Roxbury, Annapolis County

John Coleman’s Roxbury

Roxbury is a very strange and beautiful place. I’ll give the story of how I found it, and then the story of how it came to be:

To begin, I’ll say that I have a rather odd project. Some think it is quite insane and other do not. I will be delighted to discuss or defend it on or off this forum, if anyone is interested. My website is www.vortexmaps.com/novascotia. I seek out a phenomenon called “power points” and “ley lines” here in NS and abroad. In trying to find these sites, I spend a great deal of time stumbling around in the woods. Having said so:

Back in 1984 or so, I was working with the NS Dept of Transportation as a surveyor. Rather than join the lads in the regular Friday card games, I would spend time scuffing around looking for these “places”. This was before GPS, so I would take some marked up maps and head off with a compass and try to find where the X that marked the spot might be. In the case of Roxbury, I had the intriguing fact that {as you may have seen} the town is actually shown on the NTS mapping for some reason. So I left civilisation at Paradise in Annapolis County and began a 10-KM {approx..} walk along a pretty rough woods road leading southward up over the mountain and inland. It is a lovely walk with a very clear path/road. I was long past wondering if there is anything there at all, when I began to get a creepy feeling that something was strange. Then I noticed stone walls. Just that. The town has been abandoned for so long that all wood is gone and the forest has grown to mature trees, but the stones walls, wells and foundations that once defined the properties in the town are still there. It is like looking at a double exposure of a series of pictures of a patch of woods like any other, but underlain with the pattern of stones. It really is remarkable, and as it took me longer to get there than I thought, and it was going into dusk, it was quite unsettling…. I walked around a little and then headed back for out at a good clip as I decided that I definitely did not want to spend the night there.

I have since been back many times. There is an entire town there: quite a large one actually. It has several streets with many farms and so on. It has a complete graveyard with stones. There is an inhabitant there too; some sort of recluse who I have never seen. He/she has a small cabin there and lives there full time. He/she has been putting up lovely little signs showing where some of the features in the town are; presumably for visitors, but he/she will not come out when I am there. I have stood near the cabin and called, but must respect the person’s privacy by not forcing myself. I have never been able to get decent photographs because one can’t see enough of the place at once to get a good shot.

The place was used by the Mi’Kmaq before Europeans arrived. When the British ousted the Acadien, the Mi’Kmaq took a bunch of them there to hide. {It was a “special place” to them, just like Morden is} When the Acadien were expelled from there {or died, the history is unclear}, a town called Roxbury was built on the same site with a large lumber mill. The millpond and gear is still there. Back in 1910 or so, the entire town packed up and moved down to the valley for what is cited as financial reasons, and left the place abandoned.

In 1956 or so the Canadian military marked the “Power Point” with a geodetic monument {as they are/were wont to do}

There are at least two ways to get there.

The hardest way is to go to Paradise near Lawrencetown in Annapolis County {Mecca for NS surveyors}. Take the 201 highway from L’town to Paradise. Just before you get to the road that crosses the river to Paradise proper, you will see a road called the Roxbury Road that goes a few feet into a large Gravel Pit. You will need to park you car on the road as the pit is gated. Walk across the pit and you can pick up the old road heading up over the mountain. I have walked it many times, and biked it a few. It is a rough bike ride, but fun. There are some pretty difficult spots that would require a skilled rider. It is about 8-10 KM back and well worth the walk.

My favourite way is to drive up over the mountain at Bridgetown heading toward West Dalhousie. When you get there, turn east back toward Albany Cross. {Another power point site} Follow that road up to Spectacle Lake {yes there is one there too } When you pass the lake look for a road that turns back northward {I forget what it is called, but there is only the one}. It starts out pretty nice, but rapidly turns into a woods road. Keep following that road until you came to a dam on a large and lovely lake called Paradise Lake. I canoe across that lake to {it is obvious on a map} the farthest northern tip {Paradise Lake looks like Cape Breton.. go to Meat Cove} There is great sandy beach there perfect for camping. Except for planes flying over, one can pretend that everyone else on the planet had “departed”. I have never found a more secluded and quiet camping spot. One can pick up the far side of the same road as passes through the gravel pit. It is about a half-hour walk. There are huge Small Mouth Bass that will hit any fly you care to present on that lake BTW.

Anyhow, I highly recommend the trip… it really is a special place and it seems to effect anyone who finds it… and few actually have. The {don’t get me started} ATV folk will sometimes tear out that road, but they are not interested in anything other than noise and smell, so they pass through pretty quickly and are gone…

I think that NTS mapping will make my descriptions clear… and the “Map of the province of etc book will definitely get you there. If I scratch around I can find GPS co-ordinates if anyone is interested. If you find the geodetic monument, you found the power point. Sit there and pray or meditate or whatever you do and enjoy. A word of caution: there are well strew about and they are often obscured by grass and bushes and so on… be careful.

If you look through the archives the “Daily News” did a nice story on the place back in July of 2000. If anyone wants I can scan it an post it somewhere.

Anyway, Roxbury is my favourite Nova Scotian ‘Ghost Town”.
- John Coleman, Oct 29, 2002

Hinds Cemetery

Roxbury Cemetery

Roxbury Families

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