The Dead Die Twice: An amateur historian’s new book on forgotten N.S. cemeteries
A Nova Scotia photographer and amateur historian has turned his interest in the province’s abandoned cemeteries into a new book.
“The Dead Die Twice: Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia” by Steve Skafte features 80 photos along side narrative non-fiction.
Steve Skafte is pictured at a burial ground in Plympton, N.S. (Courtesy: Steve Skafte)Skafte has been chronicling his adventures around the province since the fall of 2007.
“I just came back from a bicycle trip, solo trip across New Brunswick and Maine, and I came back to a job I didn’t much like at the time and I thought, ‘Hey, exploring Nova Scotia that should be just as good as exploring Maine,” he says. “So I started doing it and was pretty amazed at the sort of things I found for a place I’ve lived my whole life.”
He found many overgrown cemeteries and then began researching what was hiding in wooded areas.
Skafte says they are a good reflection of quiet, rural life in Nova Scotia.
“Having grown up in a place that a lot of people I knew moved away, they have that sort of leftover quality that I identify with, but also they give me a chance to -- I don’t want to say own the history -- but it’s like I can have a history that’s in a pocket to itself that I experience and that I can share with people that hasn’t been over said, it hasn’t been covered by anybody else. And the experience is real adventure to me.”
He says not all abandoned cemeteries are necessarily off the beaten path.
Eagleson Cemetery in Upper-Granville, N.S., is pictured. (Courtesy: Steve Skafte)
“Some are surprisingly close, like maybe only 100 feet off the road, but there are other ones that I’ve spent hours going in circles or in grids through the woods to find. You’ll see them anywhere in between deep in the woods where there was a community 100 years ago, to others that are really just off of the field into a tree line, but that’s enough to completely bury them from sight.”
Skafte says he mostly decides which tombstones to research based off where they are located.
“Sometimes, it’s decided for you, because there are a lot of very quick dead ends. As you try to find out more you discover quickly that there doesn’t seem to be any more to find,” he says. “So I’d say that the decisions are largely made for me, but I do want to tell stories about the most beautiful stones or the ones that seem like they were forgotten more completely than the others.”
East Side Cemetery in Voglers Cove, N.S., is pictured. (Courtesy: Steve Skafte)
One of the many stones Skafte found is in Voglers Cove in Lunenburg County, which just says “Siamese twins” along with the names of their parents.
“For these to even be mentioned at the time it would have been very unusual. It’s a sort of story that many families would of tried to bury as there would have been a certain stigma about it at the time and they were, obviously, not inclined to keep that under the radar. They wanted to say what had happened and say it right on the stone there. I really like to be able to get that kind of thing across.”
“The Dead Die Twice: Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia” will be released next month and is available for pre-order online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Air France flight from Paris to Seattle lands in Iqaluit after heat smell in cabin
A plane travelling from Paris to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit after there was a heat smell in the cabin during the flight.