Whitney Pier
Encyclopedia
Whitney Pier is a Canadian
urban neighbourhood in Nova Scotia
's Cape Breton Regional Municipality
.
Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995 which saw the formation of CBRM, Whitney Pier was a neighbourhood on the northern boundary of the City of Sydney
. It is a triangle-shaped area north of the Muggah Creek estuary running along the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour.
Whitney Pier derives its name from Henry Melville Whitney
, an American industrialist who established the Dominion Coal Company (DOMCO) in 1893 and its subsidiary the Dominion Iron & Steel Company Ltd. (DISCO) in 1901.
and Glace Bay
.
The geography of Whitney Pier is defined by its relationship to the heavy industry of coal mining
and steel manufacturing. The International Shipping Pier is located at the southern edge of the neighbourhood, adjacent to the steel plant property and is the current location for coal imports that feed the Lingan Generating Station
, with the coal being hauled by the Sydney Coal Railway
. From 1968–2001, the Cape Breton Development Corporation
's Devco Railway
hauled coal from coal mines northeast of Whitney Pier to this shipping pier for international export; the last coal mine in the area known as Industrial Cape Breton
closed in November 2001, forcing the power plant to rely on coal imports for the first time ever.
From the 1880s to 1968, the Sydney & Louisburg Railway
and its predecessors hauled coal from various coal mines to the shipping piers at this location; it was the owner of the S&L during the 1890s-1900s, Henry M. Whitney, who the community is named after - "the Whitney Pier".
The steel mill was responsible for the neighbourhood's economic growth during the 20th century but it is also responsible for its economic decline as well. From the steel mill's inception in 1901 until the mid-1980s, the mill was fueled with coke
, a byproduct of cooking raw coal over a multiple hour period. To do this, coal was shipped by the Sydney & Louisburg Railway (and later the Devco Railway) from the mines to a large battery of coke ovens bordering the railway lines on the south side of the neighbourhood along Frederick Street on a hill overlooking the steel mill. The coke ovens produced coke for the steel mill's oxygen blast furnaces 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for almost 90 years.
The resulting run off of contaminants from the coke production, as well as general contaminants from the steel mill itself, drained into Muggah Creek, a tidal estuary that geographically separated the steel mill and Whitney Pier from Sydney's central business district.
Currently, after several decades of environmental reviews and scientific studies, the federal and provincial governments are undertaking a $400 million cleanup of the site which will see the industrial contaminants in the estuary sealed with cement.
Victoria Road has been home to a variety of interesting shops, restaurants, and community venues, including:
, Ukraine
, Croatia
, Italy
, the Caribbean
and African Nova Scotians to settle in the area.
Notable people from Whitney Pier include:
The first week of August sees an annual neighbourhood celebration called "Action Week". In recent years, this has consisted of events such as a memorial "fun run", street dances, a Caribbean festival, a baseball game, picnics, and various activities for children.
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...
urban neighbourhood in 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...
's Cape Breton Regional Municipality
Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Regional Municipality often shortened to simply CBRM, is a regional municipality in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton County.According to the 2006 Census of Canada, the population within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is 102,250...
.
Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995 which saw the formation of CBRM, Whitney Pier was a neighbourhood on the northern boundary of the City of Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
. It is a triangle-shaped area north of the Muggah Creek estuary running along the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour.
Whitney Pier derives its name from Henry Melville Whitney
Henry Melville Whitney
Henry Melville Whitney was an American industrialist, the founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and later the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of Sydney, Nova Scotia...
, an American industrialist who established the Dominion Coal Company (DOMCO) in 1893 and its subsidiary the Dominion Iron & Steel Company Ltd. (DISCO) in 1901.
Geography
It was separated from Sydney's central business district by Canada's largest integrated steel mill, as well as a large railway yard and tracks running from the harbour to coal mines in nearby New WaterfordNew Waterford, Nova Scotia
New Waterford is a Canadian urban community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.-Geography:New Waterford is located north of Sydney and northwest of Glace Bay. It is named after the city of Waterford, in Ireland. It is located near the ocean and is bordered on one side by cliffs...
and Glace Bay
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Glace Bay is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton....
.
The geography of Whitney Pier is defined by its relationship to the heavy industry of coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
and steel manufacturing. The International Shipping Pier is located at the southern edge of the neighbourhood, adjacent to the steel plant property and is the current location for coal imports that feed the Lingan Generating Station
Lingan Generating Station
The Lingan Generating Station is a 600 MW Canadian electrical generating station located in the community of Lingan in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
, with the coal being hauled by the Sydney Coal Railway
Sydney Coal Railway
The Sydney Coal Railway is a Canadian short-line railway operating in the eastern part of Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia.SCR operates from the international coaling piers on Sydney Harbour in Sydney to the Lingan Generating Station, a coal-fired electrical generating station near New Waterford...
. From 1968–2001, the Cape Breton Development Corporation
Cape Breton Development Corporation
The Cape Breton Development Corporation, or DEVCO, was a Canadian federal government Crown corporation. It ceased operation on December 31, 2009, after being amalgamated with Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation ....
's Devco Railway
Devco Railway
The Devco Railway was a Canadian railway. Devco Railway operated as an unincorporated department within the Coal Division of the Cape Breton Development Corporation, also known as DEVCO; as such there is no formally incorporated entity named "Devco Railway"...
hauled coal from coal mines northeast of Whitney Pier to this shipping pier for international export; the last coal mine in the area known as Industrial Cape Breton
Industrial Cape Breton
Industrial Cape Breton is a geographic region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It refers to the eastern portion of Cape Breton County fronting the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern part of Cape Breton Island.-Geography:...
closed in November 2001, forcing the power plant to rely on coal imports for the first time ever.
From the 1880s to 1968, the Sydney & Louisburg Railway
Sydney and Louisburg Railway
The Sydney and Louisburg Railway is a historic Canadian railway. Built to transport coal from various mines to the ports of Sydney and Louisbourg, the S&L operated in the eastern part of Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia...
and its predecessors hauled coal from various coal mines to the shipping piers at this location; it was the owner of the S&L during the 1890s-1900s, Henry M. Whitney, who the community is named after - "the Whitney Pier".
The steel mill was responsible for the neighbourhood's economic growth during the 20th century but it is also responsible for its economic decline as well. From the steel mill's inception in 1901 until the mid-1980s, the mill was fueled with coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
, a byproduct of cooking raw coal over a multiple hour period. To do this, coal was shipped by the Sydney & Louisburg Railway (and later the Devco Railway) from the mines to a large battery of coke ovens bordering the railway lines on the south side of the neighbourhood along Frederick Street on a hill overlooking the steel mill. The coke ovens produced coke for the steel mill's oxygen blast furnaces 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for almost 90 years.
The resulting run off of contaminants from the coke production, as well as general contaminants from the steel mill itself, drained into Muggah Creek, a tidal estuary that geographically separated the steel mill and Whitney Pier from Sydney's central business district.
Currently, after several decades of environmental reviews and scientific studies, the federal and provincial governments are undertaking a $400 million cleanup of the site which will see the industrial contaminants in the estuary sealed with cement.
Business district
The neighbourhood is centred along Victoria Road, stretching north from a railway overpass at the northern edge of the steel mill property through to a section of the road known as "Dead Man's Turn". Also, Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High, Harbourside Elementary School and Cape Breton Business College (CBBC) are the three schools that are located in Whitney Pier.Victoria Road has been home to a variety of interesting shops, restaurants, and community venues, including:
- Fred Tomey's Athletic Club
- Ursula's Hair Design
- Swan Lunch
- Fastenal
- Purity Bakery
- Canadian Tire Gas Bar
- Joe Brookes convenience store
- Thistle Tavern
- a liquor store
- Polish Village
- Trinity Hall
- Paramount Store
- Eatmore Eat In Or Take Out
- Foodland
- Mary Duck's
- Maw Morrison's
- Tate's Grocery Store
- Henry Street Pub
- Louie Mendleson's
- Jay's Dairy
- Bordens Barber
- Mine Abby's
- Jack the Jews
- Eisensteins
- Quirks Gas Station
- Freta Gaums
- Tim Hortons
- Pier Deli
- Sam Shermans
- Archie Nathansons
- Mary Rowe seamstress
- Stedmans
- Eddie Bruno Pharmacy
- Morraffs Yarn and crafts
- Bernie's Bread and Pizza Bakery
- PJ's Variety Store & Laundromat
Residents
Whitney Pier's residents can trace their ancestry to multiple ethnic backgrounds. The opening of the steel mill by the Dominion Steel Company in 1901 attracted many workers from Newfoundland, PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and African Nova Scotians to settle in the area.
Notable people from Whitney Pier include:
- Godfrey CambridgeGodfrey Cambridge-External links:*...
- Carolyn DunnCarolyn DunnCarolyn Dunn is a Canadian actress. Her notable roles include Silvie Gerard, the business partner/sidekick on Tropical Heat . She is a native of Whitney Pier on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.-External links:...
- Mayann E. FrancisMayann E. Francis-External links:*...
- Austin Gallivan
- Danny GallivanDanny GallivanDanny Gallivan was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster.-Early life and career:Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Gallivan began his broadcast career at a local radio station in Antigonish, Nova Scotia while attending St. Francis Xavier University...
- Gordie GosseGordie GosseGordie Gosse is a Canadian politician and member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, representing the electoral district of Cape Breton Nova for the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party....
- Paul MacEwanPaul MacEwanPaul MacEwan is a former politician in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and long-time member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.-Biography:...
- Valerie MillerValerie Miller-References:...
; Judge of the federal Tax Court of CanadaTax Court of CanadaThe Tax Court of Canada , established in 1983 by the Tax Court of Canada Act, is a federal superior court which deals with matters involving companies or individuals and tax issues with the Government of Canada.... - Lisa RaittLisa RaittLisa Raitt, PC, MP is a Canadian politician, who is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the riding of Halton. She is the current Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Canada.-Background:...
- Calvin RuckCalvin RuckCalvin Woodrow Ruck, CM was an anti-racism activist and a Canadian senator. He was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia; his parents were immigrants to Canada from Barbados.-Professional life:...
- Duncan Wells
Community events
In May, the Whitney Pier Society for the Arts organizes the PierScape Arts Festival showcasing art from dozens of Cape Breton artists across a variety of mediums. The festival also holds a number of art workshops and events for the public, and recognizes distinguished artists, musicians, and contributors to the community.The first week of August sees an annual neighbourhood celebration called "Action Week". In recent years, this has consisted of events such as a memorial "fun run", street dances, a Caribbean festival, a baseball game, picnics, and various activities for children.