221 HALIFAX
3 – Oak Island
While not TECHNICALLY part of the Halifax Region , Oak Island is just a quick day-trip from the area and is a fascinating piece of Nova Scotian history .
Oak Island is one of over 350 islands in Mahone Bay , located on Nova Scotia ’ s South Shore . The island is about an hours drive from downtown Halifax , and under a half hour drive from Old Town Lunenburg , one of only two urban communities in North America designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites .
For more than 200 years , Oak Island has fascinated and frustrated those who have search for the renowned Oak Island Treasure . Despite the difficulties and risks , there have been many determined efforts by people to find the legendary treasure , even attracting the interest of US President Franklin D . Roosevelt .
The mystery of Oak Island began in 1795 with the discovery of a circular depression in the ground by a local teenaged boy . Not long after this discovery , another group of treasure hunters took over . They were convinced that it was the site of long-lost buried treasure , a so-called ‘ Money Pit ’, possibly belonging to Captain Kidd or Blackbeard . The group claimed to have found a flagstone etched with symbols that , according to an amateur cryptologist , translated into “ forty feet below , two million pounds lie buried ”. Unfortunately , after persistent flooding , the group was forced to abandon their search for the treasure below .