Searching for signs of Black Loyalist settlement under former 2nd hole

Exploration begins soon on what was once the second hole of the Algonquin Golf Course and before that — if oral history is correct — a place where black settlers lived and were buried.

Graham Nickerson of the New Brunswick Black History Society said stories passed down over the years points to the site on the outskirts of Saint Andrews. The second hole is no longer there.

Nickerson said the society, along with provincial archeologists, will start searching in the fall for signs Black Loyalists lived on that land.

"The site not being used makes it a little bit easier to access that location and not interfere with the operation of the Algonquin," Nickerson said.

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Nickerson said he first became aware of the site through a story in the Ottawa Citizen in the 1990s.

There is no concrete evidence a settlement or burial ground existed, but many black communities weren't properly surveyed, and much of their history was not documented.

"That's fairly typical of black communities in the Maritimes," said Nickerson.

Nickerson said the response from the Algonquin course has been "very positive."

Passamaquoddy interested

The Passamaquoddy people are also looking for remnants of early sites in the area, Nickerson said, and signs of trash heaps do indicate a former presence.

"There are shell middens there that they're trying to identify and protect," Nickerson said.

Even without visual remnants of a black community remaining, if a settlement was there, there will be evidence of it, Nickerson said.

For shelter, for instance, black pioneers would have used a pit house, a hole in the ground with a lean-to over it.

"There should be the foundations for pit houses [which] would've been the early settlement type ... grave shafts would also be there," said Nickerson.

Signs of foundations and graves could become evident, "when you go over with a ground-penetrating radar," he said.

Changes in sediment

"You should see the difference in the sediments."

If a settlement or burial ground is found, Nickerson would like to see a monument to mark the history of Black Loyalists in the area.

If no settlement is found, he said, that too would serve an important purpose.

"There's also value in finding out something's not where you thought it was because then we're not allocating resources to protect a site that's not actually there," said Nickerson.