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The Oak Island mystery refers to stories and legends about buried treasure and unexplained objects found on or near Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The original shaft, the location of which is unknown today, was dug by early explorers, and is known as "the money pit". Various items such as wood from a shaft have been found on the island over the years, some even dating to hundreds of years old.

Very little verified information is known about early treasure-related activities on Oak Island; thus, the following accounts are word of mouth stories reportedly going back to the late eighteenth century. According to later accounts, oak platforms were discovered every 10 feet (3.0 m); however, the earliest accounts simply mention "marks" of some type at these intervals. In about 1802, a group known as the Onslow Company allegedly sailed from central Nova Scotia to Oak Island to recover what they believed to be hidden treasure. The first published account took place in 1857, when the Liverpool Transcript mentioned a group digging for Captain Kidd's treasure on Oak Island. This would be followed by a more complete account by a justice of the peace in Chester, Nova Scotia, in 1861, which was also published in The Transcript under the title of "The Oak Island Folly" regarding the contemporary scepticism of there being any treasure. The next major excavation attempt was carried out in 1861 by a company called "The Oak Island Association". The Oak Island Association also did some work at Smith's Cove by drilling a few shafts in an attempt to shut off and seal the alleged flood tunnels. In 1866, a group known as The Oak Island Eldorado Company or more commonly The Halifax Company was formed to find the treasure. By this time, there were many shafts, bore holes, and tunnels under Oak Island made by previous treasure hunters.

Wilkins, author of Captain Kidd and His Skeleton Island, about a link he found between Oak Island and a map in Wilkins' book. Although the Oak Island Tourism Society had hoped that the Government of Canada would purchase the island, a group of American drillers did so instead. The Michigan group, working with Blankenship, said that it would resume operations on Oak Island in the hope of discovering buried treasure and solving the island's mystery.

Reginald Vanderbilt Harris (1881–1968) wrote in his 1958 book, The Oak Island Mystery, "About 1865–1866 the stone was removed and taken to Halifax. The next mention of the stone is in an 1893 Oak Island Treasure Company prospectus.

According to the earliest hypothesis, the pit held a pirate treasure buried by Captain Kidd; Kidd and Henry Avery reportedly took treasure together, and Oak Island was their community bank.

In his book, Oak Island Secrets, Mark Finnan noted that many Masonic markings were found on Oak Island, and the shaft (or pit) and its mysterious contents seemed to replicate aspects of a Masonic initiation rite involving a hidden vault with a sacred treasure. Freemason Dennis King examines the Masonic aspects of the Oak Island legend in his article, "The Oak Island Legend: The Masonic Angle".

In his 1953 book The Oak Island Enigma: A History and Inquiry into the Origin of the Money Pit, Penn Leary wrote that the pit was used to hide manuscripts indicating that Francis Bacon was the author of William Shakespeare's works and a leader of the Rosicrucians.

The Mystery Pit of Oak Island Archived April 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine containing diagrams of the money pit The Oak Island Enigma A History and Inquiry Into The Origin of The Money Pit – Penn Leary 1953

CBC Television "The Oak Island money pit: how it works" CBC Radio conversation "Nova Scotia's Oak Island mystery"

Quick Facts

• Freemason Dennis King examines the Masonic aspects of the Oak Island legend in his article, "The Oak Island Legend: The Masonic Angle".
• The first published account took place in 1857, when the Liverpool Transcript mentioned a group digging for Captain Kidd's treasure on Oak Island.
• In 1866, a group known as The Oak Island Eldorado Company or more commonly The Halifax Company was formed to find the treasure.
• In about 1802, a group known as the Onslow Company allegedly sailed from central Nova Scotia to Oak Island to recover what they believed to be hidden treasure.
• Very little verified information is known about early treasure-related activities on Oak Island; thus, the following accounts are word of mouth stories reportedly going back to the late eighteenth century.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Oak Island mystery". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.