What to do
LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE MUSEUM
Come and discover a place where time stands still. The Little Red School House museum, in the heart of the village of Old Harry on Grosse-Île, is part of CAMI’s Historical Heritage Complex. Located in a bright, welcoming former one-room schoolhouse, the museum is a reminder of simpler times, when students of all ages gathered to learn their daily lessons.
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm
787, chemin Principal
The Little Red School House allows visitors to visualize the old classroom—the original chalkboard and hardwood floor have been preserved, as have two of the original desks. Over the years, the museum’s collection has grown and evolved to include old photographs, examples of oral history and culture, and artifacts that help depict bygone days.
Along with the tours offered by insightful and knowledgeable local guides, the museum’s collection is a window back in time, and offers a glimpse of the English-speaking community and of Magdalen Islanders’ way of life.
Don't miss
Don't miss
VETERAN’S MUSEUM
In any war, and certainly in the major global conflicts that riddled the twentieth century, small towns perhaps feel the human cost more sharply: the lives lost ripple through families, and through communities.
The Veterans’ Museum in the CAMI Heritage Complex is dedicated to the memory and historical role of English- and French-speaking Magdalen Islanders who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm
787, chemin Principal
The museum collection includes interpretative panels, artifacts, letters, and medals, and notably features the diary of William Welsh, which he kept while he was in a prisoner-of-war camp in Hong Kong.
The intimacy of history is further exemplified by the contributions of museum tour guides, whose anecdotes and local lore, often gleaned through word of mouth from relatives and friends, lend a personal authenticity to the broader, universal sweep of history. Located beside the Veterans Museum, the Memorial Park honours the brave men and women from the Magdalen Islands who died during World War II.
“A People of the Sea” exhibit
As anyone who lives by the sea will tell you, coastal life is both fortunate and fraught. As long as humans have been coming to the Magdalen Islands archipelago, the sea has been a source of sustenance: initially, the Mi’kmaq came to the islands seasonally to hunt walrus, and the earliest settlers who came from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and France lived largely off bountiful fish. The sea also provides transport, and many ancestors of today’s Magdalen Islanders sought refuge on the islands from famine or instability elsewhere.
Yet the waves, storms, and shoals can also be dangerous. Over a thousand vessels have wrecked in the sandy banks and shallow waters of the archipelago. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries especially, heavier navigation, combined with strong currents and the absence of lighthouses, meant many vessels were lost in the area, each with its own legends and lore, which have become part of the Islands’ history over the years.
The former Anglican church of St.-Peters-by-the-Sea, in the village of Old Harry, was built with wood salvaged from shipwrecks. Given the building’s origins, it is fitting that today the deconsecrated church is home to a permanent exhibit that tells the stories of many of the Magdalen Islanders who have perished by the waters, including in shipwrecks.
The moving “A People of the Sea” exhibit features photographs, interpretative panels, and artifacts that bear witness to losses that have touched every family on the Islands at one time or another.
ST. PETERS BY THE SEA
Always open
866, chemin Principal
Old Harry Beach
The miles of pristine white sand and picturesque landscape of the world-renowned beach at Old Harry is sure to please every member of your family. Relax, soak up the sun, take a nice long walk, or, on a quiet day, go for a swim in the cool water.
If you walk all the way to the end, you might even catch sight of seals frolicking in the waves. There are many services available on the site—washrooms, showers, parking, and a boutique—and the nearby Grandma’s Bakery has plenty of sweet treats to tempt beachgoers to stay awhile.
“A Wreck at Old Harry” exhibit
To live on an island is to live with the ocean—its bounty, its beauty, and its storms. The shores and shoals of the Magdalen Islands have seen hundreds of shipwrecks over the years, most in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before the advent of modern navigation.
This interactive exhibit recounts the voyage of one of these ships, the Miracle, through the eyes of a fictional character, whose story echoes those of the ship’s real passengers. The historical and contextual information that shaped the narrative of the exhibit was inspired by the book To Find But a Grave: The Wreck of the Miracle, by local historian Byron Clark. Experience the exhibit at St.-Peters-by-the-Sea church.
ST. PETERS BY THE SEA
Always open
866, chemin Principal
“A Wreck at Old Harry” exhibit
To live on an island is to live with the ocean—its bounty, its beauty, and its storms. The shores and shoals of the Magdalen Islands have seen hundreds of shipwrecks over the years, most in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before the advent of modern navigation. This interactive exhibit recounts the voyage of one of these ships, the Miracle, through the eyes of a fictional character, whose story echoes those of the ship’s real passengers.
The historical and contextual information that shaped the narrative of the exhibit was inspired by the book To Find But a Grave: The Wreck of the Miracle, by local historian Byron Clark. Experience the exhibit at St.-Peters-by-the-Sea church.
ST. PETERS BY THE SEA
Always open
866, chemin Principal
EAST CAPE NATIONAL WILD LIFE AREA
The East Point national wildlife reserve is the only ecosystem of its kind in Québec, and includes all the habitats that make up the Magdalen Islands: red sandstone outcrops, fixed and mobile dunes, beach grass, crowberry barrens, saline prairies, coniferous forests, marshes, and freshwater, brackish, and saltwater ponds.
The reserve is protected by Environment Canada: it is home to 150 species of birds and 10 species of mammals, and provides a crucial stop for migrating shorebirds and ducks, and the area is a breeding ground for the endangered piping plover and the horned grebe. Two nature trails, La Camarine and L’Échouerie, total 8.5 kilometres through the reserve, and can be explored alone or with a guide. There are also launch sites for sea kayaking, kitesurfing, and windsurfing.
Holy Trinity Church
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Saint-Peter's-By-the-Sea Church
