Wow! What a fantastic find! We had no idea this museum was even here until we followed a geocache to this place. One of the many delights of geocaching. The facility was impressive and clearly maintained by a dedicated staff. The centre promotes the history and heritage of the Black Loyalists and their descendants.

I'm unsure of where I can begin. If you are going to Nova Scotia you MUST visit Shelbourne and make the drive to the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, it is full of information and history that will make you uncomfortable and is missed in our school textbooks. However needed to fully understand the history and be able to educate younger generations. The artifacts and flow of the museum is amazing. Hailey who was our introduction person was amazing and explained everything we needed to know in depth, she took us to the school house and showed us to the Pit house. While directing us to the church house, we had the pleasure of meeting the Executive Director Andrea who was an absolute pleasure to meet. You can tell by the passion in Andrea's eyes and knowledgeable conversation she is right where she belongs. She has some big plans for the Black Loyalist Heritage Society and was so informative. 10/10 I recommend this as a place to put on your list of things to do.

$9.20 for entry. A few minutes after arriving we were given an overview of the museum by one of the docents who also gave us a name of one of the original black loyalists. You could look up this person's name at one of the posts to find out what happened to them from slavery to the settlement of Sierra Leone. My person chose to stay in Nova Scotia and has many present day descendents in the province. Many interactive screens told of the hardships slaves faced from capture in Africa, the middle journey across the Atlantic Ocean to both north and south America, the life of slavery and the journey to apparent freedom in British colonies only to be met with persecution because of their skin colour and denial of equality. We walked to the burial ground and to the Anglican church on the property.

Beautiful new center. Kind, informative staff and a great gift shop and artifacts.

Excellent museum explaining how thousands of Black people escaped slavery during the American revolution by fleeing to Nova Scotia. Very moving, interactive exhibits, highly recommended.

Took my wife and teenage sons to this beautiful tribute and memory of our community's Black Loyalist settlers. Shout out to Davey Hartley for our tour and sharing his family's history with us. I'm so proud of my home town and it's history and culture is deeply reflected at this beautiful museum and historic site. To see the names of the ancestors of old friends, their hardships and resilience touched me deeply. Thank you to the great people who built this wonderful place. What a legacy to celebrate your ancestors and contributors to local and provincial culture.

A Nova Scotia must-see if you're into Canadian history.

My parents and I had a really wonderful experience here. One of the guides is a descendant of Black Loyalists in the area, and was so gracious about familiarizing us with the museum and the grounds. She also was willing to answer questions and we had a good chat. All of the information was so well laid out, and the digital touchscreens really made it easy to explore at our own pace. Our trip here felt so worthwhile and meaningful.

A race-specific museum that is larger than the local Shelburne, non race specific, museum by an order of magnitude. On this assumption alone, you could be mistaken for believing that black loyalists numbered in the multiple thousands, and that their contributions to Nova Scotia and Canada were the point around which all other significant matters branched. They weren't on both scores. Both their numbers, and they're social significance, we're so small as to be functionally zero, and this is very ably demonstrated in this museum. Curiously, the same museum courtesy hasn't been extended to the native population, who have had a presence here that predates the Black Loyalists by thousands of years. They got kinda lost in the mad race to erect museums dedicated to virtue-signalling, unfortunately, as the moral panic/moral crusade only acknowledges blacks at the moment. Sorry, Canada's natives, better luck next time.

Describes the history of the black loyalists and is so well done. Highly recommend a trip here.

The staff here are incredible, and the interactive screen tours are incredibly informative. I learned a lot~ particularly about Freetown and sierra lion. I enjoyed that one woman working there was a local from birch town and was able to offer insight into her own experience as an ancestor of black loyalists in Nova Scotia.

Interesting historical

Very informative museum with very friendly staff willing to help and educate

Great place to learn more about the history of Africadians

Nice visit. Learned a lot of interesting things.

Interesting facility but sparse on artifacts.

Fascinating place, we went expecting a quick visit and spent a couple of hours. It unleashed a range of thoughts and emotions as we learned about a part of Canadian history that is rarely covered in the history books. Even found some information about Alberta immigration

Very interesting

It is a nice place to go to

Very moving experience...

Very nice.

I am sad to report a poor experience with the museum. I planned a visit and found the doors locked when I arrived. The hours were posted as open online and on the door but no answer. There were cars in the parking lot and I saw activity inside but my knocks went unanswered. There were no signs regarding a private event. I called the office. No answer, left message. I walked to the Black Burial Grounds then called again, no answer, left message, tried to arrange to visit the next day. Those calls have not been returned. Birchtown is a long way out of the way for a lot of potential visitors. I gave it two stars for the outdoor exhibits I was able to experience. I would not visit without calling ahead.

This was well worth the visit. It would be wise to watch that you don't go when it's very busy as there is a lot of information on interactive screens, and you need to really be able to read and look at the pictures. I found the staff friendly, but they couldn't answer my questions such as 'who ran the school, and what were they teaching?'. It was very informative and thoughtful.

Awesome visit!!

An amazing History of the Black Loyalist that came to the area from New England after the American Revolution! An absolute must visit!!

I had mixed feelings, but resilience and strength was the ones I kept with me...thank you for preserving this place

The historical details were excellent. Everyone should visit.

Very informative space. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. The new building has lots of interactive installations, and the older buildings are interesting to visit. It’s family friendly and the entry fee is very fair.

Very informative. A must visit for everyone

Very informative

Thoroughly enjoyed the interpretive centre..well done.the church and burial grounds interesting as well

Be prepared to spend time here and experience a range of emotions. This community of black Loyalists were resilient, creative and hopefully even though they were beaten down, left with nothing and treated badly. They are to be respected, honoured and supported. Wonderfully put together exhibit!

It's a very good interpretive centre, with lots of good general information about some important topics but could use more artifacts about life as a black loyalist settler in Nova Scotia. The schoolhouse and church were interesting though.

This place is amazing. It's full of culture knowledge and information. I was real impressed.

Very well laid out Professional guides Most interesting history as well as a very sad history.

What a really terrific experience we had. Incredibly moving and educational. The building itself was innovative and beautiful. A must see for anyone. Outstanding.

An unexpected treat while visiting Nova Scotia. Provided a new perspective of the Black migration to escape slavery.

We were just at the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati Ohio 2 weeks ago. Now I am aware of something that is missing in the struggle of my people in Canada as that was part of the struggle to be Free

Fun evening going around the haunted grounds and buildings...

Due to Covid we booked a tour. The 40 min. presentation was very good, super informative with good use of audio visuals etc. The museum is beautiful and we will certainly return to spend more time when restrictions are lifted.

I enjoyed the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre very much, but will have to return as due to time was unable to complete tour. Also because of Covid wearing masks found it difficult to hear guide. All the staff were friendly and helpful.

Every Nova Scotia should visit this gem. If your coming to the area this is a great place to visit in Southwest Nova Scotia. The tour guides were fantastic.

A place everyone should visit

Family really loved it. Park interpreters were very knowledgeable and provided an interesting history.

Very interesting. I enjoyed the tour. The staff are very knowledgeable. Call ahead to book your tour during Covid

Not there

Great

History is sometimes a harsh reality!

Very historical information and images.

Heritage centre was closed so only got to see the out buildings.

Friendly staff and nice exhibits with some nature walk

I love history and the history represented by this heritage center is very interesting, but the displays are a lot of very long winded readings that tend to make the visitor get somewhat bored part way through.

Great history very well done

Very educational on the history. Shameful that there ever was slavery and racism.

Very knowledgeable staff. Lots of good information.