These two historic waterfront cottages are two buildings that were used by Henry Ketchum during the Northumberland terminus construction phase of his Chignecto Marine Transport Railway (CMTR) project in the 1890′s.

The CMTR project was intended to haul tall ships 17 miles by rail between the Bay of Fundy and the Northumberland Strait. The project was about 80% complete when it was abandoned. We are indeed fortunate to have these two historic buildings which are among the few remaining remnants of this ambitious 19th century project. The two buildings are now used as cottages. One is called the Ketchum Cottage after Henry Ketchum who never quite achieved his dream of completing the Ship’s Railway. The other is the CMTR Cottage, named for the project itself. The project was one of North America’s largest Civil Engineering Projects of the 1800s.

Ketchum Cottage	CMTR Cottage

The Ketchum Cottage was used by Ketchum himself. There are two possible uses of the CMTR cottage; some say it was an office, and others say it was a cookhouse for the large on-site crew.