ABOUT US
"African Nova Scotians are a Distinct People
who descend from free and enslaved Black Planters, Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, Maroons, and other Black people who inhabited the original 52 land-based Black communities in that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia.
African Nova Scotians were “settled” in the province through enslavement or through fleeing enslavement elsewhere, and continue to experience all manner of structural, systemic and individual discrimination. Yet our experience is equally characterized by resistance, resilience, creativity, spirituality and hope that has profoundly shaped our families and communities — and this province and country. Indeed until 1961, more than half of all Black people in Canada were African Nova Scotian.”
Source: Dalhousie University African Nova Scotian Strategy Advisory Council
The Weymouth Falls Community Land Trust exists to
protect the land, stories, and capacity for collective care that have sustained this community for centuries. Rooted in Weymouth Falls, a historic Black Loyalist settlement, our work honours the lives African Nova Scotian families built through faith, labour, creativity, and mutual support. Our mission extends to the surrounding African Nova Scotian communities of Danvers, Hassett, and Southville, guided by the understanding that what impacts one of our communities has lasting impacts on us all.
For generations, community institutions such as the Mount Beulah Baptist Church have served as anchors. Places like these have been where people gathered not only to worship, but to organize, celebrate, mourn, and care for one another. These spaces reflect a tradition of collective responsibility that continues to guide our work today. Our logo pays homage to this legacy, placing the silhouette of Mount Beulah at the centre, surrounded by a heart to symbolize our principles of community, care, and connection. In February 2025, Mount Beulah entered a new chapter when it was acquired by the Weymouth Falls Community Land Trust. This was our first land acquisition and a national milestone: the first property acquired by a Black-led Community Land Trust in Canada. More than a transfer of ownership, this moment affirmed our commitment to community-led stewardship and the long-term protection of culturally significant spaces. We understand ourselves not as owners, but as stewards, responsible for caring for this land in perpetuity and ensuring it remains rooted in community control.
Today, WFCLT is focused on reviving and sustaining community places like Mount Beulah as climate adapted spaces that will remain accessible, relevant, and active for generations to come. Our work centres intergenerational knowledge, collective decision-making, and the belief that land can be a source of stability, continuity, and possibility. By holding land in trust on behalf of the descendants of Weymouth Falls, we create space for future generations to gather, imagine, and build. We are carrying the legacy of Weymouth Falls forward in ways that are both grounded and evolving.
What is a Community Land Trust?
The modern Community Land Trust model was first used by Black farmers who created a non-profit organization called New Communities Inc. in Albany, Georgia during the Civil Rights Movement in 1969. For decades, former residents and descendants of the historic African Nova Scotian community of Weymouth Falls have had a desire to return to the community we affectionately know as ‘down home’. Our communities are at risk of extinction and we refuse to let our history be erased.
We are honoured to carry on the legacy of New Communities Inc. by stewarding land in perpetual trust for the permanent use of rural communities.
