Hantsport, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
Hantsport is a rural Canadian
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...
town and seaport located in the western part of Hants County
Hants County, Nova Scotia
Hants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia which was the home of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Alden Nowlan and Noel Doiron. The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...
, 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...
. Hantsport is located just south of the county boundary with Kings County
Kings County, Nova Scotia
Kings County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Kings County is located in central Nova Scotia on the shore of the Bay of Fundy with its northeastern part also forming the western shore of the Minas Basin....
, and sits on the west bank of the Avon River in a tidal estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
.The town is most best known for its history of shipbuilding, its high-speed tidal gypsum terminal and as the resting place of Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
winner William Hall. Hantsport distinguished itself in 2008, becoming the first municipal unit in Nova Scotia to offer a free wireless high speed Internet service for the community.
History
The area around Hantsport was known to the Mi'kmaq as Kakagwek meaning "place where meat is sliced and dried" and the town is still home to a small reserve known as the Glooscap First NationGlooscap First Nation
Glooscap First Nation is a Canadian aboriginal community in Kings County, Nova Scotia. Known as Pesikitk, its reserve is located approximately from the Town of Hantsport. Created in 1907 as Horton 35, the reserve encompasses some of rolling, mainly forested land. Forest management is practiced by...
or Pesikitk.
The town was settled by Loyalists after the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
(about 1786). English settlers first named the locale "Halfway River" after the river beside the town which marked the halfway point between Grand Pre and Windsor
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
.
Shipbuilding emerged as a major industry in the 19th century and the town produced a large number of wooden sailing vessels and some steam vessel before the decline of wooden shipbuilding in the late 1800s. Notable vessels included the barque Hamburg
Hamburg (barque)
Hamburg was a three masted barque built in 1886 at Hantsport, Nova Scotia. She was the largest three masted barque ever built in Canada . Hamburg was one of the last of over a hundred large sailing vessels built by the Churchill family of Hantsport, led by Ezra Churchill. Her name continued the...
, the largest three masted barque ever built in Canada, and the barque Plymouth, famous for the diaries of Alice Coalfleet, who raised a family aboard her.
The arrival of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway
Windsor and Annapolis Railway
The Windsor and Annapolis Railway was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.The railway ran from Windsor to Annapolis Royal and leased connections to Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax...
in 1869 stimulated a number of local manufacturers. Gypsum exports emerged as a major employer in the 20th Century, followed by the mills of the Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company established by the Jodrey family.
William Hall, an African-Canadian mariner born near Hantsport, won the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
in 1857 and is buried at a monument at the Hantsport Baptist Church.
Artifacts from the town's history are preserved at Churchill House, Hantsport
Churchill House, Hantsport
Churchill House is a historic house and community centre located in Hantsport, Nova Scotia. The house was built in 1860 by noted Hantsport shipbuilder Ezra Churchill as a gift for his son John Wiley Churchill...
, the restored mansion of the Churchill shipbuilding family which serves as a community centre and museum.
Industry
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
which is quarried at two locations east of Windsor
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
and shipped to Hantsport using the Windsor and Hantsport Railway
Windsor and Hantsport Railway
The Windsor and Hantsport Railway is a railway operating in Nova Scotia between Windsor Junction and New Minas with a spur at Windsor which runs several miles east, serving two gypsum quarries at Wentworth Creek and Mantua....
. The loader used to move gypsum from the storage building to waiting ships is one of the fastest ship-loaders in the world, necessitated by the fact that the extreme tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
s in the Minas Basin
Minas Basin
The Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.- Geography :- Boundary :...
require ships to enter and leave the port within a four to five hour period.
The largest employer is CKF Inc., which produces Royal Chinet paper plates, as well as egg cartons, cup carriers and other molded pulp
Molded pulp
Molded pulp, also named Moulded pulp or Molded Fibre, is a packaging material, typically made from recycled paperboard and/or newsprint. It is used for protective packaging or for food service trays and beverage carriers...
products at its plant in Hantsport. Minas Basin Pulp and Power's paper mill, and the Canadian Gypsum Company's (a subsidiary of the USG Corporation) ship loading facility are also major employers.
Further reading
- Hantsport Shipbuilding: 1849-1893, St. Clair Patterson, Hantsport: Tug Boat Publishing, 2008.