Liverpool, Nova Scotia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Liverpool 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...

community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

and former town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

located along the Atlantic Ocean of the Province of Nova Scotia's South Shore

South Shore (Nova Scotia)

The South Shore is a region of Nova Scotia, Canada. Although it has no formal identity and is variously defined by geographic, county and other political boundaries, it is generally understood as the Atlantic coast running southwest from Halifax Harbour to the end of Shelburne County...

. It is situated within the Region of Queens Municipality

Region of Queens Municipality, Nova Scotia

The Region of Queens Municipality is a Canadian regional municipality located in southwestern Nova Scotia.The municipality's boundary includes all of Queens County except for First Nations reserves....

which is the local governmental unit that comprises all of Queens County, Nova Scotia. Liverpool is located along Trunk Route 3 ("The Lighthouse Route") and at the junction of major Highway 103 (at Exit 19) and Trunk Route 8 ("The Kejimkujik Scenic Drive") which leads to the Bay of Fundy.

History

Liverpool's harbour was long a seasonal camp of Nova Scotia's native Mi'kmaq and was known as Ogomkigeak meaning "dry sandy place" and Ogukegeok, meaning "place of departure". The harbour was originally named Port Rossignol by Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....

, the early 17th century founder of New France in North America, after a Captain Rossignol who was at that time using the harbour for fur trading. Later Nicolas Denys

Nicolas Denys

.Nicolas Denys was a French aristocrat who became an explorer, colonizer, soldier and leader in New France. Today, he is perhaps best known for founding settlements at St. Pierre , Ste...

, a pioneering 17th century French explorer and trader of Nova Scotia, was granted land here by the leader of Acadia, Isaac de Razilly (c. 1632). The inner harbour near the mouth of the Mersey River later became the site of a small 18th century Acadian settlement known as Lingley.

Following the Expulsion of the Acadians during the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

(1754–1763), Liverpool was founded by New England Planters

New England Planters

The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign of the Acadian Expulsion...

(commercially organized settlers) as a fishing port in 1759, and was named after Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

in 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...

—which also lies along its own Mersey River

River Mersey

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

. The town was strengthened after the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

(1775–1783) by additional arrivals from the American colonial Loyalist

United 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...

refugees.

American Revolution

Liverpool's struggle for identity during the revolutionary war has been the subject of considerable study by historians. The town was at first sympathetic to the cause of the American Revolution, but after repeated attacks by American privateers on local shipping interests and one direct attack on the town itself, Liverpool citizens turned against the rebellion. Ports on either side of Liverpool - Port Medway

Port Medway, Nova Scotia

Port Medway is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Region of Queens Municipality .-References:*Located along Nova Scotia’s scenic on the South Shore in Queens County, Port Medway is a small coastal community, founded on a once-thriving shipping industry and...

and Port Mouton

Port Mouton, Nova Scotia

Port Mouton is a small village along Highway 103 on the southwest coast of Region of Queens Nova Scotia, Canada. It is about ten miles from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, the nearest significant community, and 100 miles from the provincial capital of Halifax, Nova Scotia.On May 13, 1604, the French...

- were almost continuously at the service of the Americans throughout the war.

Raid on Liverpool (1778)

On April 24, 1778, the HMS Blonde under the command of Captain Milligan ran aground the French ship Duc de Choiseul under the command of Captain Pattier in Liverpool Harbour. There was an exchange of cannon fire for over three hours. A number of the French crew were killed, drowned and wounded. The 100 remaining French crew were taken prisoner. The arms that were on the wrecked ship continued to attract American privateers over the following month. Consequently, on May 1, American privateers raided Liverpool, ravaging and pillaging a number of the houses and stores, including the store of Simeon Perkins

Simeon Perkins

Simeon Perkins was a Nova Scotia merchant, diarist and politician.Colonel Simeon Perkins was born in Norwich, Connecticut, one of sixteen children of Jacob Perkins and Jemima Leonard. He came to Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in May 1762 as part of the New England Planter migration to Nova Scotia...

, a significant town leader. Three weeks later, on May 21, the same privateers returned and tried to tow the wreck of the Duc de Choiseul out to sea. Perkins mustered ten men at the shore. Canon fire was exchanged by the British militia and the American privateers. The privateers continued to fire at the town for almost an hour. Perkins marched his men along the shore, closer to the privateers. One of the militia was wounded in the ensuing exchanges. The privateers stayed off shore for a number of days. Perkins kept a sergeant and six men on guard duty twenty four hours a day until the privateers left the area.

After suffering three years of similar sporadic raids, the people of Liverpool, on June 2, 1779 built a battery for the artillery and on October 31 launched their own privateer vessel named Lucy to bring battle to their adversaries.

Raid on Liverpool (1780)

The most dramatic privateer raid occurred on September 13, 1780, when two American privateers captured the fort in the town and took some of the men prisoners. Simeon Perkins engineered the capture of one of the privateer captains, and arranged for the recovery of the fort and the release of the prisoners. Within a few hours “every thing [was] restored to its former Situation without any Blood Shed.” Liverpool was not bothered by privateers for the remainder of the war.

War of 1812

During the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, Liverpool financed and manned many privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

vessels which primarily targeted French vessels in the West Indies and American shipping off the Nova Scotia and New England coasts. The port was notable for such privateer vessels as the brig Rover and the schooner Liverpool Packet
Liverpool Packet
Liverpool Packet was a privateer schooner from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, which captured 50 American vessels in the War of 1812. During the war the privateer ship was briefly captured by American privateers, eventually being recaptured by the British...

, mariners such as Joseph Barss

Joseph Barss

Joseph Barss was a sea captain of the schooner Liverpool Packet and was one of the most successful privateers on the North American Atlantic coast during the War of 1812.-Early life:...

, and ships' chandlers and merchants such as Enos Collins

Enos Collins

Enos Collins was a merchant, shipowner, banker and privateer from Nova Scotia, Canada. Upon his death he was acclaimed as the richest man in Canada. He was born to a merchant family in Liverpool, Nova Scotia...

and Simeon Perkins. Significantly, an exciting eye-witness account of this turbulent period can be found in the published diaries of Simeon Perkins

Simeon Perkins

(1735–1812), an important businessman and leader in early Liverpool, having arrived from Connecticut in 1762 with the early settlers, and remaining an active member of the town for 50 years until his death in 1812.

Nineteenth century

During the nineteenth century, the town became a major seaport as the fishing and ship building industries grew. The town also became a leading exporter of timber which was floated down the Mersey River (or as initially called the Rivière Rossignol by the original Acadians) from the inland forests of the Lake Rossignol watershed. For a time after the War of 1812, Liverpool was second only to Halifax as the major port in the province, but was later eclipsed by western ports on the north shore of the province such as Pictou and New Glasgow on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The mid-nineteenth century move toward steam-powered vessels which were built with steel, ruined the area's vibrant wooden-ship building industry, and the further financial dislocation caused by the collapse of the local Bank of Liverpool in 1871 combined to severely hurt the town's economy and it went into a slow decline. Liverpool's fortunes were temporarily revived in the 1920s when it became a centre for rum-runners

Rum-running

Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...

shipping alcohol to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

during its period of prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

. More significant growth took place in 1929 when the Mersey Pulp and Paper Mill was completed in the adjoining village of Brooklyn

Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia

Brooklyn is a Canadian suburban community in the Region of Queens Municipality in Queens County, Nova Scotia.Located on the east bank of the Mersey River opposite Liverpool, Brooklyn was placed on the map in 1907 when the Halifax and Southwestern Railway opened between Yarmouth and Halifax.In...

. World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

also bolstered the economy reviving the town's shipyard with repairs to naval corvettes and minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

s.

In 1996, Liverpool disincorporated as a town and merged with the Municipality of the County of Queens to form the Region of Queens Municipality.

Geography

Liverpool is situated on the Atlantic coast along Nova Scotia's South Shore. The community primarily occupies the west bank of the mouth of the Mersey River

Mersey River (Nova Scotia)

The Mersey River, formerly known as Rivière Rossignol by the Acadians, is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is named after the River Mersey in Liverpool, England...

and along its harbour front faces opposite the smaller community of Brooklyn

Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia

which is situated on the east bank of the River. Beyond Liverpool, the river widens to become an estuary called Liverpool Bay, which is partially sheltered by Coffin Island, and there melds into the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. The Gulf Stream which passes just to the east of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean provides Liverpool with a year-round temperate northern climate.

Climate

Economy

Liverpool, as the largest population centre in Queens County, has a lively business community. Many large business franchises provide modern convenience, while the community's diverse quaint small shops still thrive in the original business district on Main Street. Commercial and recreational fishing still play an important role in the local economy. Liverpool's largest employer is the Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited

Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited

The Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited, commonly shortened to Bowater Mersey, operates a thermomechanical pulp mill and associated paper mill producing newsprint located in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia. Annual production is approximately of newsprint....

, which operates a pulp mill

Pulp mill

A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods...

and newsprint mill

Paper mill

A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...

situated in nearby Brooklyn

Brooklyn, Queens County, Nova Scotia

Tourism

Tourism has become increasingly important to Liverpool and the South Shore region in recent decades, particularly as tourists travel the "Lighthouse Route" a scenic drive between Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

and Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...

. Liverpool has a large number of museums for a small community. They include the Queens County Museum, the adjacent Perkins House (the 1760s built residence of Simeon Perkins

Simeon Perkins

referenced supra), the Hank Snow

Hank Snow

Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...

Museum for country music located in the old Liverpool train station, and several private museums run by Nova Scotian photographer Sherman Hines. Facing Liverpool harbour is the Fort Point Lighthouse, the third oldest lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

in Nova Scotia which contains a lighthouse museum and is surrounded by a public park. Additionally, in early July of each year history comes alive in Liverpool during "Privateer Days" when over a long weekend members of the community conduct a parade, provide various entertainment venues, re-enact a privateer encampment, shoot fireworks, and conduct guided graveyard tours. Liverpool has also become a summer break destination for residents of Halifax due to its warm weather and nearby sandy beaches.

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