Louisdale is a Canadian rural community in Richmond County

Richmond County, Nova Scotia

Richmond County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:Named in honour of Sir Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond and Lennox, who was Governor General of British North America 1818-1819, Richmond County was created in 1835....

, Nova Scotia. The community is located on Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

 at the centre of a French-Acadian

Acadian

The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...

 region. Founded mainly by families from nearby Petit-de-Grat, its early settlers were primarily of Acadian and, from the early 19th century, Scottish descent. It has 2 schools, park areas, and places to eat catering to tourists and residents.

History

Early 19th century migrants to Richmond were mainly Scottish

Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...

 settlers, with fishing and farming important parts of the economy. The Louisdale area was formerly known as "Barrasois St. Louis" or "The Barachois", according to archival documents. To distinguish it from other communities, the name was statutorily changed by the provincial legislature on April 7, 1905. A barachois

Barachois

A barachois is a term used in Atlantic Canada and Saint Pierre and Miquelon to describe a coastal lagoon separated from the ocean by a sand or shingle bar...

, is a term used in Atlantic Canada to describe a coastal lagoon separated from the ocean by a sand bar. The term comes from a Basque word, "barratxoa", meaning "little bar". The popular derivation from the French or Acadian French "barre à choir" is without historical merit.

Religion

In 1871 there were four census districts spanning the three Roman Catholic parishes around Isle Madame. One of these districts, Petit de Grat

Petit-de-Grat, Nova Scotia

Petit-de-Grat is a small Acadian community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Richmond County on Petit-de-Grat Island. The community was first populated by French fisher men in 1718 after they arrived from Canso, Nova Scotia having survived a raid by New Englanders...

, became a separate parish after the turn of the 20th century. Prior to that, it was part of the Arichat

Arichat, Nova Scotia

The village of Arichat is one of the oldest communities in Nova Scotia, dating back to the 18th century. It is a district of Richmond County on Isle Madame....

 parish. The Louisdale region, whose founders were primarily from the Little Anse area of Petit de Grat, also came under the Arichat Notre Dame de L'Assomption parish.

The various parishes came within the diocese of Arichat. On its establishment in 1844, it was part of the Halifax diocese, which itself formed 2 years earlier (it became an archdiocese in 1852). The seat of the diocese was Notre Dame de L'Assomption, until transferred to Antigonish, its current name, on August 23, 1886. The community's religious heritage remains visible to the present day, with Louisdale one of two communities in Richmond home to a Catholic shrine.

Education

There are two schools in Louisdale. Felix Marchand Education Centre, an elementary school, was built in 1967 and underwent major renovation in 1990. The Nova Scotia Department of Education

Education in Canada

Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by...

 published Student Assessment results on the school in 2009. Of 38 students, in the Early Elementary Mathematical Literary Assessment, 58% met expectations. In the Early Language Literary Assessment, (of 24 students) 67% met reading expectations, while 75% met expectations in narrative writing.

The newer Richmond Academy

Richmond Academy

Richmond Academy is a 9-12 school attended by about 420 students located in Louisdale, Nova Scotia, Canada.- October 23, 2006 walkout :On October 23, 2006, approximately 200 students walked out of class and the school, in protest of comments made by a Halifax Herald reporter, who had called all...

 is a Grade 9–12 school. The 2009 Junior High Literary Assessment results show that of 71 students, 90 and 93% met expectations for reading and writing, respectively. The NSE Mathematics assessments saw 54% of 28 students passing, rising to 88% of 25 students for the NSE Advanced Mathematics assessment. Both institutions come under the jurisdiction of the Strait Regional School Board

Strait Regional School Board

Strait Regional School Board is a Canadian school board operating 26 schools in eastern Nova Scotia's counties of Richmond, Antigonish, Inverness, and Guysborough....

.

Geology

The community lies in a district identified by Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History geomorphologists as an area of Sedimentary Lowland within the larger Atlantic Coast Region. The landform was carved through erosion of "weakly metamorphosed Carboniferous sandstones". These characteristics contributed to Cape Breton Island's richer freshwater habitats and areas of natural beauty. This has acted as a draw to European people purchasing homes around the county, particularly those sited near the shore. Louisdale's conservation areas and park are recognised among Sites of Special Interest by the Natural History Museum

Nova Scotia Museum

Nova Scotia Museum is the corporate name for the most decentralized museum in Canada - 27 museums across Nova Scotia, including over 200 historic buildings, living history sites, vessels, specialized museums and close to a million artifacts and specimens...

. A habitat for wildlife, Louisdale is the site of the first record in Maritime Canada of a species of winged ground beetle, Agonum crenistriatum.

Location and Population

Richmond, with 9,500 people, has the second smallest population density of counties in Nova Scotia; at 230,000 land acres plus its coastline, it is the smallest by area. The Louisdale population is around 1,770 according to the 2006 Canadian census

Canada 2006 Census

The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

, over an area of 102 km².

The community is bordered by Grand Anse, with Lennox Passage to the North. Its harbour is between St. Peter's

St. Peter's, Nova Scotia

St. Peter's is a small incorporated village located on Cape Breton Island in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada....

 bay and Isle Madame. Its town sign

Welcome sign

A welcome sign is a road sign at the border of a region that introduces or welcomes visitors to the region. Examples of welcome signs can be found near political borders, such as when entering a state, province, county, city, or town, and they are increasingly found in neighborhoods and private...

depicts the slogan "The heart of Richmond County".

Natural resources and economy

The area has largely been agrarian, including lowbush blueberry cultivation, along with forestry, and fishing, though this latter has declined since the 1990s. Louisdale is one of the four in Richmond that provide central municipal water services to the county. Local attractions include the 1972-established Cuisine Acadienne restaurant, offering seafood-rich Acadian cuisine, and live entertainment.