Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

Mahone Bay
—  Town  —
Fog in the harbour
Motto: "A Treasure Since 1754"
Mahone Bay Location of Mahone Bay in Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 44°26′56″N 64°22′55″W / 44.44889°N 64.38194°W / 44.44889; -64.38194Coordinates: 44°26′56″N 64°22′55″W / 44.44889°N 64.38194°W / 44.44889; -64.38194
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
Municipality	Lunenburg County
Founded	1754
Incorporated	March 31, 1919
Government
- Mayor	C. Joseph Feeney
- MLA	Pam Birdsall (NDP)
- MP	Gerald Keddy (C)
Area
- Total	3.13 km2 (1.2 sq mi)
Elevation	0 - 24 m (-79 ft)
Population (2006)
- Total	904
- Density	288.9/km2 (748.2/sq mi)
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
Postal code span	B0J
Area code(s)	902
Telephone Exchanges	521, 624, 627
Median household income (2005)	$36,374
Total private dwellings	5,876
NTS Map
GNBC Code
Website	Town of Mahone Bay

Mahone Bay (2006 pop.: 904) is a town located on the northwest shore of Mahone Bay along the South Shore of Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County.

History

Mahone Bay was first settled in 1754 during Father Le Loutre's War. The first to arrive were those who lived in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and had farm lots throughout the peninsula, including Mahone Bay. The people who settled on the Lunenburg Peninsula, including the present-day village of Mahone Bay, were foreign protestants who were German, Swiss, and Montbéliardais settlers.^[1]

During the French and Indian War (which included the Expulsion of the Acadians), there were nine Native and Acadian (Catholic) raids against the protestant settlers on the Lunenburg Peninsula. The French, Acadians and natives were resisting the British oontrol over Nova Scotia and Acadia. One such raid – the Raid on Lunenburg (1756) – happened just off the shores of Mahone Bay on present-day Covey Island and [John] Rous Island .

Another raid happened on 24 August 1758 in the village of Mahone Bay, when eight Mi'kmaq attacked the family homes of Lay and Brant. While they killed three people in the raid, the Mi'kmaq were unsuccessful in taking their scalps, which was the common practice for payment from the French.^[2]

HMS Hogue, which trapped the Young Teazer before the ship exploded

During the War of 1812, the American Privateer Young Teazer was trapped off the shores of Mahone Bay by the HMS Hogue (1811). To avoid capture, a crew member of the Young Teazer destroyed his own ship, killing most of the crew.^[3]

Today

The town is also known for a history of wooden boat building, it was the main industry of Mahone Bay in its earlier years. The Settler's Museum explains and shows this history in detail.

The view across the harbour of its three prominent churches (St James Anglican; Lutheran; and United) has become an iconic image of Nova Scotia, frequently photographed and featured on postcards and calendars.^[4] The town is filled with upscale shops and restaurants which almost universally are designed to appeal to the tourist trade, and sometimes shut down during the winter months.^{[citation needed]} The town also has a plastics factory.

References

1. ^ Among the settlers were the Hyson, Zwicker, Keddy, Eisenhauer/Eisner, Weinacht/Whynot, Ernst, and Veinot families. All these names can be found in the area today. The old cemetery, known as Bayview Cemetery, has some 18th-century slate gravestones engraved in German.
2. ^ Bell, Wintrop Packard (1961). The "Foreign Protestants" and the Settlement of Nova Scotia: The History of a Piece of Arrested British Colonial Policy in the Eighteenth Century. University of Toronto Press. p. 511. 
3. ^ Archibald Mechmecan. Sagas of the Sea.
4. ^ Pacey, Elizabeth; Comiter, Alvin (1994). Landmarks: Historic Buildings in Nova Scotia. Nimbus Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 9781551090719. 

External links

• Official website
• Mahone Bay Chamber of Commerce
• Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival
• Mahone Bay Settlers Museum