Weymouth Falls celebrated for centuries-old Black community

Weymouth Falls in Digby County, a community of 100 people, is one of two Nova Scotia communities to recently receive the Lieutenant Governor's Community Spirit Award. The second is Judique in Inverness County. 

The provincial award recognizes the strength and diversity of communities and profiles their achievements. Shekara Grant from Cherry Brook, N.S., led the charge to nominate the historic Black community for the award. 

Black Loyalists established Weymouth Falls in the 1780s, after the American Revolution drove them to seek a new home in British-held territory. While much of the population moved across Nova Scotia and the world, they still hold a strong bond with their community, and many come back for a regular reunion. 

Grant spoke to Steve Sutherland, host of CBC Radio's Information Morning Cape Breton, about the community and the award. 

Tell us a bit about Weymouth Falls and what it was that motivated you to apply for the Lieutenant Governor's Community Spirit Award.

When I was a kid, I didn't really like going there. I always told my mom there was nothing there. 

But as I started doing my research, I see all the barriers that kind of took the soul out of Weymouth. Well, I shouldn't say the soul because it's still there, but took a lot of industries out of Weymouth to force people to move away.

What kind of soul searching did you do?

I am African Nova Scotian, my grandfather's from Cherry Brook, my grandmother is from Weymouth Falls, but I didn't really know what that meant.

I didn't really understand how long African Nova Scotians have been in this province and kind of the roots that they put down. So just to learn a little bit about that has been really incredible.

Tell me a bit about what you've learned about Weymouth Falls that helped change your mind.

My grandmother's grandfather, his name is Aubrey Jarvis. He was actually one of the people who served on the No. 2 Construction Battalion, which was the all-Black battalion that existed during World War One, and he was the first person in my family to own land in Weymouth Falls. 

He had a homestead there that then went on to my grandfather and then was left to his children. It's no longer in her family but we're still working right now trying to get that land back.

The community centre, when I was a kid, we were able to go in it and we had reunions there. It used to be a schoolhouse during segregation. Black children in that area were not allowed to go to school with the white children, so the community built their own school and they had community members volunteer as teachers. 

Once we had integration, that's when it became a community centre, and currently the building is condemned. We're not able to go into the building, but we have our family member Jermaine Langford and he's been working over the last 10 years if not longer to try to reinvigorate the community centre.

Tell us about the annual reunion that happens in Weymouth Falls. 

They're actually biennial, so it's every two years and they started in 1995. Fun fact: I was born in 1995 and I was one month old at the first reunion.

They used to take a photo with the youngest and the oldest person at the reunion, so I was actually the youngest person at the first reunion. But yeah, they're basically like a homecoming to that community and you have people from all over the world that will come home just to celebrate our history, our legacy, and really see what we can do to help rebuild the community. 

What do you think that draw is?

I think it's just a connection to community. People really do care about the outcome of this area, because you know, for us, it's not just land, it's not just somewhere that looks nice and it's pretty and we want to build cottages.

This is somewhere that we are very, very connected to. It's somewhere we have a history and we understand how special that is. 

What does receiving the Lieutenant Governor's Community Spirit award mean for you?

It means a lot. My grandmother was thrilled when I let her know that we actually won, but for me, I kind of see it as a first step in the right direction.

In order for us to rebuild this community, we're going to need outside support. We're going to need people who can help us, who can guide us, who can be a part of that process.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.