Mount Hanley in Nova Scotia
Mount Hanley is a Canadian rural community in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. [1] It is the birthplace of the mariner Joshua Slocum and of Clara Belle Marshall, the first woman to graduate from Acadia University in 1879.
Mount Hanley is a Canadian rural community in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. [1] It is the birthplace of the mariner Joshua Slocum and of Clara Belle Marshall, the first woman to graduate from Acadia University in 1879.
Mount Hanley is located about nine kilometers northwest of the town of Middleton. Mount Hanley occupies the north slope of the North Mountain facing the Bay of Fundy at an elevation of 150 metres above sea level.
The community was settled about 1784 mostly by United Empire Loyalists and is thought to be named after Rev. Thomas Hanley Chipman, a leader of the surrounding Wilmot Township. The name is recorded in various sources as Handely, Hanly, and Handly. In the 19th century the community's farms and sawmills prospered, finding ready markets for their goods shipping from the nearby harbours on the Bay of Fundy at Cottage Cove and Port George. The community at one time boasted sawmills, blacksmiths, a grist mill, a cheese factory, blacksmiths, a general store and a post office (1870-1957) [2] At its peak, the village was once described as the "most prosperous and populous in Wilmot Township." [3]
Some agriculture and forestry remain today although most residents work at jobs in the Annapolis Valley or are retired. The population, estimated today at 20 people, is small enough compared to its past that some have identified it as a virtual ghost town. [4]
Joe Banks, part-time epigrapher found a stone with markings in Mount Hanley that he believes are Ogam script and dates from the 5th century AD, evidence he claims of an ancient Irish settlement in Mount Hanley. However archaeologists believe it to be only a toppled property marker and identify the markings as scrapes from plow blades.[ citation needed ]
An original log school built in 1784 was replaced in 1850 and served until 1963 when rural schools were consolidated. The school is now the Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum and is a provincially registered heritage property, noted as being an early example of architecture based on John William Dawson's pamphlet "School architecture - abridged from Barnard's School architecture." [5]
A Baptist church built in 1861 still sees seasonal services. Mount Hanley shares close links with the adjacent North Mountain communities of Outram, Port George and Moshers Corner and the four communities share a Recreational Centre at Port George.
Mount Hanley was the birthplace on February 20, 1844 of Joshua Slocum, the mariner who was the first to sail solo around the world and wrote the classic book Sailing Alone Around the World . Slocum learned to read and write at Mount Hanley School where today his origins are commemorated by a plaque and displays at the Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum. While at Mount Hanley, Slocum had his first experiences on the water on short schooner voyages from the nearby coves of Cottage Cove and Port George. He left Mount Hanley when he was eight years old when his family moved to Brier Island.
Mount Hanley is also the birthplace of Clara Belle Marshall, the first woman to graduate from Acadia University in 1879.
The English-born singer and actor Noel Harrison lived in there in the 1970s and named his 1979 album Mount Hanley Song after the community.
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. Statistics Canada defines the Annapolis Valley as an economic region, composed of Annapolis County, Kings County, and Hants County.
Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Wolfville is a Canadian town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. The town is home to Acadia University and Landmark East School.
Annapolis County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia located in the western part of the province located on the Bay of Fundy. The county seat is Annapolis Royal.
Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey, Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.
Windsor is a community located in Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a service centre for the western part of the county and is situated on Highway 101.
Port-Royal National Historic Site is a National Historic Site located on the north bank of the Annapolis Basin in the community of Port Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada. The site is the location of the Habitation at Port-Royal.
Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Grand-Pré is a Canadian rural community in Kings County, Nova Scotia. Its French name translates to "Great/Large Meadow" and the community lies at the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley several kilometres east of the town of Wolfville on a peninsula jutting into the Minas Basin surrounded by extensive dyked farm fields, framed by the Gaspereau and Cornwallis Rivers. The community was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline and is today home to the Grand-Pré National Historic Site. On June 30, 2012, the Landscape of Grand-Pré was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The Annapolis River is a Canadian river located in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.
Grand-Pré National Historic Site is a park set aside to commemorate the Grand-Pré area of Nova Scotia as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755, and the British deportation of the Acadians that happened during the French and Indian War. The original village of Grand Pré extended four kilometres along the ridge between present-day Wolfville and Hortonville. Grand-Pré is listed as a World Heritage Site and is the main component of two National Historic Sites of Canada.
Margaretsville is a Canadian rural community in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is a province located in Eastern Canada fronting the Atlantic Ocean. One of the Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia's geography is complex, despite its relatively small size in comparison to other Canadian provinces.
The Mount Hanley Schoolhouse Museum is a community museum located in a historic one-room school in Mount Hanley, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. The museum focuses on the history of Mount Hanley and surrounding communities as well as rural school life and the famous mariner Joshua Slocum who attended the school in the 1850s.
Hall's Harbour is a fishing community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Kings County on the North Mountain along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.
Wilmot is an unincorporated community located in Annapolis County in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Port George is a seaside community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Annapolis County. It is a former port situated on the Bay of Fundy, 11 km north of Middleton, Nova Scotia just across North Mountain. It sits on the 45th parallel north.
The Duc d'Anville expedition was sent from France to recapture Louisbourg and take peninsular Acadia. The expedition was the largest military force ever to set sail for the New World prior to the American Revolutionary War. This effort was the fourth and final French attempt to regain the Nova Scotian capital, Annapolis Royal, during King George's War. The Expedition was also supported on land by a force from Quebec under the command of Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezay. Along with recapturing Acadia from the British, d'Anville was ordered to "consign Boston to flames, ravage New England and waste the British West Indies." News of the expedition spread fear throughout New York and New England.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Nova Scotia: