Our Story
SCHOOLHOUSE HISTORY LESSON
Our story begins in the year 1860 in beautiful Falmouth NS when a local farmer donated a small parcel of land on the corner of Castle Frederick Road to be used for a school for the local children. For nearly eighty years that school remained in its original condition until 1944 when the school was renovated and made larger to accommodate the growing population in the area!
Time passed, and the old school sat with a crumbling antiquated foundation. The community decided that is was time to sell the dilapidated building. Enter Cameron Hartley, a young man fresh out of paramedic school, who wanted to call the Valley his home. It was much more of a fixer upper than he had in mind, he still put an offer on the land. It was accepted. Falmouth School #9 would have a new future. The restoration of the schoolhouse, done largely by Cameron himself and became something of a local attraction.
Unfortunately, hard work alone cannot build a house, and Cameron’s personal debt mounted. In financial difficulty, Cameron made the decision to rent out the house in its current state, and move to Japan to teach English. Four years later, the paramedic-now English teacher-always beer lover, returned home to his schoolhouse with money in the bank.
Cameron decided to go back to Acadia University to get his Education degree, and with the lion’s share of the house renovation behind him, he also had time to spend on hobbies, one of which was all-grain brewing! In 2014 Camerons dream became a reality, and Schoolhouse Brewery was launched. At the time it was the smallest commercial brewery in the province. It also pioneered the first Nova Scotia beer delivery service with its mini school bus.
After three years the brewery had grown as much as it could in the Falmouth Schoolhouse location, and while it has since been moved, it has the story and character with it. You will now find Schoolhouse Brewery in its new home not far away in beautiful Downtown Windsor. The new location boasts a unique school themed taproom and kitchen as well as a bottle shop, dog friendly patio and of course, the brewery itself.