GOLDENVILLE – There may be less controversial traditions to commemorate, but for one St. Mary’s community, gold mining is not only a matter of local history; it’s in the town’s name. And now it’s recorded on canvas.
The Heritage Goldenville Society is marking the area’s past with a new water colour depiction of the area’s first mineral operation, circa 1860, by Sherbrooke artist Beverly Cameron, called Gold Mining Works at Goldenville.
According to the organization’s chair, Neil Black, proceeds from the sale of a limited number of prints will help support the society’s work to collect and preserve the community’s economic and social legacy. “Our whole source of revenue comes from bringing in donations at the door,” he said. “We have a nice little museum here with all sorts of interesting artifacts.”
Sherbrooke resident Cameron – who has exhibited her art in Fredericton, Saint John and Halifax – said she was happy to undertake the project after speaking with Black and other society members last year. “They offered to pay me, and I said I would be happy to make a donation,” she noted. “Gold on the Eastern Shore is part of our history.”
Between 1862 to 1941, production in the area reportedly topped 200,000 ounces, making Goldenville the unofficial gold capital of the province.
“Thousands of people actually lived and worked around here in those days,” Black said. “Folks spent their money in Sherbrooke, and you had teachers and church people arriving here [because of gold mining].”
Cameron said she had to undertake a bit of sleuthing to draw the picture accurately. “I just went and got a whole lot of different old pictures from the archives they [the Society] provided and put it together,” she explained. “I used line drawing and watercolor. So, what you’re seeing is me doing my very best to represent what it used to look like.”
Atlantic Gold, a subsidiary of Australian mining company St Barbara Ltd., hopes to build an open pit mine along the environmentally sensitive St. Mary’s River. The project has yet to undergo an environmental assessment, but opinions on both sides of the issue are running hot in the area. Despite this, however, Black says he hasn’t received any pushback from the community about the art fundraiser.
“There’s been absolutely none of that,” he stressed. “This was part of our history and it was economically good for the community at the time. And, of course, it was really before anybody had an understanding of environmental waste and damages.”
The society hopes to introduce a “non-invasive” gold panning program for residents and tourists this summer. “We won’t be using any chemicals. We’ll teach people how to pan for gold, and then offer a sourdough’s meal,” Black said. “People can go off and find history with their own hands.”
