Description of Historic Place

Acadia Lodge No. 13 is a two-storey brick building located in the commercial area of the small town of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, on the Northumberland Strait. Both the building and the land is included in the provincial designation.

Heritage Value

Acadia Lodge no. 13 is valued as the first meeting place for the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs and for its association with the Masonic movement in Nova Scotia.

Acadia Lodge, of the Masonic Order No. 13, had its beginning in 1850 after a group of prominent men petitioned the Grand Lodge of England for the right to form a lodge. The original Pugwash Masonic lodge was incorporated in 1866, under the guidance of Hon. Henry Gesner Pineo and met in a building located on Water Street. A fire in 1911 destroyed the Water Street lodge; it was at this time that the Masonic Order No. 13 began using Acadia Lodge as its meeting place and continues to present.

Acadia Lodge No. 13 was built circa 1902 by F.R. Dakin, a local pharmacist and merchant. He operated a drugstore and bicycle emporium in the basement of the building until 1907 at which time he moved, expanding into general mercantile trade. Dakin also built the last ship to be launched at Pugwash, the “William Mcl. Borden.” In 1911 Dakin and his wife, Grace Borden, deeded the property to the trustees of Acadia Lodge No. 13.

Acadia Lodge No. 13 is also valued with Cyrus Eaton and the Pugwash Conference. Born in Pugwash, Eaton became a highly successful banker and businessman in the United States. In the 1950s he was outwardly critical of the United State’s policy on nuclear arms. He established the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, an intergovernmental organization which focused on the reduction of armed conflicts. The first conference took place in 1957 and participants came from ten of the most concerned countries in the world, including the USSR and People’s Republic of China. The discussion focused on the dangers that were created from the fall-out of nuclear weapons and the responsibility of scientists to make the implications of their work clear to the public. The first meeting of the Pugwash Conference was held in this building. Later, the purpose-built Thinkers’ Lodge, was constructed to host the regular meetings.

Source: Province Heritage Property Program, file no. 270

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements of Acadia Lodge No. 13 include:

- symmetrical front façade;
- central entrance flanked by windows on each side;
- low pitched, gable roof;
- two-storey massing;
- concrete sills and headers;
- brick façade and pattern of every sixth course consisting of headers;
- wooden windows with stained glass in most of the upper sashes;
- remains in original location.