The commercial haven of the Valley, the Village of New Minas was
settled in the late 1600s and has been developing ever since. New
Minas, known to be a "Good Place to Live" is also a great place to
visit. Although extremely developed commercially, New Minas is a
community with unity, encompassing something to offer everyone.
New Minas borders the town of
Kentville
to the west and the unincorporated community of Greenwich to the
east. The town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia is further east on the
other side of Greenwich. New Minas is approximately 100 km northwest
of Halifax.
The village is located on the south bank of the Cornwallis River and
was originally part of Acadia. Acadians were responsible for the
construction of dykes to drain the land of waters from the river and
the nearby Minas Basin. Following the transfer to British control
under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the area became part of Horton
Township.
New Minas was predominantly a farming and agriculture community
until construction of the Highway 101 expressway in the 1970s. As it
was located between the population centres of Kentville and
Wolfville, New Minas soon saw a shopping centre and numerous big box
retail outlets and fast food shops established to make the village
the retail centre for the eastern Annapolis Valley. The village is
also serviced by the Windsor and Hantsport Railway and has several
food processing and agricultural businesses.
Over the past ten years, New Minas has been witness to a commercial
boom which has seen many large retail outlets set up shop, while
pre-existing retailers and many others have rebuilt into larger
venues. Wolfville is an area supported by higher-education jobs with
Acadia University, and Kentville is an area who supports itself with
an industrial park, hospital and an orientation toward professional
centres.
New Minas is also 'Soccer Capital of Atlantic Canada', boasting
arguably the nicest soccer venues in the Annapolis Valley. Annually,
the village hosts the New Minas Invitational Soccer Tournament in
August, where in the past as many as 210 teams have participated
from all over Atlantic Canada. The 3-day tournament is now a
festival of sorts, known as 'New Minas Days' during which there are
other non-sporting events, including a fireworks show. The village
has also played host to the Senior Canadian Men's Soccer
Championships during which many renovations were done to the soccer
facilities, resulting in the superior venue that it is today.