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Bass River | |
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![]() Bass River Lighthouse | |
Coordinates: 45°24′53″N63°46′46″W / 45.41472°N 63.77944°W [1] | |
Country | ![]() |
Province | ![]() |
Municipality | Colchester |
Time zone | UTC-4 (AST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-3 (ADT) |
Postal code | B0M 1B0 |
Area code | 902 |
GNBC Code | CABYG [1] |
Bass River is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Colchester County. The community shares its name with the river that flows through it into the Cobequid Bay.
Bass River was founded by members of the Ulster emigrant "Judge" James Fulton's family, who himself in c.1767 was the first to settle the area (at King's Rest) a decade after the tragic expulsion of Acadians from the region. Those who settled Bass River and its neighbouring communities were largely of direct Ulster-Scottish descent. Many of these settlers' descendants have remained in the community as is evident from a list of surnames prevalent in the area today. Ulster-Scottish Campbells, Creelmans, Davisons/Davidsons, Fishers, Fultons, McLellans, Starratts/Starritts, Vances, and Wilsons settled the area, as did Lewis's from Scotland.
Other common surnames of the area include Burns, Cameron, Carde, Carr, Cooke, Corbett, Dickie, Faulkner, Fletcher, Gamble, Gilbert, Grue, Jordan, Lawson, McIntosh, Rushton, Rutherford, Smith, Taggart, Taylor, Thompson, and Welch. 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 on the present-day community of Londonderry. Prior to British settlement, it is believed that Acadian families lived in what are now the neighbouring communities of Economy and Portapique (or Portaupique), places whose names were most likely derived from Acadian French language. Mi'kmaq Indigenous Peoples / First Nations peoples are thought to have hunted and gathered in Colchester County for several hundred years prior to British control and settlement.
Bass River was once known for its wooden furniture manufacturing, wooden ship-building, and timber exports. The furniture manufacturer, Dominion Chair Company, 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 former village lighthouse, the brig 'Jos. Howe' was constructed in 1867. Between 1884 and 1918, a further seven wooden ships (Hemeon, 1987) were built in Little Bass River. Bass River timber was famously also used to build staging used in construction of the Empire State Building.
Other former industry included grist mill operations, shad fishing, and silica mining. In the early 20th century, there was a bank and a hotel located in the village. The population then was two or three times what it is now.
Bass River is located along an approximate 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) stretch of Cobequid Bay north shoreline, from the bordering communities of Upper Economy to the west, Porta(u)pique to the east, and Castlereagh in the Cobequid Hills to the north. The community is centred at approximately 45°24' North, 63°46' West. Most of its residents live along or just off of the Trunk 2, the Glooscap Trail. 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 (which includes the areas Edgewood and Saint's Rest), and south to include Birch Hill and King's Rest.
Bass River has a population of approximately 300 permanent residents. The number of residents increases in summertime by 20 to 40 percent with the influx of those with cottages 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 and its petroleum products industry, British Columbia, and the Canadian Forces being common destinations.
Present-day economic activity includes a few commercial farms (cultivated strawberries, dairy, and sheep), pulp wood, fire wood, and timber harvesting, lowbush blueberry and Christmas tree production, and clam mollusc harvesting (i.e. "clam digging").
Most present-day residents however commute to assorted work done outside the community. Most commuters go to Truro and its surrounding area.
West Colchester Consolidated is located on Mines Road in Bass River, and teaches grades primary to 9. A Chignecto-Central Regional School Board proposal to close the Bass River Elementary school was acted upon in 2013. Prior to this, West Colchester Consolidated students in grades primary to 4 attended Bass River Elementary, located on the same road.
Hants County is a historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants.
Colchester County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. With a population of 51,476 the county is the fourth largest in Nova Scotia. Colchester County is located in north central Nova Scotia.
Truro is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at the eastern end of Cobequid Bay.
Five Islands is a rural community in Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada with a population of 316 located on the north shore of Minas Basin, home of the highest tides in the world. It is named after five small islands – Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg, and Pinnacle – located just off the coast. The islands are an exposed part of the North Mountain Basalt. Moose Island is in Colchester County. The remaining islands are in Cumberland County. Beyond Pinnacle Island is a seastack called Pinnacle Rock.
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.
Little Bass River is a sub-community in Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms the western portion the community of Bass River.
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 population today stands at around 200.
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. In the late 19th century, it was known for its shipbuilding industry.
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 locally to be part of the rural community of Economy. It borders Little Bass River to the west and the former community of Pleasant Hills to the north.
Great Village is a rural community of approximately 500 people located along Trunk 2 and the north shore of Cobequid Bay in Colchester County, Nova Scotia. It is considered locally to incorporate the areas of Highland Village to the west and Scrabble Hill to the north northwest.
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Alexander McNutt was a British Army officer, colonist and land agent, responsible for seeing an approximate 500 Ulster Scottish emigrants arrive in Nova Scotia during the early 1760s.
Earltown, Nova Scotia(Baile-an-Iarla) is a Canadian rural community in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.
Burntcoat is an unincorporated rural Canadian community in Hants County, Nova Scotia. The area is well known for its cape of Burntcoat Head, the location of the largest recorded tidal range of anywhere in the world. It is also home to Burntcoat Head Park, which offers public access to the ocean floor.
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Portapique is a rural community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Colchester County. It has about 100 residents in winter and increases to 250 residents in summer.
Belliveau Cove is a historical Acadian community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the District of Clare in Digby County settled in 1768 on un-ceded Mi'kmaq territory. A major centre of wooden shipbuilding in the 19th and early 20th century, Belliveau Cove built the second largest wooden ship ever constructed in Canada, the County of Yarmouth in 1884. It is now a mixed community of citizens with diverse backgrounds, including Acadians.
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Fort Ellis was a British fort or blockhouse built during the French and Indian War, located at the junction of the Shubenacadie and Stewiacke Rivers, close to Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, Canada. The location was labelled Ville Pierre Hebert by Charles Morris. The 14 Acadian families in the area vacated with the Acadian Exodus. Charles Morris recommended a Fort on the Shubenacadie River in 1753. Governor Lawrence first considered the fort in 1754 as a means to protect Halifax from Mi'kmaq raids. Lawrence decided the fort would not be effective until after the Battle of Fort Beauséjour. The fort was completed on October 18, 1761, shortly after the Halifax Treaties were signed. The fort was to guard the new road built to connect Truro and Halifax against Mi'kmaq raids. The fort was called Fort Ellis after Governor Henry Ellis, who was appointed governor weeks after the forts completion. The fort was never garrisoned and eventually abandoned in 1767. Fort Belcher, named after Governor Jonathan Belcher, was built on Salmon River in Lower Onslow, Nova Scotia (1761–67). Fort Franklin was built at Tatamagouche in 1768, named after Michael Francklin and lasted only a year. Fort Morris was named after Charles Morris.