The town of Round Hill - Prée-Ronde in French - also known as Thibaudeau Village is located halfway between the Bloody Creek Monument and Annapolis Royal on the NS-201 Highway.
This site is one of the first locations in North America continuously occupied by families of French origin. The Mi’kmaq named the site Lablalot.
Around 1610 and at least until 1636, the Lambert, Lejeune et Gaudet families contribute to the establishment of local culture and trade and begin to create families with the Mi'kmaqs of Membertou. Charles de Biencourt is buried at this site in 1624 at the age of 31.
Pierre Thibaudeau, a miller by trade, later takes ownership of the site in 1654 and it remains in the family until 1755.
In 1981, a memorial plaque was unveiled where Pierre's mill used to stand. A grinding wheel is still visible on site.
A bit of history
Founded in 1610, the village is obtained in 1654 by Pierre Thibaudeau, who settles there with his family and builds a mill powered by the waterway, called Des-Loups-Marins. He is called the miller of Round Hill.
After his death and that of his wife, the lands are transferred to his children, who will be the owners until the Deportation.
The English settlers, by taking possession of the lands, eliminate all signs of the first Acadian settlement of Round Hill.
In 1981, M.J.L. Martin, Director of the Museum of Nova Scotia, and in collaboration with the Annapolis Royal Historic Association and Historic Society of St. Mary’s Bay, unveils a plaque paying tribute to Pierre Thibaudeau at the exact location where the said mill stood.
