Lockeport, Nova Scotia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lockeport is a Canadian port, and fishing town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

in Shelburne County, 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...

.

Lockeport is a traditional Nova Scotian fishing town, situated on an isthmus of land in Allendale Bay. The area that surrounds the bay is known as the "Ragged Islands."

History

In 1762 two families from Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

journeyed to Nova Scotia in an effort to find a new colony that was closer to the rich fishing grounds of the Grand Banks

Grand Banks

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters...

. When they found the sheltered Allendale bay, they knew they had found a gem in the rough. Situated halfway between the colonies in New England and the fishing grounds, their new town would be a centre for both fishing, and trade.

The patriarchs of those first two families, Jonathan Locke, and Josiah Churchill went on to become the captains of industry in the area, and Churchill became the first mayor of the township of Locke's Island (Registered in Liverpool in 1764).

Locke's Island, and its surroundings entered a period of booming industry, with hotels, trade warehouses, and multiple fish plants being constructed. Large trade ships plied the sea lanes from Locke's Island to the West Indies to trade lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

and salt cod, returning to the town laden with Molasses

Molasses

Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

and Salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

. The fishing schooners were constantly returning from the Bank's loaded with cod. However, this golden age of the Ragged Islands would eventually come to an end, with the first of many catastrophes coming in the form of a fish market collapse in the 1890s. Subsequent fires plagued the town, and the once great community was brought to its knees.

In 1907, a meeting was held among the rate-payers of the town. It was obvious to all in attendance that drastic action would need to be taken in order to stimulate the economy of Locke's Island. They decided that the Township of Locke's Island would become the Town of Lockeport, by incorporating as a town; the community was able to receive money from the provincial government.

The money initially received by the town was used to construct a ferry that would link the town with a nearby rail line. This action did succeed in stimulating the declining economy but it was unable to restore the town to its former state of glory.

Festivals and culture

The town is home to a number of annual festivals that promote the heritage and culture of the Ragged Islands area. The Lockeport Sea Derby is a popular, family oriented festival, which brings members of the community together to share in the area's rich fishing heritage.

The Annual Canada Day festivities are world renowned, and imbue a strong sense of local pride in the community.

Lockeport is also host to a popular women's festival, which celebrates the independence of women on the south shore, known as the Harmony Bazaar.

A History of Sport

Lockeport is one of the most sport infused communities in Nova Scotia, and perhaps Canada. Since 1950 the local High School has accumulated 44 provincial championships in basketball, soccer, and track and field. The town has produced notable athletes including Marjorie Turner-Bailey, a sprinter who represented Canada at the 1976 summer Olympics in Montréal, Walter Nickerson the most successful dory rowing athlete in Canada, and Ian MacMillan, a well known basketball coach in Nova Scotia who spent time as an assistant coach in the National Basketball League (NBA). Sporting events still attract large numbers of spectators. Lockeport is host to a number of indoor and outdoor recreational areas where youth continue to gather and play.

Public library

Located at 35 North Street in Lockeport, the Lillian Benham Library is one of the 10 branches of Western Counties Regional Library

Western Counties Regional Library

The Western Counties Regional Library is a regional public library with 10 branches serving the counties of Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth in southwestern Nova Scotia...

. It joined the Western Counties Regional Library on June 5, 1969 but it did not have a physical location in Lockeport until the first branch opened on April 13, 1973. The branch relocated to its present site on September 1, 1981, and it underwent an expansion, re-opening on August 22, 1987.

Demography

Total Population: 646 in 2006 census
Total Dwellings: 310
Total Land Area: 2.32 km² (0.895757007934681 sq mi)
No. of Buinesses: 10

External links