The Malagash Heritage Museum is a small, local museum devoted to preserving the history and heritage of the Malagash area and the first salt mine in Canada. We have exhibits of various aspects of local history – mining, farming, labour unions, schooling, tools of all kinds of trades applied in Malagash, and daily rural life through the community’s history, which includes oral recordings of long-term residents. We are very proud of Malagash’s claim to fame as being the first rock salt mine in the British Empire. It all began when a farmer desperately needed water, but he only succeeded in getting brine from his well in 1912. On Labour Day, September 2nd, 1918, the first rock salt was mined. After 41 years and a production of approximately 2 million tons of salt, the Malagash Salt mine was closed in March 1959.
Please drop by to review the history of the mine’s operation. The story is told by Malagash residents who remember growing up in the community and working in the salt mine. Their stories of exploring the mine are illustrated by black and white photos, documents, extracts from audio interviews and a unique video clip of mining underground.
