Sept 90 - An animator in the Fortress of Louisbourg national historic park, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (detail)
A Diefenbaker make-work project, laid-off Cape Breton coal-miners rebuilt 1/5th of the Acadian citadel and town precisely in accordance with original plans (in archives in France). It's the crown jewel in the National Historic Parks system and it makes you proud. It's the "largest historical reconstruction in North America" (is there a larger one overseas? [Update: the old city centre of Warsaw and the city of Ypres, Belgium are much larger.]).
- Its importance to history is due the lavish attention. "Louisbourg was built to protect France's interests in the new world and to serve as the centre of its massive seasonal fishing industry. Its location near the eastern tip of Cape Breton enabled it to serve not only as the capital of the new colony of Ile Royale but also to act as the first line of defense for France in its 18th cent. struggle against Britain for colonial supremacy in North America. It was first captured in 1745 after a 6 week siege by New England troops with the support of the British navy. After 3 yrs under British governors, the Fortress was returned to France by treaty in 1749 in spite of protests in the American colonies. After almost a decade of increasing prosperity, the much stronger Fortress fell again after another 6 week siege in 1758, this time to the largest assembled assault force in colonial Canadian history."
- "One of the most ambitious reconstruction projects ever undertaken in North America [the most?] has been the reconstruction of 1/4 of Fortress Louisbourg and the town it enclosed. ... In 1760, following the British capture of Louisbourg in 1758, Prime Minster William Pitt ordered the removal of all its occupants and the complete demolition of the town and its fortifications. Two centuries later, in recognition of its French cultural heritage, the Canadian government undertook reconstruction of the site as a Centennial Project. With the aid of extensive archaeological investigation and massive documentation, the rebuilding began in 1963 and extended over the next 20 years. Original architectural drawings for many of the houses and other structures survived in French archives. Louisbourg today consists of some 80 buildings along with 3/4s of a mile of fortifications exhibited by Parks Canada." www.classicist.org/articles/architectural-reconstructions...
- maps.app.goo.gl/tMtL2piGbpKcfFYM9
- Update: Here's an article which compares the 'Skansen Open Air Museum' in Sweden, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17734/22198 An excerpt: "The Fortress of Louisbourg ... is Canada's most extensive attempt to reconstruct aspects of the past. It has served as a public history model for many exhibits and historic villages throughout North America since its inception in the 1960s. The philosophies and methodologies of "making history" for the public have changed over the past century since the outdoor museum movement began in the 1870s at Skansen in Sweden. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation led the process of historic site interpretation in the United States throughout the middle of the 20th century, just as Parks Canada and the Fortress of Louisbourg set new standards over the past 3 decades. ..."
Sept 90 - An animator in the Fortress of Louisbourg national historic park, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (detail)
A Diefenbaker make-work project, laid-off Cape Breton coal-miners rebuilt 1/5th of the Acadian citadel and town precisely in accordance with original plans (in archives in France). It's the crown jewel in the National Historic Parks system and it makes you proud. It's the "largest historical reconstruction in North America" (is there a larger one overseas? [Update: the old city centre of Warsaw and the city of Ypres, Belgium are much larger.]).
- Its importance to history is due the lavish attention. "Louisbourg was built to protect France's interests in the new world and to serve as the centre of its massive seasonal fishing industry. Its location near the eastern tip of Cape Breton enabled it to serve not only as the capital of the new colony of Ile Royale but also to act as the first line of defense for France in its 18th cent. struggle against Britain for colonial supremacy in North America. It was first captured in 1745 after a 6 week siege by New England troops with the support of the British navy. After 3 yrs under British governors, the Fortress was returned to France by treaty in 1749 in spite of protests in the American colonies. After almost a decade of increasing prosperity, the much stronger Fortress fell again after another 6 week siege in 1758, this time to the largest assembled assault force in colonial Canadian history."
- "One of the most ambitious reconstruction projects ever undertaken in North America [the most?] has been the reconstruction of 1/4 of Fortress Louisbourg and the town it enclosed. ... In 1760, following the British capture of Louisbourg in 1758, Prime Minster William Pitt ordered the removal of all its occupants and the complete demolition of the town and its fortifications. Two centuries later, in recognition of its French cultural heritage, the Canadian government undertook reconstruction of the site as a Centennial Project. With the aid of extensive archaeological investigation and massive documentation, the rebuilding began in 1963 and extended over the next 20 years. Original architectural drawings for many of the houses and other structures survived in French archives. Louisbourg today consists of some 80 buildings along with 3/4s of a mile of fortifications exhibited by Parks Canada." www.classicist.org/articles/architectural-reconstructions...
- maps.app.goo.gl/tMtL2piGbpKcfFYM9
- Update: Here's an article which compares the 'Skansen Open Air Museum' in Sweden, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17734/22198 An excerpt: "The Fortress of Louisbourg ... is Canada's most extensive attempt to reconstruct aspects of the past. It has served as a public history model for many exhibits and historic villages throughout North America since its inception in the 1960s. The philosophies and methodologies of "making history" for the public have changed over the past century since the outdoor museum movement began in the 1870s at Skansen in Sweden. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation led the process of historic site interpretation in the United States throughout the middle of the 20th century, just as Parks Canada and the Fortress of Louisbourg set new standards over the past 3 decades. ..."