Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
- This article is about a community, for the natural harbour, see Musquodoboit HarbourMusquodoboit HarbourMusquodoboit Harbour is a natural harbour in Canada on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia.Located east of Petpeswick Inlet and west of Jeddore Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour is a 10 km long estuary measuring about 2 km wide at its southern end and narrowing to less than 100 m wide at the...
.
Musquodoboit Harbour is a 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...
rural community in 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...
's Halifax Regional Municipality.
The community is situated on the Eastern Shore
Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia)
The Eastern Shore is a region of Nova Scotia Canada. It is the Atlantic coast running northeast from Halifax Harbour to the eastern end of the peninsula at the Strait of Canso....
at the mouth of the Musquodoboit River
Musquodoboit River
The Musquodoboit River is a Canadian river located in central Nova Scotia in the northeastern part of Halifax Regional Municipality. The river is approximately 97 kilometres in length....
. the community lies 45 kilometres east of downtown Halifax. With a hospital, RCMP detachment, postal outlet, schools, recreational center, library, municipal office and other services, Musquodoboit Harbour is a serve centre for many of the surrounding communities.
Musquodoboit means foaming to the sea. The community is an anglicized version of the Mi’kmaq word Moosekudoboogwek.
History
The community was settled in the 1780s mainly by LoyalistsUnited Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
. Through the late 18th and early 19th centuries many settlers 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...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
immigrated to the area and they still have descendents in the area, evidenced by prominent family names such as Rowlings, Anderson, and Bayers.
Transportation history
Much early travel was by water as roads were rough. Beginning in 1852, the stage coach travelled from Musquodoboit Harbour to Dartmouth and a trip cost 5 shillings. The first automobile was owned by Dr Kennedy in 1909. The Dartmouth Eastern Railway commenced in 1912 to carry lumber and lime from Middle Musquodoboit to Dartmouth. A station was completed in 1918 and today houses the Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum, which also serves as the local tourism office in summer. The museum grounds contain a passenger car, snow plow from the Dominion Atlantic RailwayDominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
and a caboose
Caboose
A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...
from the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
. The museum is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
The Fire Department
It all began one evening in 1957 when Garth Young was sitting at the table playing crib with friends. His sister ran in and said she could see flames in a window upstairs as she was driving down the road. Garth and his father each grabbed a bucket of water and ran upstairs, but there was nothing they could do.There was no fire department in Musquodoboit Harbour. They called Lands and Forests (now called the Department of Natural Resources) who showed up later with a portable pump and some hose. But by now, the two story house was in flames and the dozen family members who lived there could only watch helplessly as it burned to the ground.
The loss motivated Garth Young and other people in the community to establish their own fire department.
By 1960 Garth Young was clearing land for the new station. A year later the Musquodoboit Harbour Volunteer Fire Department was born and he became one of its original members. The Musquodoboit Harbour Volunteer Fire Department formed in 1961 with the fire hall opening on October 6, 1964.
The first piece of equipment they had was a trailer with a pump on it. It had compartments on each side into which they were able to put extra equipment, such as hoses. The first truck they had was an old 1957 milk truck that they bought in 1963 from a farmer.
The Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary formed in February 1967.
In 1996, Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the County of Halifax amalgamated into what is today the Halifax Regional Municipality. Dozens of fire departments merged into the Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency Services, and the Musquodoboit Harbour Volunteer Fire Department received the designation of "Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency, Station 24".
On June 13, 2008, The station was actively involved in the Porter's Lake fire, one of the biggest forest fire in Nova Scotia's history. Members spent 5 days working side-by-side with the Department of Natural Resources.
On October 6, 2008, the station was manned with career staff for the very first time. From October 6, 2008 to December 31, 2008, the crew was made up of a career Lieutenant and a casual worker taken from the station's own volunteers. On january 1, 2009 the station was officially manned with career staff, Monday to Friday, from 7:00 am until 5:30 pm, with anywhere between 2 and 4 personnel, depending on the needs, although on paper, there are 5 of them.
Although at first some volunteers were a bit uneasy about having career staff at the station, mainly due to stories about poor relations between career and volunteers in general, the two groups grew fond of one another over time, and nowadays station 24 is a model when it comes to friendly and fruitful relationship between career staff and volunteers. We help one another, take decisions together, exchange training ideas, etc.
Martinique Beach
Located at the end of the East Petpeswick Road, Martinique Beach is the longest sandy beach in Nova Scotia. This 5 kilometre long beach is a provincial park which boasts both picnic and swimming facilities. The excellent surf conditions at Martinique Beach draw in surfers from all over.There is a wildlife sanctuary adjacent to Martinique Beach. Canada Geese and Black Ducks can often be seen during migratory periods. There is even a protected nesting area for the Piping Plover, an endangered species.
Yacht Club
Not far down the East Petpeswick Road is Petpeswick Yacht Club. PYC is home to a learn-to-sail program and small marina. The yacht club hosts two annual regattas: the Shearwater to Petpeswick Race, a coastal race from Dartmouth to Petpeswick Inlet, and Mid Summer Regatta, a series of races for younger sailors in small boats.Churches
- Jeddore Baptist Church
- Kingdom's Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
- Marine Drive Pentecostal Church
- Musquodoboit Harbour Presbyterian Church
- St James Anglican Church Hall
- St. Phillip Neri Roman Catholic Church
- United Church of Canada, Musquodoboit Harbour
- St Thomas' Anglican Church, Musquodoboit Harbour
Transportation
- Trunk 7
- Highway 107Nova Scotia Highway 107Highway 107 in Nova Scotia runs through the eastern suburbs of the Halifax Regional Municipality, from the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth to an intersection with Trunk 7 in Musquodoboit Harbour. It is long, and is mostly two lanes and controlled access....
- Route 357Nova Scotia Route 357Route 357 is a collector road in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the Halifax Regional Municipality and connects Musquodoboit Harbour at Trunk 7 with Middle Musquodoboit at Route 224 .-Communities:*Musquodoboit Harbour*Meaghers Grant...
Communications
- The postal CodePostal codeA postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
is B0J 2L0. - The Telephone exchangeTelephone exchangeIn the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
is 902Area code 902Area code 902 is the telephone area code in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, encompassing both provinces. The 902 area code was established in 1947 for all three Maritime provinces, with Newfoundland added shortly after it joined Canada; New Brunswick, along with...
889 , 891 - AliantAliantBell Aliant Inc. is a communications company providing services in various areas throughout eastern Canada, as Bell Aliant throughout Atlantic Canada, and under the NorthernTel, and Télébec brands in rural areas of Ontario and Quebec....
; 342 - EastlinkEastLink (company)EastLink is a Canadian cable television and telecommunications company. In 1970, EastLink was established in Amherst, Nova Scotia, when it was issued one of the first cable licences granted by the CRTC...
; 878 - RogersRogers WirelessRogers Wireless is a wireless telecommunications provider offering mobile phone and data services throughout Canada using Global System for Mobile Communications and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System technology. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications...
Demographics
- Total Population - 2139
- Total Dwellings - 1364
- Total Land Area - 207.042 km²