Black Loyalist Heritage Centre The Google rating is 4.7

The Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, located within the Black Loyalist Heritage Site in Birchtown on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, shares the story of the Black Loyalists – free men and women who fought for the British during the American Revolution and won their freedom.

In the late 18th century, Birchtown was the largest free Black community in British North America, making it the center of the Black Loyalist experience in Canada. Its founding represented a turning point in the history of persons of African descent in Canada.

Since Spring 2015, the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre has taken visitors on an immersive journey through the life of some of the earliest Black settlers who left the United States and settled in Nova Scotia in the 1780s – and for some, traveled back to Africa. Visitors can also trace their heritage through the names in the Book of Negroes, a document containing the names of the Black Loyalists who won their freedom by taking up arms for the British.

In Spring 2026, the “Black Loyalists in Canada: Autonomy, Advocacy, Community, Legacy” collection, which is jointly held by the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, the Nova Scotia Archives, the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, and the Shelburne County Museum, was added to UNESCO’s Canada Memory of the World Register which recognizes documentary heritage of national significance.

The heritage site also includes:

• National Historic Monument of Canada – located on the Black Burial Grounds – honouring the landing of the Black Loyalists in Canada in 1783;
• St. Paul’s Church (circa 1888); and
• the Old School House Museum, a one-room school house built in the 1830s and home to artifacts from archaeological digs and items donated and loaned to the museum.

You can also stroll along the Black Loyalist Heritage Trail, a 1.5 km trail with interpretive panels, which takes you to the Black Burial Ground.

Site amenities include a gift shop, public washrooms, parking and picnic area. The facility is wheelchair accessible. Bus tours are welcome.

The Black Loyalist Heritage Site is located less than 10 kilometres away from the town of Shelburne where parts of the BET and CBC-produced Book of Negroes miniseries was filmed.