Accommodations Nova Scotia
Your Guide To Accommodations In Nova Scotia
Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
Port Hawkesbury is the business and recreational
centre of the Strait Area. The Town is located on the
Cape Breton shores of the Strait of Canso - a deep, narrow channel
of water separating northeastern Nova Scotia from Cape Breton
Island.
People first began settling in the Port Hawkesbury area in the
late 1700s. The actual town plot of Hawkesbury was surveyed in 1789.
People had to work very hard to survive, and spent the winters
tending live stock, preparing timber for export and trapping animals
such as muskrat and caribou. In the spring, oil from dogfish, cod
and seal was collected for the export trade to England. Gypsum from
the Strait of Canso was being shipped to the Southern United States.
By the 1830s, shipbuilding and fishing establishments were present
and created opportunities for employment in the area. Smaller
business now had a reason to open, to serve the public and larger
establishments. Due to the increase in population, local courts were
established in 1831 to server the needs of the people, who
previously had to travel to Sydney for their ordinary legal work.
From 1854-1866, during the Reciprocity Treaty, (a trade agreement
between the United States and British North America) the Town of
Port Hawkesbury went through a growth period and was faced with
increasing requests for town lots. The repeal of the treaty in 1866
was followed by Canadian Confederation in 1867, and during this
time, shipbuilding began to decline as wooden boats were replaced
with steel, and local shipbuilders were not prepared for the change
in technology.
By the 1880s, Port Hawkesbury was gaining quite a reputation as a
sea-faring port, and by the middle of the decade, the Port
Hawkesbury waterfront was bustling with activity created by
businessmen. Many privately owned wharves had been erected to serve
various commercial enterprises, and in 1889, with a population of
658, the Town of Port Hawkesbury was incorporated.
The only way to cross back and forth to the mainland was by boat.
Numerous ferries operated over the years, many of them being
private. A private operator, able to accommodate horses or an
automobile, was assured a good business. However, come the winter
months, things were much more difficult. Travel on land was next to
impossible for anything but a short distance, and ice would clog the
harbour, virtually cutting the residents of Port Hawkesbury and
surrounding area off from travel and goods.
The arrival of the railroads in the 1890s marked a new era.
Different routes were built as rail companies came and went over the
years. Railroad ferries began running between the mainland and the
island, keeping a constant means of travel and transportation of
goods available. The railway became an important employer, with many
residents of Port Hawkesbury working with the rail companies.
By the early 1900s, Port Hawkesbury had all the establishments one
would expect to find in a town of its day. On a typical day there
were a hundred or more vessels in the harbour, from small rowboats
to steamships. Ferry services, fish plants, and boatbuilding are
some the industries one would find at the waterfront. The town
itself was growing and had businesses such as a lobster cannery,
cobbler shop, watchmaker, and a telegraph office. Since Port
Hawkesbury was a convenient stop-over point for travelers leaving or
arriving on the island, there were always several hotels and eating
establishments.
Ferry and rail service to the Island continued through the years,
going through various changes.
Completion of the Canso Causeway joining Cape Breton Island to
mainland Nova Scotia in 1955 enabled the Strait of Canso to become
one of the deepest, ice-free ports along the east coast of North
America.
Many opposed the building of the causeway as it meant an
end to the ferries and the rail businesses of the day which so many
people relied on. Although the causeway did close some doors, it
opened up many more. By the 1960s and 70s, the people of the Strait
of Canso found themselves in one of Canada's most rapidly developing
areas.
Port Hawkesbury and the neighbouring Strait communities of Point
Tupper and Mulgrave, are the ports of call for thousands of vessels.
In 1994, more than 2,300 vessels used the docking facilities of the
Strait of Canso to ship pulp and paper, aggregate, oil, gypsum,
wallboard, fish and other products around the world.
These Communities have diverse economic and cultural activities
which offer much to visitors and residents alike. Port Hawkesbury
and the surrounding Strait Area exhibit the qualities of small town
living but offer the amenities of a larger urban centre.
