This house testifies the precarious situation of the Acadians after the expulsion.  More a shelter than a house, this structure doesn't have any partitions walls and there's only a few windows.

After the signature of the Paris treaty in 1763,  the Acadians obtained the right to return in the Nova Scotia colony in the condition they don't gather together. They will then settled in territories that offer them minimum security. Access to the sea or a watercourse becomes the common factor for all these people. They settled at the St-John River in 1760, but a lot of them had to move to leave the place to the Loyalists in the 1780 years.

During that period, one of the worries of the Acadians, was to get rights for their land, that is land concessions. Despite their numerous requests, they often only get fishing permits or temporary occupation.

As for religion, a catholic mission is established as soon as 1768 in Ecoupag on the St-John River.  The mission was established by abbot Charles-François Bailly and Micmas and surrounding Acadians are part of this mission.

Concerning the relation between Acadians and amerindians, they each won their trusts.  The Acadians do not ruin the amerindians hunting territories and often acadian villages are settled near his amerindians' camps. A few rules had to be respected, among them, not to cut the hay in the marsh during duck hunting.  This means the St-John River Acadians were in touch with amerindians, without adopting their life style. However, they adopted a few technologies such as mocassins and showshoes.
Jean- Balthazar, dit Jean Barnabé Martin, farmer borned in 1736 in Port-Royal, built this house. He first got married to Rosalie Thibodeau in 1761 in Port- Royal, and then married to Hélène Godin in 1767 in Sainte-Famille, île d’Orléans, Quebec. Finally, he married Marie- Anne Levasseur in 1773 in Kamouraska. 
Balthazar was a  messenger for the Parr of Halifax and Haldimand from Québec. He will live with his family in Ste-Anne, Fredericton around 1768.

When he died in 1806, Jean Balthazar Martin bequeaths his house and his farm to his son, Jean-Baptiste. Jean-Baptiste Martin, borned in 1781, got married to Marie-Anne Cyr, receives the family inheritance but died at the age of 26 in 1807.  HIs wife became the estate's administrator.
A few years went by and  Jean Martin, son of Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Anne, settles in Madawaska and sells the family estate in 1833 to Alexis Godin. On October 2nd, 1889, Alexis bequeaths to his son, Abraham Godin, farmer, the land and the house. Abraham did the same to his daughter Marguerite, who gets the Martin land and house.

Finally, Marguerite got married to Leslie George Kingston in 1920 in French Village and she and her husband live in the Martin house for a few years. Her son-in-law, Charles Nicholas, sold part of the house to the Village historique acadien on May 9, 1973. The Village historique acadien crew then proceeds to the final moving of the house on the historical site.

The history of the Mazerolle house begins with the builder’s father, Joseph Mazerolle.  Joseph was born in 1739 in Grand-Pré, was deported to Boston where he got married to Rosalie Thibodeau in 1764, moved to Quebec City and finally settled down by the Saint John River around 1776-77. Several of his children were born during this period. His wife Rosalie Thibodeau died in June 1815, Joseph passed away in June 1818. His son Louis-Joseph (or Joseph-Louis), born in Quebec City in 1767, was probably the one who built the house found on the grounds of the Village historique acadien. We know that Louis-Joseph had been living for a long time on the Saint John River, since 1797, in a petition, he mentioned he lived in the area for 20 years.

In 1831, he obtains a land in the area of Mazerolle Settlement, which he sells in 1839 to his son Pierre. We believe that Pierre, upon the final sale of his father’s land, moved the house to this land granted by the government in 1842. Having received his land in 1842, Pierre Mazerolle, as well as his family and offspring, took root for good at Mazerolle Settlement, near Fredericton.

In 1851, we notice that Pierre lives with his second wife Marie-Anne and the seven children from his two marriages. In addition, his father Joseph, his mother Françoise and his sister Marie live with him. Quite probably, when his father sells him the house, they all lived in the same house in Mazerolle Settlement. Louis, Pierre's son from his first wedding, inherited the house and abandoned it in 1895, intending to build a new home. Louis had only two children, including John-Lewis. John- Lewis is the father of Bernard-Franklin, the one who ceded the Mazerolle house to the Village historique acadien. John-Lewis’s children were the last to be borned in this house. At the opening of the Village historique acadien in 1977, Bernard was present for the first visit of the donating families. Built on a base of field stones, the walls are of square-hewn logs, resting on a pine footing (10" x 10")  with dovetail joining at the corners. On a level with the lower footing, six floor joists (with fairly regular spacing) giving the house a perimeter of 26’4” by 20’2”.

The Mazerolle farm house at the Village historique acadien, as well as a pigsty, a barn and furniture built by the former owners, were purchased in 1973. A crew from the Village undertook the moving process the very year of its purchase. However, the law stated that no load over 14 feet wide was allowed to travel on the roads. Thus, the movers had to wait some time before transporting the building to the historical site.
In short, the Mazerolle farm includes a house, a barn, a grain shed and a pigsty.

Formerly located in Maisonnette, the Godin house was first owned by Edouard Godin. Borned in 1853, he got married in 1881 to Basilice Lanteigne and the couple had eight children. Having received no land from his father, Edouard purchased a few plots. His first purchase was on April 1st, 1880, when he bought a mortgaged piece belonging to his uncle. Edouard paid part of the mortgage, a sum of $140, to take hold of one half of this plot, with a 40-yard front and 20 acres of land. This plot is the one where the Godin house was found.

Since Edouard bought the land in April, 1880 and married in September, 1881, it is quite likely that the house was built between these two dates.
The first of Edouard’s children to be borned in this house was François-Xavier, in 1882, and the last was Marie Agathe in 1899. His son Bruno, who was borned in 1891 and married to Anne-Marie Gauvin, inherited the house.

The Godin house serves as an example of a New Brunswick Acadian fisherman’s house in the late 19th century, owning also a small shed or storing wood and salting fish. Considering the year of interpretation, we may assert that in this dwelling lived Edouard and his spouse Basilice and the first children: François- Xavier, Moïse and Louis. Basilice, for part of the year 1890, is pregnant with her fourth son, Bruno, who was born on March 1st, 1891. Referring to the 1891 census, we learn that Edouard and his wife, as well as the eldest son François-Xavier, knew how to read and write.

The furniture found in the various rooms is not entirely home-made, but rather a mixture of the latter with industrial products. In the late 19th century, industrial furniture slowly replace the Acadian home-made furniture.

The building that was moved to the Village historique acadien was one of the sheds of the Robin, Jones and Whitman Company in Caraquet, and was known as the Rigging Loft by the regulars. The attic storey of the shed was used to store the fishing gears during winter months. The lower floor, at ground level, was used for salting and packing codfish. Considering the fact that Charles Robin Company was in full expansion between 1838 and 1875, we propose the year 1845 for the construction of the shed.

In 1767, Charles Robin is present in the Chaleur Bay area and launches his business with the local people, including those residing in northern New Brunswick. The system in use involves never paying cash to the fishermen but offering, in exchange for the fish, merchandise stocked in the company stores. In 1793, the Charles Robin Company purchased a piece of land in the Caraquet harbor and the Robin establishment will be erected there.

The building located at the Village Historique Acadien is equipped according to its subsequent occupations. On the first floor, about ten four-hundred weight barrels (boucauts or toubes) have been placed. A fish press, a set of scales, a counter displaying several objects related to fishing, among others,  dried eel skins to make shoelaces, wooden buoys, a cod jigger and its mold, tow for draught proofing boats, monkey’s fist knots, a square dipping-net, a shellfish gauge, etc. On the upper floor, two ancient boats are on display as well as more barrels. Anchors and tools used for fetching ice can also be seen.

Outside, drying racks for cods are laid out around the shed, on which the fish was spread to dry. Also on the site is a steam box, used in boat building, an aboiteau or sluice box and a small wharf.

Pierrot Robichaud, second child of Jean Robichaud, was born in Memramcook in 1799. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Inkerman. Pierrot married Rosalie Arsenault in 1824 and the couple had twelve children.

After he got married, or possibly before, Pierrot built a house to shelter his future family. However, after several years and his family growing, he built a new home circa 1845, the one found at the Village Historique Acadien.

Pierrot was a very active man with a keen business sense. First a farmer, in 1829 he owned two oxen, grew hay, potatoes, wheat, barley and oats. He also owned a horse, as he carried goods for his neighbors to Shippagan, a village located six miles from his home.

We know that as early as 1882 Pierrot started an account book in his own name. in addition to being a farmer, Pierrot was a carpenter and a supplier of materials, the most common being wood. Thus, Pierrot carried business with the William Fruing company’s store in Pointe-Alexandre, on Lamèque Island and he is an average customer, with purchases of £4 per year.

When Pierrot passed away, circa 1874, the family heirloom is bequeathed to his youngest son Jules, born in 1841 and married to Esther Boudreau. Jules and Esther had ten children. In 1906, Jules decided to build a new home and it is from this time that the Robichaud left the house built by Pierrot. Jules, after his death, bequeathed all his properties to his sons Jules and Michel.

After Jules junior died, having remained a bachelor, the property passes on to his brother Michel, married to Clara LeBlanc. In 1975, year of the initial research for the Robichaud farm, the house built in 1906 is occupied by Clara Robichaud, wife of the late Michel Robichaud and her son Jules. As for the Robichaud house, it had been used for several years as an annex to the barn.

Pierrot Robichaud’s old house was purchased by the VHA from Jules M. Robichaud in 1974. It was located in Inkerman, at the center of the Acadian Peninsula. It was moved on the site of the VHA in September of the same year. It was said at the time that the house was at least 150 years old.

The Robichaud farm includes a house, a spacious barn, a grain shed and a root cellar.

The structure of the Doucet house which is actually at the Village historique acadien dates from 1840, but the restauration of this building, as we find it today on the historical site, dates from 1860. The Doucet house shows the evolution of a square log house, a really sophisticated house after all the years it was lived in. The mouldings on the walls and around the windows make it a refined house. The corner cupboard and the fireplace also have the same mouldings.  The furniture reflects an acadian village dwelling of New-Brunswick having a little bit more luxury than others. It fits in a transition period of the furniture in the years 1825 to 1875.  There was an improvement in the furniture during those years. While keeping the utility functions, the furniture is more decorative and is fabricated with care.  With the arrival of the wood turning lathe, tables, chairs, beds etc., started to have a decorative aspect.
 
The first owner and builder of the house is Romain Doucet, born in 1818 in Bathurst and husband of Marie DeGrâce. It is possible to deduct that this house was built in 1840 when his father, Dominique, bequeath him a 60 acre land in St-Anne, Bathurst in 1840, the year he got married. When Romain died in 1890, his son Louis inherited the family patrimony and he kept it until 1932 when he sold everything to his grand-son Hector Picot for a dollar.

This house comes from Madawaska, more precisely from Saint Basile. It was built by Laurent Cyr, son of Michel and Madeleine Thibodeau, married to Angélique Raymond.

Sometime before getting married, Laurent leased then bought the land owned by Simonet Hébert. Laurent was probably the one who built the house in which he lived afterwards. Possibly before his wedding, Laurent purchased part of the household implements and furniture he could not make himself. He also got a wood stove required by the house apparently built without a fireplace. During the 1820s, Madwaska Acadians traveled more and more to Quebec or to the Saint Lawrence towns to buy the goods they deemed necessary.

Around 1850, Laurent whitewashed the east exterior wall of the house, the one facing the road. A gallery is built on the side towards the river, as traffic on the river was still considerable. After 1860, a gallery is built on the side towards the road. In addition, that same year, at the time of an agricultural fair, “Lawrence Cyre à Michael” won first prize for the best yearling colt.

Laurent and his wife Angélique had seven children and Laurent’s heir is his youngest son, also named Laurent. The date of the elder Laurent’s death is not known, but we know that the younger Laurent married Édith Daigle in 1872, in Saint David, United States.Before they got married in 1872, the indoor walls of the house, having been

left unfinished, were covered with newspapers. The small summer kitchen appears to date from this period, though we are unable to include it with certainty in the general remodeling.

The younger Laurent only had daughters. In 1905, Agnès, Laurent’s daughter, married Bélonie Thibodeau, and the couple inherited the farm. Around 1910, they had a new house built. The family of Agnès Cyr and Bélonie Thibodeau moved in the new house around 1914. From then on, the old one served as a storage shed.

On May 22, 1973, the Village historique acadien purchased from Camille Thibodeau, son of Agnès and Bélonie, Laurent Cyr (son of Michel) old housel. Originally, the house was believed to date from 1780, but after some research, it was found that the house was built at a later date, in fact around 1830. However, using new dating processes, it is possible that it was built as late as 1852.

Finally, the Cyr farm includes a house, a barn, a shed and a pigpen. 

First settled in Port-Royal in the years 1600, the Savoie left their region as soon as the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713. Confident they will find an area not touched by the Treaty, Germain Savoie and Pierre Thibodeau settled on the coast of Chignectou Bay, south of what is New-Brunswick today. Unfortunately, in 1755, british soldiers pursued the Acadians to the Petitcodiac River. After the fall of Fort Beauséjour, a group of Acadians left the area and went down to the Miramichi River. They stay there all winter. The survivors continue their route to the north of Neguac, Tracadie, Caraquet and Québec. Jean, dit James Savoie, son of Germain was the first to get to Neguac.  He settled down in a place called Rivière-des-Caches.
 
Jean's son, Joseph, ask for a land in 1795 and got it in 1813, three years after his death.  It is then divided between his four sons: Germain, Victor, Edouard et Bonaventure. Bonaventure's son, Vital, built the house which is now at the Village historique acadien. Vital is before anything a farmer.  However, he seems to know a lot about woodworking as he made tables and chairs for his house. He is also a trapper trapping beavers, muskrats and hares,and that's why is nickname is: Vital à Boune le Rat musqué. He's also a fisherman. After Vital's death, his son Thomas inherits the house and passed it to his son Francis. It's occupied until 1967. 

This house was built in two different steps. Dating from 1860, the summer kitchen is the oldest part; it's a half- timbered vertical structure made with pieces produced in a sawmill. The main body of the house is built four years later, on a structure made of beams squared with an ax.  The outside is covered with cedar shingles. The interior of the summer kitchen is reduced to its simple expression while the most recent part shows a certain refinement.

The Chas. J.L. Godin general store is a good example of a typical general store in an Acadian community at the turn of the 20th century. Like most such businesses in Acadian regions of New Brunswick, it remained modest in size throughout its history and its owner did not get rich operating it. At the end of the 19th century, these stores offered a wide variety of domestic and utilitarian products, but little in the way of foodstuffs. Only in the early 1900s did they become true grocery stores and offer a variety of products.

As to the owner Charles Godin, born in 1850 in Haut-Caraquet, he first married in 1878 Caroline Poirier, then in 1883, in a second marriage, Olésine Doucet. From these two marriages he had nine children, including Alexis who succeeded him in 1920, though the business becomes the property of Olésine.

He was named postmaster in 1880, an office he held until his death. He certainly took thus opportunity to establish his business. It is not known exactly at what time he opened his store, but the first of his account books to be available dates from 1889.

One thing is certain: it was not unusual at the time for storekeepers to accommodate a post office in their store. However, not all postmasters were general merchants.
One may believe that Charles Godin’s store was rather modest according to the standards of the time. First, like many of its competitors, the business owned less than $500 in capital. In the early 1900s, his credit rating passes to “L” which means that his credit is qualified as “fair” at that time. Also, like many storekeepers of the day, Charles Godin practiced farming.

Some idea of the importance of the Godin general store may also be inferred by realizing that from a structural standpoint, nothing really sets it apart from a small home. We may assume that commerce was not the primary function of this building originally, considering its small size and its features similar to those of a small dwelling. Lastly, it would appear that Charles J.L. Godin was known chiefly as postmaster rather than merchant.

Located in Caraquet (near Pointe-Rocheuse), the Poirier tavern open its doors to public in 1880. At the Poirier tavern we serve Jamaican Rhum DeKuyper gin coming from Holland, whisky and brandy which could come from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon Islands or made locally. Finally, wine usually came from France. There's no beer, because it's not known locally before the 20th century.

The tavern opens its door around 8:00 in the morning and closes at 6:00 pm and sometimes would stay open until 11:00 p.m. if the discussion was interesting.  People would go at the tavern to buy their drinks and bring it home, but sometimes they would have their drinks at the tavern and talk and play cards and games with friends.

It seems the building was a store at the beginning, but only for a short time, because oral tradition and official documents always refer to Louis Poirier as owner of a tavern and not a store. Not too much renovations were made when Georges Haché bought it in 1922.  He transported the building across the street for its own use.

The woodworking shop at the Village historique acadien represent Hubert Cormier's shop of Caraquet around 1875. It's from his son Ladislas that the Village historique acadien got the information to rebuild his father's workshop. Dilas, as we named him, lived until the age of 103 years old and died on June 5th, 1981.

The woodworker manufactures different things made of wood, especially doors and windows. In a lot of acadian villages, there was at least one woodworker. The woodworker, and a cartwright on occasion, can also manufacture and repair plows, ladders, pails, tanks, sleighs, furniture and coffins. With time, woodworkers got wood turning lathes in their shop.

In the shop we find different objects or tools that serve to build doors, windows, and all kind of furniture. We can see different kinds of saws, handsaws and two-handed saws.  For the maintenance of saws, we found vice-grips for sharpening and a screwdriver to rectify the saws' teeth.

The woodworker have lots of planes and trying planes.  The planes are used to reduce short pieces and put up the ends. The larger planes and trying planes are used for bigger pieces of wood. Concerning the planes with grooves, they are used especially to make groove boards.  In the workshop we can also see braces which serve to make holes in different pieces of wood, augers, used to make holes in the barrels to put the  faucets in place, different measuring tools such as brackets, levels, marking gauges, rules, folding foot-rules and different files and sharpening stones.

This building is a reproduction of the Moniteur Acadien printing shop, from Shediac, around 1880. This newspaper was the first published in Acadie, from July 1867 to 1926. It's founder was Israël Landry, born in Saint-Jean, Québec, but is an Acadian descendant who went through the deportation. However, he left his job only a few months after he was there. Norbert Lussier replaced him in 1868 and kept the direction until 1871, when he sold the business to Ferdinand Robidoux, only 21 years old. We associate him to the Moniteur Acadien, because he insured its publication for more than 45 years.

At that time it was really a modest publishing:  first weekly, then it became biweekly in 1886. It consists of a full format pamphlet, folded in two, which gives four pages.  At the time, printing a newspaper was a long and tough job. Once hand made, pages one and four are printed - one copy at a time- on the large manual press; then the same operation is done for the intermediate pages (two and three).  In all, the production of a newspaper represents 64 hours for two publishers.  The subscription cost two dollars a year, with a discounts for groups of 5 or 6 subscribers. To make sure the newspaper would make a little profit at that time, it took 5000 subscriptions. However, the most we can get is 2000 suscribers at the Moniteur Acadien. Three different fires destroyed Robidoux installations, in 1874, 1879 and 1886.  Since he had a lot of determination, he perseveres in his business even though it wasn't bringing him any profits. The newspaper itself is in deficit;  it's the platen''town press'' (The Peerless), that gives us a chance to pursue the operations. Robidoux announce the temporary closing of the newspaper in 1918 due to health problems. His sons tried to continue six years later, but after 14 months, the newspaper disappear definitively.

Germain Dugas, a farmer, built the Dugas house. Born in 1824, he married twice and from his two marriages had 15 children. His first wife was Véronique Robichaud and his second wife Marie Paulin. We know that over the years Germain accommodated several persons in his home: his blind sister Suzanne, one Théotiste Dugas, 8 years old, Florence Dugas, 23, Jude Dugas, 45 and blind, Olive Cyr, 19, a French Canadian, school teacher Ursule Godin, 23 and the servants, George Dugas and Lazarine Dugas.

The Dugas house is built in a very different manner from what was usually done at the time. It has an open-frame structure with vertical posts which is filled with cob (a mixture known as torchis), that is a mixture of clay and straw. This type of construction is very ancient and is found in Normandy and Northern France. Experts in Acadian architecture know of no other instance of this type of construction.

Originally, the cob was covered with whitewashed mortar. Subsequently, the mortar was covered with planks (clapboard). It is also possible that this house was built from another building which was demolished. Some pieces are bored and marked in various places, while others are axe-hewn. After several years, a cornice was added to the house, above the main entrance.

Regarding the dating of the Dugas house, if we follow tradition, Germain would have built his house before his marriage to Véronique, that wedding having been celebrated in 1854. However, a dendrochronological analysis performed in 2007 shows that the house was probably built circa 1866-1867.

This house was acquired by the Village Historique Acadien in 1972. That year, the owners had undertaken the demolition of the building; but upon finding that it was a cob, or wattle and daub, construction, the Village purchased it. The Village Historique Acadien has made this house into a restaurant serving traditional Acadian cooking, where meals prepared following ancient Acadian recipes may be savored.

The blacksmith was one of the most important persons in the village, being a jack of all trades, able to make or fix anything. The blacksmith is such an essential handyman that very few villages could not rely on at least one of these iron workers, and in the Memramcook area around 1865, five smithies could be found.

As for the shop itself, it is not the best-looking building in the village. In fact, it often looks like a neglected shed. Smithies did not necessarily have a sign, but it could be readily identified from sight and, more often, from the noise. Inside, amid an anarchic disarray, the shop appeared as an inexhaustible warehouse.

A blacksmith’s economic fortunes fluctuated around a seasonal cycle. In the spring, the harrow and the plow might need shaping up for the farmer. At harvest time, farmers brought in farm tools broken during the harvesting. In the fall, the blacksmith fixed butchering tools like knives and scrapers. In the winter, he repaired sleds and carts. In addition, all through the year the blacksmith had to shoe the horses and sometimes the oxen. As regards the work of Sylvain Léger, he was reputed to be a master in the art of “beating an axe”. He used a special solution and a technique peculiar to him.

The Village Historique Acadien purchased the old Sylvain Léger smithy in 1976 and then proceeded to restoring it to its original condition. The smithy represents a typical smithy in a rural part of New Brunswick in the mid-1860s.

This house represents the house of an acadian farmer originally from Memramcook and living in the village of La Montain. Memramcook was colonised by the Acadians during the first half of the 18th century. After the great expulsion, the acadians continued to live in the region so much that in 1781, Mgr. Briand, bishop of Québec, sets up canonically the parish of Memramcook.

Thus, Memramcook becomes a prosperous and fertile region during the 19th century and this due to its agriculture. As in other acadian regions, the farmers utilize the marshes and built (aboiteaux) dyke and sluce systems on the Memramcook and Petitcodiac rivers. We can also count on a lot of craftsmen in different jobs and occupations and on a few sawmills between 1830 and 1900.

The Léger family, in the person of Gabriel, built in 1836 this house situated not far from the Chapel built around 1780 and burnt down in La Montain. Apparently Gabriel Léger built his house on a land belonging to his father who acquired it in 1838.  Moreover, his father Charles, who lived a large part of his life in Bouctouche, came to end his life with his son on April 5 and died on April 7, two days after his arrival.
 
When Gabriel died in 1880, his oldest son Alphée inherit the house. Alphée got married to Adélaïde LeBlanc in 1864 and the couple only had two daughters. One of them, Marie-Angèle, inherit her father's estate and this is how the house went from Léger to Leblanc. Marie-Angèle married to Hyppolite LeBlanc in 1890. The last family to live in this house is Antoine Leblanc, son of Hyppolite and Marie-Angèle Léger

James Blackhall was born in 1792 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In 1813, James arrives in Canada, more precisely in Halifax, looking for a better future. As a member of the Thorn Salter Company’s workforce, he was sent to Newcastle, New Brunswick, then in 1819 to Miscou and to the Dalhousie area where he is now in business on his own. This commercial endeavor in Dalhousie is a failure and in 1822 he arrives in Caraquet.

In 1822, James builds a “saltbox” type house (two stories in front and one storey at the rear) in Caraquet, which according to popular tradition would be the first of this type in the region. In 1826, he married Mary Sennett, an Irish Catholic, and from this marriage seven children were born.

Being educated and of British origin, it was easy for James to obtain important positions of power in the village of Caraquet. From 1824 to 1857, James Blackhall was justice of the peace, school trustee, harbor master, customs officer, commissioner of roads, tax collector, fish and barrels inspector, member of the Health Commission, parish clerk and assessor.

Upon his death in 1857, his oldest son, James George Canning, inherits his father’s property as well as all his public offices. James married Eliza Doran and from this marriage were born eight children. We may mention that in 1861 he is appointed militia captain and in charge of recruiting a camp of militiamen in the area. In addition, he will be coroner, tax collector and signals agent.
Moreover, during the Caraquet riots in 1875, Blackhall was the interpreter during the preliminary hearings and a witness at the trial. He displayed a bias which clearly showed his position. In addition, in another matter, he was accused of fraud, being suspected of not having remitted the entire sum of the tax he had collected.

At his death in 1910, the house became the property of his wife Eliza. She died in turn in 1930 and the house was bought by the Lacroix family who had been leasing land from the Blackhall farm for a number of years. This is the house where Donat Lacroix, a renowned Acadian singer-songwriter, was born. The house passed on to Julien Thériault and was finally purchased by a company, Rocca Group, who intended to use it for commercial development.
Thus, in order to preserve this heritage building, the Village Historique Acadien purchasedit in 1975 for the symbolic sum of one dollar from Rocca Group Ltd.

Joseph Thériault, born in 1824, farmer and wood merchant, is the son of Joachim and Claire Gauvin. Being the oldest of the boys, it's hard for him to inherit the family property.  In 1845, he got married to Phoébée Boudreau and settled in Thériault Office.  They had nine children. After Phoebe died he got married to Rachel Landry in 1861. He didn't have any children with Rachel.

According to the oral tradition, Joseph built his first house really close to the actual crossroads. It's only later, in 1860.  that he built the house which is at the Village historique acadien.

Joseph Thériault got a 100-acre land on October 1st, 1857. It is reasonable to think that after he got this land, he started to build his house, moreover after getting married to Rachel Landry in 1861. Founder or not of Thériault Office, Joseph Thériault and his family give their name to this small village.
Philias, son of Joseph, inherits the family property and lives with his father.  After his father died he became the real owner. Philias got married in 1881 to Lucille Chenard, from Caraquet. They had ten children.  In his will dated March 15, 1946, eight years before he died in 1952, he bequeaths his proper to his daughter Lauza. Lauza lives in this house with her husband Fidèle Landry until 1977, and in 1981 the Village historique acadien bought the house.

When the Village historique acadien got the house, they only bought the part built in 1860.  The second part stayed in place. The Thériault house is interpreted in 1890, which is 30 years after the construction of the first section. We can see that the house has two sections, the first one in 1860 and the summer kitchen added a few years later. The furniture that we see is not handmade, but a mixture of both industrial and handmade.  At the end of the 19th century, furnitures were built industrially which made the acadian homemade furniture disappeared.

The Riordon familly is originally from Kinsale, Cork County in Ireland. John Riordon came in Pokeshaw in 1830 to join his brother Patrick. In 1852, John sells part of his lands to a Mr. William Boultonhouse who builts a sawmill on this land.  He later sold it to Richard Dempsey, whose last wife is one of the Riordons' daughters, but this wedding was badly seens, as he is protestant and she is catholic. It's after this event that the Riordon got the mill.

The mill burns down in 1888, and is rebuilt, with lots of encouragements from Reverend Romain Doucet from the parish of Grande-Anse. When the mill is completed, it consists of a sawmill, a flour mill and wool carding mill, and everything functions by hydraulic energy. However, when the mill was rebuilt a disagreement between Thomas Riordon and the company happens and Riordon refused to pay for the mistakes of the company. In 1914, when the rollers to crush the grains needed repairs, the same company sent the invoice not paid during the years 1890 and Thomas refused to get his rollers and pay the invoice.  The flour mill then closed it's door definitively.

From 1800 to 1850, without any doubts, education wasn't a priority for the Acadians. The absence of infrastructures and well-trained teachers does not value teaching. For most of the acadian families, survival was a priority. For example, young boys from the age of 12 years old embark on a fishing boat. Others chose the ax, and at 14 years old, a lot of them went in the wood as lumberjacks trying to make a fortune. Finally, others took part in the farm work. Girls help their moms with the house work. Inevitably, for a lot of acadians, school is a part time occupation during the year when their service is not needed elsewhere.  This explains why teachers have to deal with irregular presence of children in school.

However, at the beginning of 1800 years, provincial autorities do their best to valorise education and convince parents of its importance. But material means are weak, manuals are not to be found, and most of them are in English. Also, competent French teachers are very rare,because teachers' training  is only given in English and only started after 1850 in Nouveau-Brunswick. Acadian regions in the province must count on mobile teachers only.  All those factors explain that education is reserved to the English elite, whose members have access to the administrative positions.  However, its in those small modest schools, with difficult conditions that a lot of our futur pioneers of the acadian elite receive their first apprenticeships.  Pascal Poirier, Placide Gaudet, Amand Landry, Marcel-François Richard and others do not receive other training at the elementary school than the one given in those small schools often not well maintained and with teachers with no experience.
 
The structure of this school from Chockpish, near Richiboucto, is with vertical (colombages). The exterior is covered with cedar shingles, interior walls are covered with three feet panelling pine boards. A small stage about 20 centimeters high, near the entrance door, serve as a stand for the teacher's desk.  A patch painted on the wall with black smoke, serves as a blackboard.  A small inbox stove constitutes the heating system.

L’apport des membres du clergé catholique à l’histoire acadienne est considérable. Ce sont les prêtres qui prennent les commandes de ce petit peuple dépourvu de ressources, à la suite de la Déportation. Surtout d’origine québécoise et française, ces religieux parcourent les vastes territoires de cette nouvelle Acadie, dès la fin du 18e siècle. Tantôt prêtres et conseillers agricoles, ils sont conscients de l’importance de leur présence et de l’encouragement qu’ils représentent. Au nombre de leurs priorités, la chapelle, le presbytère et l’école établis par les missionnaires sont souvent les seuls établissements publics des communautés acadiennes au 19e siècle. 

La chapelle qui se retrouve au Village historique acadien est une reproduction d’une chapelle construite en 1831 à Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage, dans la partie ouest de la ville de Caraquet. L’originale existe toujours et reçoit chaque année des milliers de pèlerins à l’occasion de la fête de la Sainte-Anne, le 26 juillet.  

Construite par un groupe de villageois, cette chapelle ne se distingue pas au point de vue architectural des maison familiales de l’époque, si ce n’est par la présence d’un clocher et l’absence des solives de plafond. 

Il semble que cette chapelle n’ait jamais servi régulièrement au culte. Plusieurs hypothèses meublent la tradition orale en ce qui à trait aux raisons motivant cette construction : rendre hommage aux colons acadiens qui débarquent à cet endroit après la Déportation, des pêcheurs rescapés d’un naufrage voulant remercier le ciel de les avoir épargnés, ou encore des paroissiens désirant simplement améliorer leurs chances de voir l’église paroissiales installée chez eux plutôt que dans une autre partie de la paroisse. Seul édifice à caractère religieux sur le site du Village historique acadien, la chapelle évoque le rôle important joué par la religion dans la vie des ancêtres acadiens. 

The Babineau farm represents a typical Acadian farm in the middle of the 19th century in Kent County, New Brunswick. This house was located in a small village called Bedec, near Richibucto-Village. The ancestor of this Acadian family is Nicolas Babineau, dit Deslauriers, who arrived in Acadia in 1671.

Visitors may see a home whose furnishings reflect the furniture of the 1850s. It fits within a transition period in Acadian furniture, from 1825 to 1875. An improvement in the articles of furniture may be observed. While retaining their utilitarian function, they become somewhat more decorative and made with greater care.

In the Babineau home, one may notice a home-made bread trough, a washstand with a towel rack showing a very simple molding, a small cabinet with twin doors and a drawer, a rocking chair and wicker chairs, a small cast-iron stove from the Saint-Maurice ironworks in Trois-Rivières, a linen chest, a cradle, three rope beds, a fireplace and finally a bench-bed. The vast majority of the furniture in the Babineau house is made from pine.

Regarding the bench-bed or beggar’s bench, it is commonly seen in several Acadian areas as well as Quebec areas. It is said of the beggar’s benches that they could serve as a bed for a passing beggar looking for a place to sleep. Up to four small children could also sleep in one of those folding beds.

This is then a farm with a house, a barn and a few other outbuildings. Various animals such as sheep and cows can be seen here. Also on hand are several agricultural implements of the period.

As for the family of Jean Babineau, its builder born at the beginning of the 19th century, since the house is interpreted in 1855, his wife Marie Daigle had already given birth to evey one of their ten children. On the other hand, we know that the family property was inherited by Luc, deceased in 1901, and afterwards his brother Jean.

This covered bridge is a reproduction of a typical covered bridge in New-Brunswick at the beginning of the 20th century.  Also, on each facade we could read the following:  $20.00 fine for driving on the bridge faster than a walk.

The covered bridges first started in New-England at the end of the 20th century.  This type of bridge became popular and we can see them in a lot of canadian provinces.

This type of bridge is built with wood, as this material, at that time, was economic and resourceful.  The popularity of these bridges in New-Brunswick is due to its longevity.  Indeed, as these bridges have a roof, the covered bridges can last at least 50 years longer than a traditional wood bridge who last only fifteen years. `The roofs preserve the bridges from different storms.

There also more advantages:  the floor stays dry and is safer; no need to clear the snow during winter; the shape of the bridge recalls the entrance of a stable which reassures the horses, and the bridge becomes a rest area for travelers and a place to post publicity.

These bridges were also called the « kissing bridges. » They had a reputation, as the roof, at night, offered a dark place to boys and girls who wanted to do things they were not allowed to do before they get married.

This lobster hatchery, originally located in Chiasson Office on Lamèque Island shows the importance of the lobster fishing industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many canning factories or “canneries” sprung up during this period in New Brunswick and in the Maritime Provinces. However, a decline could be observed around 1887, leading to an inquiry commission suggesting the establishment of lobster hatcheries.

In 1904, a hatchery is opened in Chiasson Office, near the lighthouse built in 1880. The well-known builder, Arcade Landry, oversees the job. This hatchery was to help the propagation of the species and had a production capacity of 224 incubating jars. The first manager was Sébastien Savoie and in his first year, 50,000 lobster eggs were picked and incubated. The record for one year was 150 million in 1910.

Eight employees make up the staff of the hatchery: the manager, the engineer, an assistant engineer, day and night shift helpmates and employees in charge of collecting eggs and releasing the hatchlings. Those workers were paid between $3.00 and $1.50 per day.

The hatchery closed its doors in 1914 due to political conflicts and a general attitude of indifference towards the project. This climate of dissension, along with the start of the First World War brought about the closing of this piscicultural station, which was concluded in February. The building was sold to the W.S. Loggie Company of Shippagan, who moved it to the back of their store and used it as a warehouse. The building went to different owners and was finally sold to the Village Historique Acadien, then moved to the Village.

The Thomas house is a reproduction of Élie Thomas Jr.’s, which was built in 1936 and lived in until 1945. The Thomas’s employed a maid and a seamstress in their home. This family established in the Tracadie area lived in this village from the early 1800s. The men in this family were coopers from father to son.

The Élie Thomas house, in a bungalow style typical of the 1930’s, emphasizes this style mainly by its four-sided roof with dormer windows, the 1 1⁄2 storey and the veranda.

The cooper building is a partial reproduction of the Thomas of Petit-Tracadie around 1937. The mill represents a standard one of the period, and as for the cooperage (assembling) it's close to the one the Thomas had in 1937. The Thomas cooper had six to seven employees at that time.

Formerly, in the1800 years, the production of barrels at John Thomas was limited to two barrels a day, as all the production steps were handmade. The mechanical tools made their appearance around 1900 and in 1937, a good day of work represents 20 barrels a day.

The two main functions of the barrels are transportation and conservation of merchandise it contain. Water, wine, oil, molasses and a lot of solid products such as seeds, saltings, potatoes, apples, cheese, fish, meat, etc. The barrel is easy to handle, even if contains hundreds of pounds of products. We can handle it ourselves, due to it's geometrical shape.

Until the beginning of 1900, the production is especially sold on the local market. In 1937, the Thomas sell barrels everywhere in the Acadian Peninsula.  During that period, production goes up from 10 000 - 12 000 barrels a year. The main customers are: A. & R. Loggie, W. S. Loggie, the Robin, Jones and Whitman Company, the Gauthier manufacture in Shippagan, etc.

In the last years of production (1960-1970), there was not too many coopers and the Thomas sell everywhere in the maritimes, Québec and Ontario. During that period, the Thomas employed 40 to 60 persons and manufactured around 40 thousands barrels a year. In 1980, the Thomas cooper closes his doors, as barrels are now made plastic and it supplants the wood barrels.

The history of the Goguen sawmill begins with its owner Éric Goguen. Born in 1914, Éric was on the work market early and was in different spheres of work such as:  lumberjack, peddler selling farm products, lobster fisherman, pulp wood truck driver and finally owner of a sawmill.
In the years 1930, Eric starts to work in the forestry industry.  He is employed in the forestry industry on site, and became an employee of the Irving Company.

In 1945, he got a mobile sawmill that he can put in the back of his truck. This way, he goes everywhere in south east of the province cutting wood. While on those trips he would buy wood lots so he can cut the trees and finally obtain rights to cut wood on particular lots.
In 1949 Eric decides to build his own sawmill on the actual place in Cocagne. Having acquired experience with his mobile sawmill, he can use his knowledge in this trade. It's only around 1960 that his business was really going to its fullness.  During that time he hired a professional sawyer in the name of  Willie Boucher.

The equipment we find at the Village historique acadien was bought by Éric Goguen in 1945 from a man in Shemogue. The sawmill engin from the 1940 years is a brand from International, with a power of 125 horse-power and was funcitonning with diesel fuel.

Finally Eric's business becomes a family thing, as his sons become an important part of the company.

The building at the Village Historique Acadien, was built in 2008 and opened to public during the Agricultural Fair of the same year. It represents a sawmill with circular saw typical of the years 1930-1940 in New-Brunswick.

This original Irving service-station coming from Sackville New-Brunswick was acquired by the Village historique acadien in 2005 and restored to it's initial condition.

The popularity of automobiles spread very quickly in the 1920 and 1930 years. Necessarily, a new building had to be created, which is the service-station. This became a cultural icon of the rural and urban scenery in Canada.  The Irving Company wanted a distinctive achitecture for it's service-stations.  The typical turet of the service-stations conceived by Sam Roy confers a special trademark which will be unique across Canada.

Kenneth Colin (K.C.) Irving (1899-1992) was born in Bouctouche (New-Brunswick). In 1924, he is the owner of it's first service-station in Bouctouche. The year after, he settled in St-John and in 1932, he had a building erected, the Goden Ball, which becomes its general quarter.

The Irving Oil Company founded in 1927, sells gas in about 100 garages in the whole Atlantic region. Since 1936, the Irving Company counts as the most important distributor of the Ford Company in the Maritimes. In the same year, the company had consolidated six bus companies, the S.M.T. System, becoming the most important bus network in the Maritimes.

In 1924, Irving creates its own gas named Primrose. In 1936, he built a service-station in Sackville and Sam Roy was the architect.

During the years 1935 and 1950, and without any doubt, Samuel Sam Roy, (Sam King) (1895-1978), is the most popular of the acadian architects. Sam Roy was born in Sainte-Marie de Kent and studied architecture in Boston. In 1930, the Irving Company hired Sam Roy for the construction of a service-station in Halifax. This is probably the first with its charateristic turet. In 1936, he is responsible for the service-station in Sackville.

The construction work for the Irving service-station at the corner of Main and Allison avenue started in October 1936. On November 19, the first operators, Paul and Reynold Blakney, took the direction.

The train station at the Village historique acadien is a reproduction of a Canadian National train station which was identified as Canadian Government Railways standard no 5 stations as designed in 1918 by the chief engineer in the Moncton office.

With its hip roof supported by solid consoles, this train station is an example of a typical architectural style of a lot of train stations built in New-Brunswick at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Château Albert is faithfully reproduced thanks to the preserved original plans. These plans were drawn up by Acadian architect Nazaire Dugas and the first owner of the hotel was Pierre P. Albert.

Pierre P. Albert, born in 1870, had this huge building erected in Caraquet in 1907 after the plans drawn by Nazaire Dugas. Unfortunately, Pierre had financial problems from the beginning. It must be recalled that with the arrival of the railway in the late 1880s, the people of the Acadian Peninsula rushed into the hotel business in the belief that the railroad would bring in a wave of visitors and tourists. Such was not the case, and like a number of hotels, the Château Albert closed its doors a few years after it had opened. Nevertheless, while the Château Albert was a hotel, it had a good reputation. The hotel had 24 rooms and a good stable for horses. Wedding receptions

were held on its premises, as was the case in August 1910 with the wedding of Fred Poirier and Françoise Paulin, and banquets like the one in April 1913 in honor of the manager of the Provincial Bank.

When World War I broke out in 1914, the hotel was transformed into a headquarters for the militia and for the recruitment and training of soldiers of the 165th Acadian Battalion. After the war, the building was sold to Joseph Dumas who rented the rooms as apartments. Also, barber Rhéal Albert opened a shop in the 1920s, barrister Albany Robichaud of Shippagan had an office in the Château and Fred Bourque opened a drugstore there in 1940.

Around 1943-44, the building was sold to Ashley Colter who opened an A. & R. Loggie general store. The Château Albert was used as a store until 1955, when it was destroyed by fire.

Book a room now!

This building is a faithful reproduction of the general store owned by Nicholas D. Thériault in 1924 at the corner of routes 135 and 325 in Trudel, New Brunswick.
Born in 1885, Nicholas in 1909 took over management of his father Dominique’s store and three years later he bought the title to it. His father had built it in 1903.

In 1914, Nicholas starts expanding his business. He has a warehouse built as an annex at the rear of the store where he can keep merchandise bought in bulk. As for perishable goods, they are stored in the building’s cellar and the upper floor is used for furniture: beds, mattresses, even coffins. In 1917, Nicolas has a gas pump installed and a little oil shed close to the store.

In 1924, Nicholas proceeds to large-scale renovations. On the front wall of the store, large windows are put in, a new entrance and panels give a squared-up look to the front. The building is then painted inside and out. However, the panels added upon the renovations had to be removed the following year, as in high winds, they shook up the whole front wall.

The Village historique acadien has decided to interpret the Nicholas D. Thériault general store as it was after the renovations, but before the front wall was removed. Today, the original building houses apartments.

Avec la venue, au début du 20e siècle, de changements rapides dans le mode de vie des Acadiens, la population est prise au dépourvu. L’économie d’antan fait place à une économie qui nécessite des capitaux que les entrepreneurs anglophones locaux n’ont tout simplement pas. Cette situation incite divers courant de pensée, dont celui du mouvement coopératif. 

La première caisse populaire acadienne à voir le jour est située à Petit-Rocher, en 1936, et on construit le premier bâtiment en 1944. À l’époque, les caisses n’étaient ouvertes que très rarement, souvent seulement après la messe du dimanche.

Born in Lévis, Québec in 1849, Onésiphore Turgeon first came in New-Brunswick as a student, looking for a good climate due to his delicate health.  He finally chose Petit-Rocher and got married to an Irishwoman, Margaret Eulalia Baldwin, and they had five children.  Margaret died in 1896 at the age of 46 years old and Onésiphone married again in 1905 to Mary Loretta Meahan.

Turgeon's prime interest is education.  At that time, the 1871 School Act, establishing a non-sectarian public school, was the current event. Turgeon didn't stay long in this sphere and chose commerce and then journalism. Between 1874 and 1896, as a liberal candidate at the federal elections, he sustained five defeats. Finally, Turgeon is elected in 1900 and kept his seat for 22 years, even going through the Liberal Party defeat in 1911. In 1921, the Mackenzie King's liberals return to government and the year after, Turgeon is nominated at the senate, where he stays until he died in 1944 at the age of 95 years old.  The main focus of his platform, as a politician, is the development of a real fishing industry in Gloucester county.

It's in 1905 that Onésiphore Turgeon bought this comfortable victorian style home for the amount of $1800.00. Built in 1881, this house is interpreted as it was in 1928. It's a big building with a mansard roof and conventional architecture. In North America we associate this type of roof to the victorian style, very popular from 1860 to 1890.

This house was built by Onésime McGraw in 1901. Originally located in Losier Settlement, it was purchased by the Village Historique Acadien on October 31, 2007 and restored between 2008 and 2009 to its 1915 condition.

Born in 1874, Onésime McGraw, a descendant from an Irish immigrant who settled in Tracadie in the late 1790s, married Catherine Drisdelle in 1900 in the Saint John the Baptist and Saint Joseph parish of Tracadie-Sheila Shortly after their marriage, Onésime built the house and the couple lives in it as early as 1901. The following year, an extension is added at the rear and serves as a kitchen. Between 1900 and 1921, the couple had eleven children, all born in this house, but unfortunately, three died at an early age.

The youngest daughter, Laurraine, was logically the one who should have inherited the family home, but she died in 1951. Her husband, Pierre Rousselle, took on as his second wife Clara Duguay. Catherine died in 1952 and Onésime in 1959. Upon the latter’s death, the house passes on to Pierre. In this way, the house passes from the McGraws to the Rousselles.

Used as a licensing office in the 1960s, the house however became obsolete and Pierre decided to build a new home in 1973, leaving the old one. It is thus in an abandoned state that the house is turned over by Rosella Robichaud to the Village Historique Acadien to be restored and kept as a part of the Acadian heritage.

Joseph Chiasson’s house was built about 1890. It was built shortly after the birth of Joseph’s first daughter, Célestine. This vernacular one-and-a-half storey house presents itself, with its gabled dormer-windows on the front side and its summer kitchen, the reflection of the classic cottage influence on residential construction at the end of the 19th century in the rural New Brunswick landscape.

Contrary to 19^th century Acadian houses, the indoor walls of the Chiasson house are finished in painted paneling. In the kitchen, an indoor water pump may be observed, this feature being more and more common in Acadian homes in the years 1890-1930.

As for the furniture, it has greatly evolved since the last century. From the late 19th century and especially from the early 20th century, Acadians are able to purchase industry-made furniture from outside New Brunswick. In addition, Acadians, being devout Catholics, hang pious images and place statues of the Virgin Mary and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as decorations for their homes and to show their attachment to religion.

Dwelling on the life of Joseph Chiasson, we find it to be quite eventful. Joseph, born in Lamèque in 1866, is the son of Abbé Chiasson. The latter leaves Lamèque Island along with many inhabitants of the island with father Louis Gagnon in order to establish the colony of Saint-Isidore. Joseph, being young at the time, comes along with his father et the rest of the family. In 1888 he marries Clothilde Parisé, who unfortunately dies in 1902 and a year later, Joseph takes as his second wife Odile Mallais of Saint-Isidore. All together, Joseph had 18 children.
Joseph was a farmer; he tilled his land in the summer and worked in logging camps in the winter. He could also be employed in the sawmills, notably for David Haché. Before his death in 1920, Joseph owned cows, an ox, a dozen sheep, chickens and pigs. Like most farmers, he grew potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, oats, buckwheat and flax.
 
On April 21, 1920, in Saint-Isidore, Joseph died of the Spanish flu. He left all his possessions to his wife Odile. Odile, now a widow, sent six of her children to live with her brother Barney Mallais. Abbé, 30 years old and still a bachelor due to a lame leg, stayed home with his mother and his brother Albert, who was 14. 
However, Odile left for Montreal later in 1920 probably to hire out as a maid. She comes back to Saint-Isidore in 1924 when Albert tries his best to support himself and his brother by working in logging camps in the winter and tilling the soil in the summer. Upon Odile’s return from Montreal, some of her children come back to live with their mother. In 1925, Odile remarries with Joseph McGraw, but no children were born from this marriage.

Odile died in 1933 at 50 years of age. In her will, she leaves her husband Charles McGraw two acres of land in Saint-Isidore and to her son Richard Chiasson the house, the barns and other outbuildings. She also asks Richard to care after his stepfather Charles McGraw until he remarries or becomes unpleasant.

In New-Brunswick, the tinsmith business settles rather slowly. If we find some shops, it surely is in the large anglophone centers at the end of the 1860's years. It's only about ten years later that tinsmiths settle in a few acadian communities. The tinsmith at the Village Historique Acadien is a reproduction of the Ferdinand Ouellet boutique situated on Main Street in Shediac. It's interpreted as in 1905. Ouellet seems to be a leading character in Shediac during those years, as we see him as the first municipal council in Shediac. In his store, besides making a lot of usual things, he sells stoves coming from the Sussex casting.

The construction of the tinsmith building is typical of most of the boutiques and stores at the beginning of the 1900 years:  vertical half-timbering construction, large windows in the front, and on each side of the door; inside, there's the shop by itself and a little boutique in the back.  As for all the businesses, this one is built close to the road, whereas family houses are far from the road.

The Ward house is built by Thomas Ward around 1887-1890. Thomas built a house close to when he got married in1886. He also needed a house, as his father got married again and started a new family with his young wife, 37 years younger than him and Thomas cannot live with them anymore. The Ward house is on Ward Road, near Vibert Street in Miscou.

The house belongs to Thomas until he died in 1919, and his son Dana inherit the house. Following this, the house becomes the property of the two Ward brothers, Stillman, name Still and Nelson. In 1995, the house is sold to Rita and François Gendron, Rita being the niece of the two brothers and daughter of Virginia, Still and Nelson's sister.

In 2000, the Ward house becomes the property of the Association touristique de la Péninsule acadienne Inc. and is transfered near the reception building at the Village historique acadien. It becomes a tourist house, meaning a tourist bureau for visitors. However, the tourist house closed his doors and is moved again in 2008 on the Village Historique Acadien's site in the 20th century section.

The shoemaker’s shop at the Village Historique Acadien is a reproduction of a typical shop from the years 1900 to 1920 in Acadian centers of New Brunswick. Installed at first at the far end of the Village in the 1970s and 80s, it was relocated in the section portraying the 20th century in the early 2000s.

This little shoemaker’s shop from the rural areas is very simple, has no electricity and is equipped with rudimentary tooling. The shoemaker could make moccasins as well as repair shoes and boots. When a customer came into the shop, the shoemaker would sometimes make a casting of his foot, but more often he would use a wooden, or later a metal last.