New France
The Electric City

New France, or "Electric City" was located beside the Silver River and Langford Lake, about 17 miles from Weymouth, Nova Scotia. This was a place way ahead of it's time.

In the mid to later nineteenth century there was great unrest in France. The Stehelins, a very industrious family found themselves caught between the French & German conflict. Their lands had been taken over by the Germans and they were being forced to speak German.

In 1892 Emile Charles Adolphe Stehelin sent his oldest son, Jean Jacques Stehelin to Canada to procure land for his family in search of a safer and better life.

He ended up going to Weymouth, Nova Scotia after conversing with a local priest who spoke of the good hard-working people living there. He liked what he saw and before long had purchased 4000 hectares of mostly forest land inland of Weymouth.

He then sent for the rest of his family, his father, seven brothers and three daughters and thier families.

After hiring workers they started to build their village. At it's peak time, New France, as they had named it, had a teahouse, chapel, casino, a saw mill and a blacksmith forge along with several houses for both their families and for the hired hand's families. The main industry was logging and the natural waterways of the area provided both electricity to run the mill and to move the logs.

These same waterways was also used to generate electricity for the town, putting lights in the houses. This was 30 years before any other community of the area had electricity. In a time of oil lamps the electric lights of New France shone bright. The village became known as "The Electric City".

The Stehelins also built their own railroad from their village to Weymouth to take their logs out for shipping to their customers. They used wood logs as rails for the railway and purchased an old steam engine to haul the logs.

The Electric City became a very industrious village employing several workers. Several cultures were all represented within it's boundaries including French, Acadian, African Canadian and Mi'kmaq all working together.

With the coming of the first World War the lumber prices plummeted and it was getting increasingly harder to find a market for their logs. The younger generation of Stehelins decided they did not want the hassle of taking over the family business. In 1912 it was decided to sell the land and move elsewhere. Some of the Stehelin family went back to their homeland of France, while others moved to the United States. Only one of the family remained and moved to Weymouth.

By 1950 the memory of the "Electric City" was almost forgotten, the once bustling village was succumbing to ruins. It was decided to tear everything down and just the old rock foundations were left to mark the spots buildings once stood. The land in the former village was soon grown up with "forget-me-nots" and other flowers that had grown wild from the old gardens of Mrs. Stehelin.

Eventually the land was bought by J.D. Irving at about the same time as the New France Historical Society was started. It became a joint venture between the Society and the Irvings to preserve the land where the "Electric City" once stood and make it a historical park.

The new park at Langford Lake, Digby Co. was opened in the summer of 2002. In August a memorial ceremony was held on the site commemorating all those who once lived and worked there.

The Electric City trail and park are now open year round and see approximately 1000 visitors each year. It features well groomed trails leading to the former village and interpretive sings identifying the old buildings that once stood on the site.

Tours are available in the summer and several schools go on field trips each year to visit the old ruins and learn the history.

You will find the New France Trail along route 340 south out of Weymouth towards New Tusket and Havelock.

View New France - "Electric City" in a larger map

Leave the New France Trail and return to check out other trails in Digby County.