page_title: Waterloo, Nova Scotia
section_title: The arrival of modern conveniences
hierarchical_section_title: Waterloo, Nova Scotia / The arrival of modern conveniences
caption_attribution_description: English: Kate and Lady plough one furrow at a time
context_page_description: Waterloo, Nova Scotia is a small rural community in western Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. The community extends approximately 10 kilometers from Route 210 to the Queens County line and is 20 kilometers from the commercial hub of Bridgewater. The Waterloo Road runs through the community providing a picturesque alternative to Route 210 when travelling between Newcombville and Greenfield.
context_section_description: Massey Harris tractors arrived in the community in the 1950s.  The power source for most farm work in the community prior to this was either horse or ox teams.  The German yoke (narrower and strapped closely to the horns) was used to harness the oxen's power to the horns similarly to the Acadian style of yoke (wider and flatter resting more on the neck).  In the major agricultural areas of Nova Scotia, the draft horse eventually replaced the oxen.  The last known draft horse to work the land was "Bill", a black Belgian owned by Ivan Wile.  Today oxen and horse teams are a traditional icon of Lunenburg County heritage.  "Pulls" are well-attended events in the South Shore Exhibition at Bridgewater each summer.
  Electricity did not arrive in Waterloo until the 1950s.  The entire line was installed during the winter of 1949–50 and on one day in April at 4:30 PM residents saw all the lights come on in the homes that had been wired.  Prior to that, kerosene lamps were used in the house and lanterns with rags in fat or kerosene were used for chores.
  Within a year of the electric power installation, telephone line was strung as well on the same poles.  A "party line" system was used where a contact was made with another person in the party by turning a handle (or later a dial) on the side or face of the box a certain combination of one or two short or long rings.  Privacy was afforded on an honor system where if the line was already in use by someone in the party, the "receiver" was placed back on the hook and the would-be caller tried later.
  The "dirt" road that served the community for over 100 years was paved in the 1980s.  Because the road needed proper sloping and drainage, it had been subject to frost heaves and became practically impassable in the spring.  More than once school buses became mired in the middle of the road and required towing from other buses or tractors as late as the 1970s.  Beginning in 1983, the road was widened, raised, ditched and finally paved in four stages: Highway 210 to the Veinot Rd; Veinot Rd to the Bolivar Rd; Bolivar Rd to Long Lake; and finally Long Lake to the Queens County line by 1987.
caption: Here Kate and Lady, a Belgian team, is still worked in the Annapolis Valley. The last draft horse in Waterloo to provide the horsepower for cultivation was Bill, a black Belgian in west Waterloo in 1968.
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