A Wilmot Hitching Post, Tavern, Photography Studio & Antique Shop

On highway 1 in Wilmot sits a red building with a bright yellow sign saying Beans Cool Old Junk Shop. Not only is this house filled to the brim with beautiful antique items, the building itself comes with some fascinating history. In the early 1800s, it was a stage coach service station where coach drivers would change their horses for fresh ones, being an ideal location as the midpoint between Windsor and Annapolis Royal.

According to William Calnek’s “History of the County of Annapolis” (1897), Loyalist Asahel Dodge owned the coach station and also turned it into a tavern and hotel called Dodge’s Ferry, so not only could you hitch your horses up here, but you could also come in for a drink and stay the night. This must have been particularly needed for those making longer trips, like travelers heading from Halifax to Digby or Yarmouth to Wolfville. When Asahel died, his wife Mrs. Anna Dodge (c.1760-1814) took over the running of the inn. The building was later owned by William Gibbons, and became well known throughout the latter half of the 19th century as Gibbon’s Hotel. It was also the spot where the local mail was sorted and Gibbons ran a General Store out of the building.

By the 1930s, the building was owned by Ken Holman who ran his Holman Photography studio out of it. The walls of one of the rooms was made to be curved to better display dresses worn by those posing for their portraits, according to the current owner. Now the building continues to celebrate local history as Beans Antiques, with its rooms filled from floor to ceiling with beautiful objects. You can’t help but leave with a little treasure of your own.