Port Hawkesbury by Moonlight, 1910

This luminous painting depicts the ship “Atrato” lifting anchor as her accompaning tug approaches from the stern to pick up a tow line. Reminiscent of this era you will locate in the background St. Joe’s Roman Catholic Church just up from the plant line wharf. Just behind the waterfront in the centre of the painting you will find both the Zion Methodist and the Salem Baptist churches are illuminated inside, as well as out. The ferry The S.S. Marion casts a soft reflection on the harbour as she unloads her passengers on their way from St. Peter’s. On the far right you will discover The Robertson Presbyterian Church, the only one of the original four that is still standing. The artists devotion to detail provides us with an accurate image of what life for a Port Hawkesbury resident would have been at the beginning of the 1900’s. He truly captures our interest and facinates us with this glimpse of our past.