Dory Shop Museum

Before engines and steel hulls took over the fishing fleets, the cod fishermen of Nova Scotia’s coast and the wider North Atlantic worked from dories, plain flat-bottomed boats that were light, cheap and could be stacked in the hold of a schooner. Hundreds of thousands were needed, and Shelburne, on the southwest coast of Nova Scotia, was one of the places that built them. The Dory Shop Museum, on Dock Street on the waterfront, occupies the old shop where this craft was practised for nearly a century, and it keeps the knowledge of how a dory is built alive.

Shelburne itself has an unusual history. It was founded in 1783 by Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, and for a short time its population grew to rival that of the largest towns in British North America, with some ten thousand settlers. Many left soon afterward, but those who stayed built a shipbuilding and fishing economy, and the town's wooden waterfront buildings are still among the best preserved in the Maritimes. The Dory Shop stands in that setting. The building dates from the 19th century, and it operated as a dory shop from 1880 until 1971, when the fishery changed and the demand for small wooden boats collapsed.

The shop was run by builders such as John C. Williams, whose family business turned out dories year after year. A dory is built by bending planks over a frame, and the work called for a skilled eye and quick hands. Each boat was shaped from a few simple components, the flat bottom, the flared sides, the curved bow and the stern, and every dory was designed to be nested, so that a ship's crew could carry dozens on deck. The Shelburne dory became a recognised type, admired for its seaworthiness. Exhibits in the museum show the tools, patterns, jigs and half-finished boats, and demonstrations in the summer show how the planks are fitted.

The museum opened in the early 1980s and is part of the Shelburne Museums group. Visiting hours and the demonstration schedule are seasonal, so check the museum's website before you go. A visit takes about an hour.

Visitors can easily pair the museum with a walk along Dock Street, the historic waterfront, the Ross-Thomson House and Store and the Shelburne County Museum, all within a few minutes' walk. The town has also been used as a film location because of its period look. The museum suits anyone interested in boats, craft skills and the story of the fishery.