Once the home of celebrated Nova Scotian folklorist Dr. Helen Creighton, a distant relative of Augustus Oliver Creighton whose Halifax bookstore was the last known location of the legendary 90-foot stone from the Money Pit.
About This Site
The Dartmouth Heritage Museum occupies the Evergreen House in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, a property purchased by Dr. Helen Creighton in 1919. Creighton was one of Nova Scotia's most celebrated folklorists, spending decades collecting songs, stories, and supernatural accounts from communities across the Maritime provinces. The museum now preserves her collections and the heritage of the Dartmouth area. The property is of particular interest to Oak Island researchers because of Helen Creighton's family connection to Augustus Oliver Creighton, a partner in the A.O. Creighton bookstore in Halifax where the legendary 90-foot stone from the Money Pit was last documented before it disappeared. The bookstore closed its doors in 1919, the same year Helen Creighton purchased the Evergreen House.
Connection to Oak Island
The museum's connection to Oak Island centres on the missing 90-foot stone, one of the most important artifacts in the island's history. During the original excavation of the Money Pit, searchers reportedly found a large carved stone at a depth of 90 feet bearing mysterious symbols that were later interpreted as an encoded message reading "Forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried." The stone eventually made its way to a Halifax bookstore operated by Augustus Oliver Creighton, where it was used as a binding stone. When the bookstore closed in 1919, the stone vanished from the historical record.
In Season 4, researcher Paul Troutman and Doug Crowell identified the Creighton family connection between the bookstore and Dr. Helen Creighton. In Season 7, Rick Lagina, Peter Fornetti, Doug Crowell, and Billy Gerhardt traveled 52 miles to the museum following a lead Rick received at Dan Blankenship's funeral. Kevin Rideout told Rick that over 40 years earlier, a museum curator had pointed out a stone in the backyard said to have come from Oak Island. Museum curator Terry Eyland took the group to the grounds, where Rideout estimated the stone had been embedded beneath a large rhododendron bush. The team did not locate the stone during the initial visit but planned to return with a government excavation permit. The possibility that the 90-foot stone, or another significant Oak Island artifact, may rest on the Evergreen House property remains an open line of investigation.
Fieldwork Notes
Season 7: Rick Lagina, Peter Fornetti, Doug Crowell, and Billy Gerhardt visited the museum following Kevin Rideout's lead about a stone from Oak Island reportedly seen in the backyard decades earlier. Museum curator Terry Eyland guided the group to the area. The stone was not located during this visit. A return visit with a government excavation permit was planned.
