Bass River, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
Bass River is an unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 in western Colchester County
Colchester County, Nova Scotia
Colchester County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The appellation Colchester was applied in 1780 to the district previously called "Cobequid," and was derived from the town of Colchester in Essex...

, north-central Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, in the Maritimes of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Location

Bass River is located along an approximate 4 km stretch of Cobequid Bay
Cobequid Bay
Cobequid Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and the easternmost part of the Minas Basin, located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The bay was carved by rivers flowing into the eastern end of the Bay of Fundy....

 north shore
Shore
A shore or shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In Physical Oceanography a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore,...

line, from the bordering communities of Upper Economy
Upper Economy, Nova Scotia
Upper Economy is a rural area of approximately 50 residents and 5 km² located along Trunk 2 in western Colchester County, Nova Scotia. It stretches from along the north shoreline of the western end of Cobequid Bay north into the lower slopes of the Cobequid Mountains. Upper Economy is considered...

 to the west, Porta(u)pique
Portapique, Nova Scotia
Portapique is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Colchester County .Portapique is a corruption of the Acadian word 'Porc-epic', meaning porcupine. The village was in fact named as such until the Acadians no longer lived there....

 to the east, and Castlereagh
Castlereagh, Nova Scotia
Castlereagh is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Colchester County.Once a bustling village, only a few houses remain in Castlereagh - the only people found there now tend to be those occupying seasonal camps, typically for hunting or logging.-References:*...

 in the Cobequid Hills to the north. The community is centred at approximately 45°24' North
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

, 63°46' West
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....

. Most of its residents live along or just off of the Trunk 2, the Glooscap Trail
Glooscap Trail
The Glooscap Trail is a scenic roadway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.It is located in the central and northern part of the province around the Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay, sub-basins of the Bay of Fundy...

. Bass River's jurisdiction is thought locally to extend north from the bay approximately 5 km to include Upper Bass River and Hoeg(')s Corner, east to incorporate Little Bass River
Little Bass River, Nova Scotia
Little Bass River is a Canadian community in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.Little Bass River forms the western portion the community of Bass River....

 (which includes the areas Edgewood and Saint's Rest), and south to include Birch Hill and King's Rest.

Population

Bass River has a population of approximately 300 permanent residents. The number of residents increases in summertime by 20 to 40 per cent with the influx of those with cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...

s in the area.

The region suffers from out-migration. More than half of those who grow up in Bass River leave the area to live, with Halifax, Ontario, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 and its petroleum products industry, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, and the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

 being common destinations.

Name

The community is named after the small river, Bass River, which runs south from its source in the Cobequid Hills at Upper Bass River, through the village centre, and out to Cobequid Bay
Cobequid Bay
Cobequid Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and the easternmost part of the Minas Basin, located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The bay was carved by rivers flowing into the eastern end of the Bay of Fundy....

.

Industrial heyday

At its height, economic activity
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 in the village of Bass River was centred around wooden furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

 production, wooden ship-building, and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 export. The furniture manufacturer Dominion Chair Company
Dominion Chair Company
Dominion Chair Company is the name commonly used to refer to the wooden furniture manufacturing company that operated from 1860 to 1989 in Bass River, Nova Scotia, Canada. The company still operates a general store....

 employed 40 to 70 workers at any one time from the late 19th century to February 1989, when fire destroyed most of the company's operating facilities. Shipbuilding took place in two locales, at Saint's Rest, site of the (no longer in use) village lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

, with the building of the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 'Jos. Howe' in 1867, and between 1884 and 1918 in Little Bass River with the construction of a further seven wooden ships (Hemeon, 1987). Bass River timber was famously also used to build staging
Staging
Staging may refer to:* Staging , a chef works briefly and without pay in another chef's kitchen to learn to new techniques and cuisines* Staging , the use of multiple engines and propellant to launch a rocket...

 used in construction of the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...

.

Other former industry included grist mill operations, shad
Shad
The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....

 fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, and silica mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

. In the early 20th century, there was a bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 and a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 located in the village. The population then was two or three times what it is now.

Present-day economic activity

Present-day economic activity includes a few commercial
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

s (cultivated strawberries, dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

, and sheep), pulp wood
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

, fire wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 harvesting, lowbush blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...

 and Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...

 production, and clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

 mollusc harvesting (i.e. "clam digging
Clam digging
Clam digging is a common means of harvesting clams from below the surface of the tidal mud flats where they live. It is done both recreationally and commercially...

").

Most present-day residents however commute to assorted work done outside the community. Most commuters go to Truro
Truro, Nova Scotia
-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...

 and its surrounding area.

Heritage and history

Bass River was founded by members of the Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

 emigrant "Judge" James Fulton
Judge Fulton
----James "Judge" Fulton was justice of the peace, judge, surveyor, politician, and founder of the village of Bass River, Nova Scotia....

's family, who himself in c.1767 was the first to settle the area (at King's Rest) a decade after the tragic explusion of Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...

s from the region. Those who settled Bass River and its neighbouring communities were largely of direct Ulster-Scottish descent. Many of these settlers' descendants
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

 have remained in the community as is evident from a list of surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

s prevalent in the area today. Ulster-Scottish Campbells
Campbell (surname)
Campbell is a Scottish family name of Gaelic origins.The name in some cases derives from the Scottish Clan Campbell, in other cases from Mac Cathmhaoil meaning son of the battle chieftain....

, Creelman
Creelman
Creelman is a surname of Scottish Lowlands and later Ulster-Scottish origin.-Origin of name:Creelman is thought to have originated from an occupational name, derived from creel, which refers to a wicker basket used for putting fish inside....

s, Davisons/Davidson
Davidson (surname)
Davidson is a patronymic surname, it means "son of David". There are alternate spellings called septs, including those common in the British Isles and Scandinavia: Davidsen, Davisson, Davison, Daveson, Davidsson. While the given name comes from the Hebrew "David", meaning beloved, Davidson is...

s, Fisher
Fisher (surname)
Fisher is an English surname in the English language. It is an occupational name from the Old English "fiscare," which means "fisherman", one who obtained his living by fishing. In Ireland it is the anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bradáin ‘descendant of Bradán’, a personal name meaning ‘salmon’. The...

s, Fultons
Fulton (surname)
Fulton is a surname and may refer to one of the following persons:* Alexander Fulton , founder of the Iowa State Agricultural Society* Alexander Fulton , founder of Alexandria, Louisiana...

, McLellans
MacLellan (surname)
MacLellan, McLellan, or variants thereof, is a surname of Irish and Scottish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Fhaolain, and the Irish Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhaoláin, which meant "son of the servant of Faolán"...

, Starratts/Starritts, Vance
Vance
- Locations :*Vance, Alabama*Vance, South Carolina*Vance Air Force Base, located in Enid, Oklahoma, named after Leon Vance*Vance County, North Carolina*Vance Creek, Barron County, Wisconsin*Vancé, one of the communes of the Sarthe département in France...

s, and Wilson
Wilson
- People :* Wilson * Woodrow Wilson , 28th President of the United States* Wilson Francisco Alves , often only Wilson, Brazilian footballer of Brazil and Vasco da Gama* Harold Wilson, UK Prime Minister 1964-70, 1974-6...

s settled the area, as did Lewis
Lewis (surname)
Lewis is a surname in the English language. It has several independent origins.One of origins of the surname, in England and Wales, is from the Norman personal name Lowis, Lodovicus. This name is composed of the Germanic elements hlod and wig, meaning "fame" and "war"...

's from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Other common surnames of the area include Burns
Burns (surname)
Burns is a geographical surname originating in the British Isles. The name Burns was first used by the Strathclyde-Briton people of the Scottish and English border. The first Burns family lived in the county of Cumberland. Burns can also be an Americanization of a Jewish surname.-Origin of the...

, Cameron
Cameron (surname)
Cameron is an English-language surname, which is considered to be a Scottish surname. The name has several origins. One origin is from a Gaelic-language nickname, derived from cam and sròn . Another origin of the surname is from any of the various places called Cameron, especially such places...

, Carde
Cardè
Cardè is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 km southwest of Turin and about 40 km north of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,077 and an area of 19.3 km²....

, Carr, Cooke
Cooke
Cooke is the surname of several notable people:* Alan Cooke, British actor* Alexander Cooke , English actor* Alfred Tyrone Cooke, of the Indo-Pakistani wars* Alistair Cooke KBE , journalist and broadcaster...

, Corbett
Corbett (surname)
Corbett, was first found in Pays de Caux,Normandy with a Norman Baron named "Corbet le Normand" he was born in early 11th century AD.The name Corbett roughly means "The Raven".And more than likely comes from the word "Corb",one of the variations of the Norman word for "Raven",which is believed to...

, Dickie
Dickie
A dickey is a type of false shirt-front - originally known as a detachable bosom - designed to be worn with a tuxedo or men's white tie, usually attached to the collar and then tucked into the waistcoat or cummerbund...

, Faulkner
Faulkner (disambiguation)
William Faulkner was an American author.Faulkner may also refer to:*Faulkner , an English surname *Faulkner , A Cosmopolitan working class band...

, Fletcher
Fletcher
-People:* Frank Friday Fletcher, United States Navy admiral in the late 19th and early 20th centuries* Frank Jack Fletcher, United States Navy admiral during World War II; nephew of Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher...

, Gilbert
Gilbert (surname)
Gilbert is a British Isles surname of Norman-French and pre Old Germanic origins. The prefix, "Gil-", comes from "gisil", meaning a noble youth, while the suffix, "-bert" comes from "berht", meaning bright or famous. Original spellings included Gislebert, Guilbert and Gilebert. Variant spellings...

, Grue, Jordan
Jordan (name)
The name Jordan can refer to several things. As a name, it comes from the Aramaic Yarden, meaning "one who descends", and assimilated into Latin as Jordanus . In Arabic it is Urdunn, in Italian Giordano, in Spanish Jordán, in Dutch Jordaan, in French Jourdain, in Irish Iordáin, in Romanian...

, Lawson
Lawson
-Music:* Lawson, an album by John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew of Henry Lawson's poetry put to music.- Places :Australia* Lawson Lam Ontario Canada,* Lawson Mountain Range, in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales; named after Cole Lawson...

, McIntosh
McIntosh
The McIntosh Red is an apple cultivar with red and green skin, a tart flavor, and tender white flesh. It ripens in late September....

, Rushton
Rushton
- People :* J. Philippe Rushton, Anglo-Canadian psychology professor* Tim Rushton, choreographer and artist director of the Danish Dance Theatre, Copenhagen* WAH Rushton, physiology professor in Cambridge and former president of the Society for Psychical Research...

, Rutherford
Rutherford
- Places :Australia* Rutherford, New South Wales, a suburb of MaitlandCanada* Mount Rutherford, Jasper National Park* Rutherford House, in Edmonton, Alberta* Rutherford Library, University of AlbertaUnited Kingdom...

, Smith
Smith (surname)
Smith is an English family name originating in England. It is the most common surname in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, the second most common surname in Canada, and the fifth most common surname in Ireland...

, Taggart
Taggart (disambiguation)
Taggart may refer to the following:*Taggart, Scottish detective television drama*Taggart , directed by R.G. Springsteen-People named Taggart:* Taggart , definition of the surname and list of people with the surname...

, Taylor
Taylor (surname)
Taylor is a surname in the English language which originated as an occupational surname in England The name is derived from the Old French tailleur, which is in turn derived from the Late Latin taliator, from taliare meaning "to cut"...

, Thompson
Thompson (surname)
Thompson is a patronymic surname of English origin, with a variety of spellings meaning "son of Tom ". It is the 14th-most common surname in the United Kingdom...

, and Welch
Welch (surname)
Welch is a surname meaning foreign or Welsh.For the Etymology of the name, see WelshFamous Welches include to:* Adonijah Welch , American politician* Alexander Welch , Canadian politician* Andrew Welch, businessman...

. Most of these names have Ulster-Scottish or Scottish origins, as much of Colchester County was settled by Ulster Scots.

Settlement took place in what was then merely an unnamed parcel of the Township of Londonderry, an area centred around the present-day community of Londonderry
Londonderry, Nova Scotia
Londonderry is an unincorporated community located in Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, formerly called Acadia Mines. A bustling iron ore mining and steel making town of some 5,000 in the late 19th century, the present population stands at around 200.-History:Londonderry saw the pouring of...

. Prior to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 settlement, it is believed that Acadian families lived in what are now the neighbouring communities of Economy
Economy, Nova Scotia
Economy is an unincorporated rural community situated along the north shore of the Minas Basin/Cobequid Bay, at approximately 45°23'N, 63°54'W, in Colchester County, Nova Scotia...

 and Portapique (or Portaupique), places whose names were most likely derived from Acadian French
Acadian French
Acadian French , is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island, in several tiny pockets...

 language. Mi'kmaq Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

 / First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 peoples are thought to have hunted and gathered
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

 in Colchester County for several hundred years prior to British control and settlement.

Education

West Colchester Consolidated district public school for grades 4 to 9 and Bass River Elementary School for grade primary to 3 are both located on Mines Road, Bass River. (Mines Road, the designated official name, is referred to locally, until it reaches Hoeg's Corner, as "Maple Avenue".) A Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board is a Canadian school board in Nova Scotia.Founded in 1996, CCRSB has four different groupings of schools formed along county lines: Celtic, Nova, Cobequid, and Chignecto....

proposal to close the older elementary school and move its students to the larger school has not been acted on.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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