A Bear River valentine
Where the River rises and falls thirteen feet of tide, twice a day. A river valley so deep, there is no reliable cell service. Home to a First Nations community for thousands of years. Home and creative inspiration for artists who’ve visited, fallen in love with it, and settled down. A community divided by the River between Annapolis and Digby counties. Buildings on stilts above that River, and the remains of wharves, reminders of its shipbuilding past. Grand, turn-of-the-19th-century homes, vistas stretching to the Annapolis Basin from the high ground on either side of the Valley.
Where Cherry Carnival in July ( and its greased pole walking contest) is a century old tradition…
As is the Digby County Exhibition, where the ox pull competitions have been an attraction to the community even before the first Exhibition was ever held…
1907: below the bridge in the village which straddles Annapolis County on the left, and Digby County on the right. In the upper right-hand corner, the Baptist church which still stands.
With the Baptist church in the upper left hand corner, a view of the single-lane bridge and the “downtown”, built on stilts to keep the buildings above the twice daily, 14 foot tides, or on in-filled foundations—as the Second Empire building seen here just to the left of the bridge.
Panoramic view of the village from the Annapolis County side, looking west. Note the horse and wagon on the road. The Baptist church is seen in the centre of the picture, halfway up the hill on the Digby side.