McCulloch House Museum

The McCulloch House Museum


After parking your vehicle in one of our free parking spots, take a walk up the hill to the McCulloch House Museum where you can spend time reading newspapers from McCulloch's time to find out about the happenings in the busy port town of Pictou.

In the kitchen, discover how his maverick ideas about education, religion, and politics brought the community to its boiling point in disagreement.


Come and challenge your ideas about one of Nova Scotia's largest groups of immigrants in the 1800s.

Find out how the Scots and the influence of their "new" ideas left a legacy for today's Nova Scotians.

We have a number of artifacts belonging to Thomas McCulloch and his family throughout the House, so be sure to leave yourself lots of time to look around!

What You Will Discover 

Get ready to be amused and shocked by the multifaceted personality of Thomas McCulloch! Not only was he a Presbyterian minister and educator, but he also had a satirical side.

But don't be fooled by his wit - McCulloch was also a maverick with unconventional ideas about education, religion, and politics. His bold and controversial approach caused quite the stir in the community, bringing them to the boiling point of disagreement.

"Man must be viewed as an intelligent being; and not only possessing powers of knowledge, but places amid the works of creation, that by exercising their powers, he may increase his knowledge and intellectual excellence.

We must consider him as he exists in society, having property, social relations and an interest in the general prosperity. And we must view society itself merely as a link in the chain of existence and equally connected with past and future ages.” ~ Rev. Thomas McCulloch

Who Was Thomas McCulloch?


In 1803, Rev Thomas McCulloch set sail from Scotland anticipating his new life ministering to a Presbyterian congregation in Prince Edward Island. Luckily for us, fate had other plans, as he ended up in Pictou and proceeded to change the course of the town’s history.

In 1816, he founded Pictou Academy, offering a curriculum that rivaled universities and was open to all.

And in 1838, he became the first president of Dalhousie College. A man of many talents, McCulloch's legacy lives on as the father of liberal education in Nova Scotia.

Learn more about Thomas McCulloch