Sketches of Historic Truro

Joseph M. A. Ballard, Minette Murphy,

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ISBN: 9781774710760

Sketches of Historic Truro

  Author:   Joseph M. A. Ballard, Minette Murphy,  
  Publisher:  Nimbus Publishing Limited

An illustrated history of Nova Scotia’s Hubtown, Truro, featuring over 90 profiles of iconic buildings — from grand homes to churches to industrial buildings, from the author of Historic House Names of Nova Scotia.

Welcome to Truro, Nova Scotia, the town of long underwear and condensed milk, of First Presbyterians and Second Empire school buildings. This is where an anonymous journalist’s critical descriptions of a resident’s ratty fence and the deficiencies of an unkempt flower garden prompted uneasy citizens to seek the scribe?s praise — or at least to escape his merciless judgments — by improving their properties.
But Truro’s first brush with the improvement ethic occurred in the summer of 1860, when news arrived that the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) would visit the town on his royal tour. The people of Truro mobilized, passing a resolution that everyone should be obliged to turn out with brushes to whitewash the town. Within forty-eight hours, Truro looked like a new place, and in the aftermath of the rush to honour their esteemed visitor, they discovered something about their own dignity. From that day, the people of Truro have taken pride in their town and they work hard to always have it present its best appearance.
With more than ninety meticulously hand-drawn illustrations by Minette Murphy, and featuring Joseph Ballard’s carefully researched histories, Sketches of Historic Truro offers a unique and beautiful inventory of Truro’s most handsome historic architecture, including the Truro Federal Building (designed by Thomas Fuller, once the Chief Dominion Architect for the Government of Canada), Seton Hall (a wonderful example of a Second Empire — style mansion), and the Beaux Arts — style Colchester Historeum.

Details and Specs
ISBN associated with this title: 9781774710760
Item NB1533
PublisherNimbus Publishing Limited
PublisherNimbus Publishing Limited
Published on June 20 2022
Language eng
Pages 168
Format Paperback
Dimensions9.25(in) x 6.5(in)
Shipping weight312(g)
Status ACTIVE TITLE
Joseph M. A. Ballard and his wife, Melanie, reside on an old farm they call Gooseberry Cottage just outside Truro, Nova Scotia. Ballard is a member of numerous heritage associations, and his articles on heritage preservation have appeared in Saltscapes and Edifice. Ballard received the 2012 Town of Truro Heritage Award and the 2016 Helen Creighton Folklore Society research grant.

Minette Murphy is an aspiring architect from Nova Scotia with an interest in heritage. They took up house portraiture as a means for documenting buildings at risk of demolition. This led to many commissioned house portraits, a feature in the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia?s quarterly, The Griffin, and this collaboration with Joseph Ballard on an in-depth documentation of some of Truro?s most prized buildings.