Club History

GOLF is our passion

The land on which golf architect Graham Cooke has carved out the first ever “executive” golf course to be built in Nova Scotia is steeped in the history of the province.

OUR HISTORY

The land was initially occupied by 500 – 600 “Maroons”, natives of Jamaica, who came to Nova Scotia in 1796 to work on the construction of the Halifax Citadel.

By 1800 the Maroons had departed for Sierra Leone and the Hon. Charles Morris II acquired 500 acres at a public auction for three hundred pounds.

In 1803 he erected a summer home on an eighty foot hillock overlooking Lake Loon, which lay 150 yards to the west. There he and his large family spent each summer until his death in 1831 at which time his widow, Charlotte, made the site her permanent residence. With her death in 1844 the estate sold the property.

The Lake Loon House, as the property was known locally, was then acquired by Col. George F. Thompson, recently retired from the Royal Engineers. He arrived with his young wife/mistress and an invalid aunt, whose mental condition was such she was kept locked in a room. Local residents who worked for Col. Thompson reported that the invalid aunt was in fact Mrs. Thompson, who in turn was said to have been a relative of Empress Eugene of France, wife of Napoleon III.

Rumours ran rampant and the townships of Preston and Lawrencetown exploded when the death of the invalid aunt was reported. She was quickly buried in the old Roman Catholic Cemetery, Geary Street, Dartmouth.

As Thompson belonged to the Church of England the public furor only increased. Finally the authorities ordered an autopsy and Mrs. Thompson was disinterred and for three days the coroner heard testimony which covered ninety pages of evidence.

 

No fault was found although the jury did rule the deceased “…had not experienced the care and attention that her situation required”. Such was the obloquy heaped upon Thompson that he soon sold the estate and departed for England. 

By 1850 the property was in the hands of Col. George Montagu, a retired British army officer. Montagu would give his name to the area, although an “e” would be added to the community spelling. The old colonel became a gentleman farmer and on the estate kept a herd of more than 1000 goats.

He sold the unsalted goat’s butter for $1.00 a pound to Avery & Brown, druggists, who prepared salves from the product. Mrs Montagu died in 1882 and the aging widower relocated to Dartmouth, leaving the farm in the hands of his son Gore. Lt. Col. George Montagu died in 1889, at age 91, and was buried in St. John’s Church Cemetery, Preston Road, near Little Salmon River.

In 1896 the original house was destroyed by fire and a new residence was erected on the same site. In 1915, the remains of the son, Gore, aged 61, were buried by those of his parents. Gore’s children would continue to occupy the farm.

In 1985, Loon Lake Developments Limited purchased the property with their vision of transforming this old country estate into a community of large country lots and open spaces while maintaining the integrity of such a beautiful and historic piece of property. In 2000 construction started on the course and was open for play in 2001. The addition of The Links at Montague completes this vision for all to enjoy.

Montague Farms Belgians

BEST IN CLASS

The Links at Montague is nestled beside Montague Farm, home to a spectacular breed of award-winning Belgian Draft show horses.