Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
Mahone Bay is a town located on the northwest shore of Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay
Mahone Bay is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County.Opening south directly onto the Atlantic, its eastern shore is formed by the Aspotogan Peninsula and its western shore is formed by the First Peninsula...
along the South Shore of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
in Lunenburg County
Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg County is a county located on the South Shore of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, It ranges from Hubbards to the east and Vogler's Cove to the west.-History:...
.
History
Mahone Bay was first settled in 1754 during Father Le Loutre's WarFather Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
. The first to arrive were those who lived in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg , is a Canadian port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on a peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality.The...
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
Foreign Protestants
The "Foreign Protestants" were a group of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century and the ethnonymical basis behind the name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty....
who were German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
, Swiss, and Montbéliard
Montbéliard
Montbéliard is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.-History:...
ais settlers.
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...
(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
John Rous
John Rous was the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father Le Loutre's War . He made a significant contribution to the preservation of Halifax and the defeat of the French, Acadian and Mi'kmaq resistance...
.
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.
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, the American Privateer Young Teazer
Young Teazer
The Young Teazer was an American privateer schooner that the 74-gun third rate trapped in a naval battle off Chester, Nova Scotia during the War of 1812. Young Teazer was under the command of William D. Dobson and Hogue was under the command of Captain Thomas Bladen Capel...
was trapped off the shores of Mahone Bay by the HMS Hogue (1811)
HMS Hogue (1811)
HMS Hogue was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 October 1811 at Deptford.During the War of 1812, while under the command of Thomas Bladen Capel, the HMS Hogue successfully trapped the American Privateer Young Teazer of the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.She was...
. To avoid capture, a crew member of the Young Teazer destroyed his own ship, killing most of the crew.
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
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
) has become an iconic image of Nova Scotia, frequently photographed and featured on postcards and calendars. 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. The town also has a plastics factory.