The town of Digby was named in honour of Admiral Robert Digby, (20 December 1732 – 25 February 1815), an officer in the Royal Navy who also served briefly as a Member of Parliament. At the end of the American Revolution Digby helped to organize the evacuation of some 1,500 United Empire Loyalists to the small port of Conway in Nova Scotia. Conway was a small settlement in southwestern Nova Scotia which, with the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists, was formally surveyed as the Town of Digby in June 1783.
Outside the building, at the rear of the lot, is an old (1904) bronze bell, cast by the
McShane Bell Foundry of Baltimore, MD. Well oxidized, it is now a bright green while the yoke, obviously of iron, is well rusted. Around the top of the Bell are the words "
West Troy, N.Y. 1894" (which is prior to the date of manufacture, according to McShane) while below is the mark of the maker, McShane. Established in 1856, McShane still produces bells. As of last count 300,000 of their bronze bells ring out from Churches, Cathedrals, Municipal Buildings, Universities and schools every day.