has new information is encouraged to be in touch – Cameron Pulsifer History Committee, KCA, 2025

PHOTO 1 - Before going further, the geography of the area where this photograph was taken should be explained, as many of the photographs were taken here. Kingsburg Beach runs east from Kingsburg Village. It terminates at its east end where Hell Point stretches further east. Here the coastline veers northeast, the coast along this stretch being very rocky. It continues in a northeast direction until, at a spot called Zinck’s Point, it veers dramatically southeast towards a spot called Dry Spitz. For the sake of simplicity the stretch of coastline between the east end of Kingsburg Beach and Zinck’s Point will be referred to as Hell Point’s west coast. In this photograph, the walkers are walking along this coast in a southwest direction towards the east end of Kingsburg Beach. Kingsburg Wharf extends into the water of King’s Bay, just ahead of them. The wharf projected from land that is now part of the property owned by Terry and Tracy Hartford. The buildings to the left, probably a mixture of barns and fish stores, were located where Rod Bulgar and Susan Spence’s ‘Church house’ property is now located. Beach Hill can be seen rising in the distance. (PHOTO 13)

PHOTO 2 - Same walkers as in PHOTO 1, somewhat further back.

PHOTO 3 - Southeast end of Hirtle’s Pond just before Hirtle’s Beach. The barn and the two white houses belonged to the Hittle family. The first house, just beyond the barn, had been built by a Nathan Hirtle in the 1840s, and afterwards became an ongoing a focus of family activity. At the time the photograph was taken, it was lived in by Gladys Hirtle, the proprietor and chief cook at the famous ‘Gladee’s Canteen,’ situated a short distance down the road on Hirtles Beach. Her youngest brother Cyril, later a well-known and highly collectible folk artist, lived with her. Gladys died in 1986. Cyril continued to live and practice his art in the house until 1993, when he had to move into an assisted care home. The house now serves as a seaside rental property. The barn no longer exists.

The second white house was originally also a Hirtle property, but by this time it was owned by the retired American business man, Donald MacKay and his wife Adina, born a Mossman in Rose Bay. The MacKays owned a portion of Hirtles Beach and, committed to preserving the whole expanse in as pristine a condition as possible, led the campaign to have it come under provincial ownership. This came about in December 1988, the signing ceremony taking place in the MacKay house, pictured here. The present owners of have finished it in Yakisugi - a burnt wood finish.

PHOTO 4 - Looking southwest from behind John Duckworth’s barn, across Kingsburg Pond towards Kingsburg Road. The barn on the road (projecting out from behind Duckworth’s) was owned by Clarence and Olive Ernst. It burnt down in a spectacular fire, probably an act of arson, in 1981. The Ernst’s house was further back on Kingsburg Road, not visible here. (See PHOTO 16) The house beyond the barn belonged to a William Mossman and his wife Doris. It remains occupied by Mossmans to this day.

PHOTO 5 - Looking down from the hill leading into Kingsburg, the village laid out before the camera. Kingsburg Road was to the left. The house now owned by Noreen Channels and husband Don Galbraith at the corner of Kingsburg and Hirtle’s Beach Road, is in the foreground. At the time of the photograph, it was occupied by one William Mossman and wife Anna. William was called Saunders’ Willie, after his father, the previous owner. To the left across the road can be seen the barn owned until recently by Hazen and Jill Truman. Beyond it can be seen Hazen’s and Jill’s house. The house was built by one Obadiah Mossman. By 1972, it had come under the ownership of David Walmark, who has since moved to a house on Hirtles Beach Road. Beyond that, the large four-square was built by Elijah Mossman in 1916. It was later owned for a period of time by current Kingsburg resident, Daniel Wilson. It is now the property of Megan and Geoff Harlan.

PHOTO 6 - Unidentified.

PHOTO 7 - Looking towards Mosher’s Pond and Gaff Point, from what is now the Brian Mackay-Lyons property, Upper Kingsburg. .