The Old Court House Museum, housed in Guysborough's original 1843 stone courthouse, is the best place to understand the layered history of this corner of Nova Scotia. The exhibits cover the Mi'kmaq people who inhabited the area for thousands of years before European contact, the Acadian communities of the 17th century, the Black Loyalists who settled here after the American Revolution, and the Scottish immigrants who shaped the town in the 19th century.
The building itself is worth seeing — one of the oldest surviving courthouses in Atlantic Canada, with original woodwork and a courtroom interior largely intact. Local artifacts, photographs, and documents bring the stories to life in modest but well-curated displays. The staff are knowledgeable and happy to point you toward lesser-known local history.