Cape Sable Island

Not to be confused with Sable Island in southeastern Nova Scotia, or Cape Sable in Florida

Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canadian island located at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. Sometimes confused with Sable Island, Cape Sable Island forms the eastern limit of the Gulf of Maine, opposite Cape Cod.

The island is situated in Shelburne County south of Barrington Head, separated from the mainland by the narrow strait of Barrington Passage, but has been connected since 1949 by a causeway. The largest community on the island is the town of [[Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia. Other communities are listed below. At the extreme southern tip is Cape Sable.

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Cape Sable Island in Nova Scotia

History

Southern tip of Nova Scotia, showing Cape Sable Island.

Cape Sable Island was inhabited by the Mi'kmaq who knew it as Kespoogwitk meaning "land's end". It was first charted by explorers from Portugal who named it Beusablom, meaning "Sandy Bay".

Fort La Tour

Cape Sable and Cape Negro, Nova Scotia were first settled by the French who migrated from Port Royal, Nova Scotia in 1720. The French governor of Acadia, Charles de la Tour, colonized Cap de Sable giving it the present name, meaning Sandy Cape. La Tour built up a strong post at Cap de Sable beginning in 1623, called Fort Lomeron in honour of David Lomeron who was his agent in France. (The fur trading post called Fort Lomeron was later renamed Fort La Tour although identified as Fort Saint-Louis in the writings of Samuel de Champlain.) Here he carried on a sizable trade in furs with the Mi'kmaq and farmed the land.

By 1641, La Tour lost Cape Sable Island, Pentagouet (Castine, Maine), and Port Royal, Nova Scotia to Governor of Acadia Charles de Menou d'Aulnay de Charnisay.

La Tour retired to Cap de Sable with his third wife Jeanne Motin, wed in 1653, and died in 1666.

In the late summer of 1758, the British launched three large offensives against the Acadians. One was the St. John River Campaign, the Campaign against the Petitcodiac River, and the Acadians at Cape Sable. The Cape Sable Island Acadians had participated in the Raid on Lunenburg (1756) and numerous other raids on the village. Major Henry Fletcher lead the 35th regiment and a company of Groham's Rangers to Cape Sable. He firt cordoned off the cape and then swarmed over it. 100 Acadians and Father Jean Baptistee de Gray survendered, while about 130 Acadians and 7 Mi'kmaq escaped. The Acadian prisoners were taken to Georges Island in Halifax Harbour.

New England Planters

Following the Acadian Expulsion in the 1750s, the island was settled by the New England Planters from Cape Cod and nearby Nantucket Island. The waters off southwestern Nova Scotia had been well known to them probably since the days of French settlement in the early 1600s. While the tides of the Gulf of Maine may have brought a few exploring fishermen from Nantucket to the island, it was an entirely different tide that spawned the eventual permanent English settlement—a political tide.

Many Cape New Englanders took advantage of the offer of 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land to each male adult who would leave his home and live on those vacated lands in Atlantic Canada. Cape Sable Island was well known to Cape Cod fishermen and they moved north in 1760 to take advantage of a new life. The Cape Sable settlement soon became, and remains today, an important base for inshore fisheries. It is famous as the birthplace of the Cape Islander fishing boat, a motor fishing boat which emerged about 1905. Ferry service provided transportation to the island in the early 20th century. A causeway was eventually constructed for pedestrian and automobile traffic, opening on August 5, 1949. Today the lobster fishery is the island's biggest industry.

Communities of Cape Sable Island

The following communities are included within the Community of Cape Sable Island:

• Cape Sable Island
• Centreville
• Clam Point
• Clark's Harbour
• Lower Clarks Harbour
• Newellton
• North East Point
• South Side
• Stoney Island
• The Hawk
• West Head

Weather

The island lies in the path of Nor'easters and hurricanes which occur periodically. Cape Sable Island is also prone to bouts of thick fog. Over the years the Cape's storms, and the close proximity of the island to shipping routes, has led to a substantial number of shipwrecks. The most tragic was the wreck of the SS Hungarian in February 1860 with the loss of over 200 lives. A lighthouse was established at the tip of Cape Sable in the next year.

Residents

In spite of what might seem to have been major deterrents to permanent settlement, they came and they stayed. There were shiploads of Smiths, Nickersons, Atkinsons, Crowells, Newells, Townsends, Quinlans, Rosses, Swims and many others; their descendants are still present some 250 years later. Archelaus Smith settled in Centreville, Michael Swim at Swims Point in Clark’s Harbour, Newell families in Newellton, Daniel Vinton at Daniel’s Head in South Side, Ross families at Stoney Island – many of these surnames remain very common today. The Archelaus Smith Museum (1896)in Centreville, Nova Scotia is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

Bird watching

With the ocean lapping on all sides of the island, the climate is maritime - decidedly cool in summer but winters are considerably more moderate than interior parts of the province. The island is a notable birding destination, being an important migratory stopping point for birds such as the Atlantic Brant and Piping Plover. It is this unique climate, its abundant tidal marshes and the island's geographical location on the north-south flight path of numerous migratory water fowl that has given it the international designation as an Important Birding Area (IBA). The annual Brant Geese fly-by during March and April is developing into a local birding event. The tens of thousands of Brant make their spectacular fly by at dusk after spending the day feeding in local marshes. They spend the night bobbing in the Atlantic to the east of the island.

See also

• Cape Islander

References

• Our Ocean Playground - A Nova Scotia History Manual

External links

• Cape Sable Island.ca
• CapeIsland.ca - video and pictures of the island
• Canadian Topographical Maps 1:250,000: Shelburne Showing Barrington Head, Barrington Passage, Barrington Bay, Causeway, Cape Sable Island and Cape Sable in the South. Click to enlarge map