Mayor John King’s desk

where in the town’s annals as well.

King isn’t entirely forgotten, however. When he was in office, King is believed to have worked at a magnificent ash and birch desk that, according to family traditions, he made himself. Nothing is known about what became of the desk after King’s death but by the early 2000s it resided at the home of the late Hugh and Bella Burns in Kentville. The desk was sold to a member of parliament, who then donated it to the Kings Historical Society.

Today, the desk is on display at the Kings County Museum in the Victorian Room. A plaque describing the desk in detail and a photograph of John W. King can also be found in the museum. The description notes that the desk is “handcrafted in the eclectic fashion of the mid- Victorian era” and is a unique piece of furniture. It also is the sole remainder that a fine Scotsman, who became a well-respected Kentville citizen, also ran the railway and for a time was at the helm of the town.