Port Hastings is an unincorporated settlement on Cape Breton Island, within the Municipality of the County of Inverness, Canada. The population in 2021 was 90.
The community is located at the eastern end of the Canso Causeway on Cape Breton Island. It is named after Charles Hastings Doyle. [1]
The community was previously known as Plaster Cove. The Inverness and Richmond Railway was built from coal mines in Inverness to a loading dock at Point Tupper in 1901. [2] The construction of the Canso Causeway which opened in 1955 saw the community become a railway junction after the Truro-Sydney mainline of Canadian National Railways (CNR) was diverted from the railcar ferry terminals at Mulgrave and Point Tupper. The CNR line to Inverness was eventually abandoned in the 1980s, although the Truro-Sydney mainline continues to operate under the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway.
The construction of the Canso Causeway also brought what would become the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 104 and Highway 105) through the community.
A traffic circle named the Port Hastings Rotary creates an important interchange between Highway 104, Highway 105, Trunk 19 and Trunk 4 several hundred metres east of the Canso Canal Bridge.
The growth of automobile-focused tourism following World War II saw several motels and gas stations and a tourist information centre located at the traffic circle.
The community is home to the Strait Area Museum, which documents local history, including that of the Canso Causeway.
Similar to most of Nova Scotia, Port Hastings has a humid continental climate with some maritime influences, including high snowfall in winter and relatively narrow temperature fluctuations by Canadian standards.
| Climate data for Port Hastings | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 18.3 (64.9) | 16.7 (62.1) | 17.8 (64.0) | 26.7 (80.1) | 31.7 (89.1) | 36.1 (97.0) | 37.2 (99.0) | 32.8 (91.0) | 31 (88) | 29.4 (84.9) | 30 (86) | 20.6 (69.1) | 37.2 (99.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.9 (30.4) | −1.6 (29.1) | 2.1 (35.8) | 7 (45) | 13.4 (56.1) | 18.7 (65.7) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 18.8 (65.8) | 13.1 (55.6) | 7.3 (45.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9 (16) | −9.6 (14.7) | −5.8 (21.6) | −0.7 (30.7) | 4 (39) | 9 (48) | 13.4 (56.1) | 13.9 (57.0) | 10.1 (50.2) | 5.2 (41.4) | 0.8 (33.4) | −5 (23) | 2.2 (36.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −26.7 (−16.1) | −26.1 (−15.0) | −26.7 (−16.1) | −13.3 (8.1) | −6.7 (19.9) | −2.2 (28.0) | −0.6 (30.9) | 1.9 (35.4) | −5.6 (21.9) | −7.2 (19.0) | −12.2 (10.0) | −22.8 (−9.0) | −26.7 (−16.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 147.4 (5.80) | 107.2 (4.22) | 132.3 (5.21) | 142.1 (5.59) | 106.4 (4.19) | 114.2 (4.50) | 90.8 (3.57) | 111.7 (4.40) | 113.6 (4.47) | 143.4 (5.65) | 163.3 (6.43) | 166.2 (6.54) | 1,538.5 (60.57) |
| Source: Environment Canada [3] | |||||||||||||
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Hastings had a population of 90 living in 45 of its 50 total private dwellings, a change of 1.1% from its 2016 population of 89. With a land area of 0.86 km2 (0.33 sq mi), it had a population density of 104.7/km2 (271.0/sq mi) in 2021. [4]
Cape Breton Island is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
Inverness County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada located on Cape Breton Island. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Inverness, the town of Port Hawkesbury and the Whycocomagh 2 Waycobah First Nation reserve.
Port Hood is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the County of Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is an administrative centre and a service centre for the surrounding area. It is also the site of a registered historic place, Peter Smyth House.
The Ceilidh Trail is a scenic roadway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
The Canso Causeway is a 1,385 m (4,544 ft) rock-fill causeway crossing the Strait of Canso, connecting Cape Breton Island by road to the Nova Scotia peninsula. Its crest thickness is 40 m (130 ft), carrying the two vehicle traffic lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway, Nova Scotia Highway 104 on the mainland side, and Nova Scotia Highway 105 on the Cape Breton side, as well as the single track mainline of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway.
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.
Port Hawkesbury is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County.
Havre Boucher is a community in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway is a short line railway that operates in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. CBNS operates of main line and associated spurs between Truro in the central part of the province to Point Tupper on Cape Breton Island.
The Canso Canal is a short canal located in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway across the province.
Highway 105 in Nova Scotia represents the Cape Breton Island leg of the Trans-Canada Highway. It runs from the Port Hastings Rotary just east of the Canso Causeway in Port Hastings to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney, representing a distance of 142 kilometres (88 mi).
Mulgrave is a town on the Strait of Canso in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located along the Marine Drive, Route 344 traverses the community. The town's current name was adopted in 1859 to honour the colonial Lieutenant Governor, the Earl of Mulgrave. Lying opposite to the town of Port Hawkesbury, the community is located along the western shore of the Canso Strait. It was established as McNair's Cove in the early 19th century, and the name Port Mulgrave was adopted in 1859, later shortening to its current form. The early industry of the community relied on ferry service between the Nova Scotia mainland and Cape Breton Island. Ferry service began in the 1810s and rail service reached the area in the 1880s. The ferry services lasted until the opening of the Canso Causeway in 1955, dealing a major blow to the local economy. As of 2016, Mulgrave has a population of 722 and a population density of 40.5/km2 (104.9/sq mi), within an area of 17.83 km2 (6.88 sq mi).
Trunk 4 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 7 near Thomson Station to Glace Bay. Until the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, Trunk 4 was a major traffic link in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and is still used on Cape Breton as an alternative to Highway 105. The highway was originally called the King's Highway, however, this name is no longer applied to the entire road. The only remaining historic section of the highway that maintains the name "King" is King's Road in Sydney.
Trunk 19 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of trunk highways. The road runs from Port Hastings to a junction with the Cabot Trail at Margaree Forks on Cape Breton Island, a distance of 107 kilometres (66 mi). Most of the route is known as the Ceilidh Trail.
Point Tupper is a rural community in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, on the Strait of Canso, in western Cape Breton Island.
Orangedale is a Canadian rural community located in Inverness County, Nova Scotia.
The Canso Canal Bridge is a rotating swing bridge in Nova Scotia, Canada. It crosses the Canso Canal at the eastern end of the Canso Causeway, connecting the Nova Scotia peninsula to Cape Breton Island. The bridge carries the 2 traffic lanes of Highway 104 as well as a single track railway line operated by the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS).
Aulds Cove is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in both Antigonish County and Guysborough County.
The Municipality of the County of Inverness is a county municipality on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It provides local government to about 17,000 residents of the historical county of the same name, except for the incorporated town of Port Hawkesbury and the Whycocomagh 2 Miꞌkmaq reserve, both of which are enclaves. Public services are provided in the areas of recreation, tourism, administration, finance, and public works.
45°37′59″N61°24′00″W / 45.633°N 61.400°W
