Nova Scotia
Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, is the oldest permanent European settlement in North America north of Florida. Originally founded as Port-Royal by the French in 1605, the strategic town was the capital of the French colony of Acadia. This coastal territory on a fine harbor is the most contested land in Canada having changed hands between French, Scottish, and British empires seven times. Renamed Annapolis Royal in 1710 after Queen Anne, it served as Nova Scotia’s capital until 1749.
The Port-Royal harbor on the Bay of Fundy was part of a traditional water route and a summer encampment site for the Mi’kmaq people for thousands of years. While exploring the area in 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered the fine harbor which he reported “two thousand vessels might lie in security”. Champlain named it Port-Royal in part to its large size and he returned the following year with Pierre Dugua de Mons who was determined to establish a French presence in North America. Sieur de Mons had fought in the French Wars of Religion alongside future French king, Henry IV, who rewarded him for his service. In 1603, the King of France granted de Mons a lucrative 10-year fur-trading monopoly in North America (an immense area ranging from present-day Philadelphia to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence) in exchange for completely financing his own expeditions. In 1605, de Mons returned with Champlain and established the Port-Royal Habitation. This year-round trading post would become the first successful French settlement in North America, years before the British established Jamestown.
The Port-Royal Habitation was constructed by skilled craftsmen who were part of the expedition. Before winter arrived, the French were residing inside a finished compound that offered protection against the wind and cold. The elaborate entrance makes a statement about the social status of the leaders of the colony. The coats of arms over the gateway belong to the first governor, Pierre Dugua de Mons (left), the King of France, Henry IV (center), and the second governor, Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt (right). A palisade provides a defensive position for the entrance while a cannon platform on the western side housed four swivel cannons which overlooked the harbor. The habitation included a communal kitchen, bake shop, and a large common room where meals were enjoyed. Artisans had a workshop to complete projects like carpentry and their large dormitory was upstairs. The accommodations for gentlemen were more spacious, but they did have to share them with others. Only the governor, first de Mons and then de Poutrincourt, had their own quarters. Probably the most important area of the Habitation was the trade room. This is where the Mi’kmaq could bring their furs to trade for items they needed like knives, pots, iron tools, and glass beads. The valuable furs were stored in the adjacent storeroom before shipment back to Europe.
The Port-Royal Habitation flourished for a number of years; however, de Mons’ monopoly was revoked in 1607 under pressure from other French merchants who wanted their share of the wealth. In the years that followed, a smaller contingency of French lived at the habitation until the fall of 1613, when it was attacked and burnt to the ground by a raiding party led by Captain Samuel Argall from Jamestown, Virginia while the French were away. The French were taken in by their Mi’kmaq allies and it was this strong alliance that de Mons had established that would last for the next 150 years. Following the loss of his fur monopoly, de Mons returned to France and never returned to Acadia. He did, however, finance an expedition of Champlain in 1608 down the Saint Lawrence River that led to the establishment of Quebec. Today, the trading pose at Port-Royal National Historic Site is a meticulous reconstruction based on original drawings and descriptions from de Mons.
In 1621, King James I of England granted ‘Nova Scotia’ or ‘New Scotland’ to Sir William Alexander. Eight years later, Alexander’s son led a group of 70 Scottish settlers who established a colony and small fort in 1629 at the site of present-day Fort Anne. Despite some early hardships, the colony thrived on agriculture, fishing, and trade with the Mi’kmaq. Most of the colonist returned to Scotland in 1632 after France reacquired the region by treaty. Although the colonization attempt was short-lived, the province of Nova Scotia owes its name, flag, and coat of arms to this early Scottish settlement.
The French returned to Port-Royal harbor in 1636 and they established the village of Port-Royal. In 1702, military engineer Pierre-Paul Delabat arrived to build a fort worthy of the capital of Acadia. The fortress that Delabat constructed was in the Vauban-style meaning it made use of long sloping earthworks that deflect or absorb cannon fire and expose approaching attackers. Another key feature of the fort are the many bastions which are angular structures projecting from the walls creating areas of crossfire. The French fort was built atop the earlier Scottish fort and several features of it remain today including and 18th century gunpowder magazine. Today, many Acadians throughout the world can trace their roots to the 1636 Port-Royal settlement.
Port-Royal fell to the British for the final time in 1710 and they renamed it “Annapolis Royal” in honor of Queen Anne. All of mainland Acadia was ceded to Britian under the 1713 Treaty of Utretch and Annapolis Royal remained the capital of Nova Scotia until 1749 when it transferred to the newly founded city of Halifax. Relations between the British and their Acadia subjects remained complicated in Annapolis Royal. While the British needed the assistance of the Acadians to maintain the colony, they also sought the loyalty of people whose clear allegiance was to France. This strain was further complicated with many marriages between the two parties. The tensions came to a boil in 1755 when the British required a loyalty oath of their Acadian subjects which resulted in thousands of deportations when they refused. Like the Scots and French before them, the British maintained a fort at Annapolis Royal which they named Fort Anne. Built upon the existing fortifications, the British modernized the fort including officers’ quarters. Fort Anne was restored in 1917 and became Canada’s first designated National Historic Site.
Today, Annapolis Royal is a very popular tourist destination for its beauty and significance in Canadian history. There are two national historic sites to visit: Port-Royal Habitation and Fort Anne. The village is also home to the Annapolis Historic Gardens which offers 17-acres of themed gardens including a rose collection of over 2,000 bushes. The waterfront along St. George Street in Annapolis Royal is a wonderful walking tour with numerous historical buildings including the Sinclair Inn which dates back to 1710.
Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site
Located about midway between the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, Kejimkujik (pronounced Kedge-em-koo-jik) is the only national park in Canada that is also designated a national historic site in its entirety. It protects a rich cultural landscape, deeply understood and cared for by the Mi’kmaq for millennia through to today and into the future. Kejimkujik is also a Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Dark-Sky preserve with some of the darkest skies in the Maritimes. The national park is actually two sites: the main inland park that I visited and the seaside park located about 60 miles east on the Atlantic Ocean where visitors can explore the coastal wilderness.
Paddling is a great way to explore Kejimkujik just as the Mi’kmaq have done for thousands of years. There are numerous launches throughout the park to put a canoe, kayak, or paddleboard into the Mersey River or Kejimkujik Lake. At Jake’s Landing, you can rent a canoe or kayak to explore the park’s waterways. After putting into the Mersey River, you can head upstream into the peaceful waters of the red maple floodplain. It is the natural tannins in the water from the forest that gives the river its rust color. The river offers calm paddling and is abundant with water lilies along with wildlife such as marsh birds, endangered Blanding’s turtle, frogs, and the occasional beaver. For a bigger challenge, visitors can paddle out onto Kejimkujik Lake where granite boulders stand like ancient sentinels and windswept pines frame the water. Backcountry camping is available on some of the numerous islands on the lake for those wanting to paddle out and really get away from it all.
Kejimkujik National Park also has over 21 miles of trails to explore the incredible variety of habitats and scenery in the park on bicycle or foot. The Mill Falls trail is near the visitor center and follows the Mersey River towards the largest falls in the park. At the falls, the river has carved zig-zagging chutes in the slate, and there are several overlooks and a bridge to take in the falls. Another popular trail is Slapfoot which follows the forested shoreline of Kejimkujik Lake and has great views of the islands. The trail also allows access from the large Jeremy’s Bay Campground to several of the lake’s sand beaches, including Meadow and Slapfoot, which are popular spots to cool off in the summer.
Lunenburg
Founded in 1753 by the British, Lunenburg was established as a strategic colonial outpost to counter French and Indigenous presence in Nova Scotia. The German, Swiss, and French Protestants recruited to settle the village put their own stamp on an otherwise average British outpost. Lunenburg is known for is rainbow-hue houses and strict grid-system that have remained largely unchanged, earning it designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Because local soil was poor for farming, the early settlers pivoted to the sea. By the 1850s they had transformed Lunenburg into a world-class fishing and shipbuilding center. Lunenburg is world-famous as the home port of the Bluenose, the legendary undefeated racing schooner featured on the Canadian dime. Today, visitors can explore this maritime heritage at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic or by walking Lunenburg’s streets to view the distinct, brightly colored 18th- and 19th-century wooden homes.
Mahone Bay
The village of Mahone Bay is a picturesque seaside town celebrated for its iconic three waterfront churches: St. James’ Anglican, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran, and Trinity United. The vintage churches along a grass-fringed shoreline set a tranquil tone for this pastoral town that wraps around a sweeping curve in the Nova Scotia coastline. However, before Mahone Bay was a thriving shipbuilding center, it was a favorite haunt of pirates and privateers including the notorious Captain Kidd. In fact, Mahone Bay was named after the type of low-lying ships the pirates used: it’s a corruption of the French word mahonne (a low-lying bargelike ship).
The namesake bay features roughly 365 islands, making it a premier destination for sailing, kayaking, and coastal exploration. Many of the islands in Mahone Bay, such as Big and Little Tancook, are inhabited with daily ferry service from the mainland. The most famous of the Mahone Bay islands is Oak Island which has been the site of one of the most famous treasure hunts in history since 1795 (click to go to that post). While I was in Mahone Bay, I camped at Graves Island Provincial Park which had stunning views of the bay and many of the islands.
Peggy’s Cove
Along the northern edge of St. Margaret’s Bay, the woodlands eventually give way to an outcrop of granite which was deposited when the last glaciers swept through this area of the Nova Scotia. On one side, massive granite boulders stand semi-erect in scrubby field; on the other, they lie prone, creating the granite shelf on which Peggy’s Cove is perched. The village itself consists of little more than a Lilliputian harbor with a few fishing boats, a tiny wooden church, a cluster of shingled houses, and some salt-bleached jetties. The origins of the name are somewhat of a debate, but the popular story is that Peggy’s Cove was named after a young woman named Margaret (often called Peggy) who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck on nearby Halibut Rock in the 1800s.
What distinguishes Peggy’s Cove, though, is the solitary lighthouse towering over a slab of wave-battered rock. Originally constructed in 1868, the iconic red-and-white Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse is the most visited site in Nova Scotia and thought to be the most photographed spots in Canada. The original wooden lighthouse was replaced in 1915 with the concrete structure seen today. A major restoration was completed in 2021 to add more walking paths and a viewing platform. While visiting the lighthouse, you can also scrabble over the huge granite boulders to get some spectacular views of the wild Atlantic Ocean, but just be careful to stay away from the edge or risk being swept away.
Halifax
The Mi’kmaq name for Halifax Harbor is Kjipuktuk which means “the great harbor”. The natural harbor is 22 miles long, 2 miles wide, and 250 feet deep which makes it the second largest harbor in the world after Sydney, Australia. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed into Halifax Harbor in 1607 pronouncing it a “very fine bay”. Although the French drew up plans to build a fortified town at the mouth of the harbor, nothing ever came of those plans. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 awarded mainland Nova Scotia to Britain while France retained Île Royal (Cape Breton). While the British established a small colonial capital at Annapolis Royal, the French built a huge fortress at Louisbourg, and continued to dominate Nova Scotia through their Acadian settlers and Mi’kmaq allies.
In 1745 a combined force of British and New Englanders captured Louisbourg. Then in a turn of events, the British returned the fortress to the French which outraged the New Englanders. They pressured Britain to establish a stronghold in Nova Scotia to protect New England and the coastal fishery, and act as a counterbalance to Louisbourg. In response, Halifax was founded in June 1749 and named in honor of George Montagu-Dunk, the 2nd Earl of Halifax who was a driving force behind the colonization of the region. As a naval outpost, Halifax was vital to the defense of British imperial interests in North America and its fortifications reflected this role. At the heart of the defenses, the Citadel was constructed on the highest hill in Halifax with a commanding view of the harbor. It was supported by a series of smaller forts and gun emplacements on some of the harbor’s islands.
Four versions of the Citadel have protected the naval base and town of Halifax. The early forts were built of earth and logs, the first serving through the Seven Years War, the second during the American Revolution, and the third during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. After 1815, British authorities decided that the old wooden fort wasn’t sufficient anymore and decided to replace it with more powerful and permanent works of stone. Construction of the fourth Halifax Citadel, the configuration seen today, began in 1828 and continued until 1856. Following the confederation of Canada in 1867, Halifax remained an important port of the Royal Navy and British troops continued to occupy the Citadel until 1906 when control was transferred to Canada. The Citadel remained an active Canadian military post through both world wars until 1952, when it was transferred to Park Canada.
Today, the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site dominates the modern Halifax skyline and is Canada’s most visited historic site. Once visitors enter the gate of the Halifax Citadel, they are treated to an extensive living history program which includes sentries, drill demonstrations, bagpipes and drums, and rifle demonstrations. A tradition every day since 1856, the firing of one of the Citadel’s cannons announces the arrival of noon in Halifax. Some of the Citadel’s rooms have been converted into exhibit spaces including the second floor of the barracks which houses The Army Museum which celebrates Nova Scotia’s military history from WWI to the present.
Halifax is also known for two tragic events in history. When the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, Halifax was the closest major port to the disaster site and became the base for much of the rescue and recovery operations. The city has several memorials to the disaster and 121 Titanic victims are buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. On December 6, 1917 at 8:15am, the Belgian steamer Imo sliced into the French WWI munitions freighter Mont Blanc in Halifax Harbor. About an hour later, the Mont Blanc blew up, and the resulting explosion flattened six square kilometers of the city including most of the waterfront. It was the largest man-made explosion until the Trinity atomic bomb test in 1945. The blast created earth tremors, and a huge wave ripped ships from their moorings, tossing them about like toys. More than 25,000 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged. The resulting casualties were horrific – 2,000 killed and 9,000 injured, including 200 blinded by flying glass. During the months of recovery that followed, emergency relief poured into Halifax from around the world.
Halifax has a vibrant downtown and the highlight is the Waterfront Boardwalk which stretches 2 miles along the harbor. Although much of the boardwalk area was flattened by the 1917 munitions explosion, it has been developed into the top destination in Halifax for residents and tourists alike. All along the boardwalk there are fantastic views of the harbor including a great look at George Island which was part of Halifax’s naval defenses. Many of the city’s best restaurants are found along the boardwalk and there is an outdoor food court that has seating along the water. The waterfront Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has numerous exhibits on the rich sailing history of Nova Scotia, the Titanic disaster, and a few museum ships are moored on the wharf including the CSS Acadia which charted the waters of Labrador and the Artic. Between 1928 and 1971, nearly one million immigrants arrived in Canada at Pier 21 in Halifax and the Canadian Museum of Immigration, located at the north end of the boardwalk, celebrates the contributions this diverse population made to shape modern Canada.
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island’s history is a rich blend of Mi’kmaq heritage, French and British colonial rivalry, and a vibrant Celtic identity. For thousands of years prior to European contact, the island was the ancestral home of the Mi’kmaq First Nation. They called the region Unama’ki (meaning “Land of the Fog”), utilizing its abundant coastal resources, extensive inland waterways like Bras d’Or Lake, and heavily forested interior. John Cabot is widely credited with sighting the island in 1497, and the name “Cape Breton” was likely coined by Basque fishermen from Cap Breton, France, who frequented the area. After the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France lost mainland Nova Scotia (Acadia) and Newfoundland to the British, but retained Cape Breton Island, renaming it Île Royale. To protect their lucrative fisheries and maintain a military presence in the New World, France built the formidable Fortress of Louisbourg between 1720 and 1740 (more on that later). Today on Cape Breton, you’ll still find numerous Francophone villages full of Acadian joie de vivre, such as Chéticamp, which bear witness to the area’s long-standing French presence.
Following their victory over the French in the Seven Years War, the British acquired and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia in 1763. In 1784, it was separated into its own British crown colony with its capital established at Sydney. In the early 19th century, over 50,000 Highland Scots fled to Cape Breton to escape poverty and displacement. The rugged terrain made the Highland Scots feel right at home, and their influence permanently defined the island’s culture. Cape Breton Island was home to North America’s first single-malt whiskey distillery as well as the only college devoted to Gaelic language, art, and culture. In 1820, the British dissolved the separate colony and re-annexed Cape Breton back to Nova Scotia.
During the Industrial Revolution, the discovery of massive, rich coal deposits dramatically transformed the island’s economy. Towns like Glace Bay and Sydney became major industrial powerhouses, fueling both steel mills and Canada’s eastern naval defenses. During this period, the island also fostered technological innovation. Alexander Graham Bell established a summer estate in Baddeck in 1885, where he conducted groundbreaking experiments on the telephone. The closure of coal mines and the steel plant in the late 20th century shifted the island’s economy from heavy industry to tourism, technology, and forestry. Visitors from around the world are drawn to the island’s unique Celtic culture, stunning vistas along the Cabot Trail, and its rich history.
The entire interior of Cape Breton is occupied by Bras d’Or Lake which is a vast, almost landlocked inlet of the sea. It is still home to ancient Mi’kmaq communities while still appealing to an international contingent of boaters who come to cruise the lake’s unspoiled coves and islands. The very best of Cape Breton Island is found on the Cabot Trail, a scenic 185-mile stretch of road, winding along oceanside cliffs. The Cabot Trail is routinely ranked one of the top drives in North America. The northern section of the Cabot Trail, from Chéticamp on the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Ingonish on the Atlantic Ocean, runs through the breathtaking Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
The 366-square-miles Cape Breton Highlands National Park is known for its spectacular highlands and ocean scenery. Steep cliffs and deep river canyons cut into a forested plateau bordering the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The cool, maritime climate and rugged landscape support a unique blend of Acadian, boreal and taiga forest habitats, including old-growth forests of international importance like the jack pine. The park offers an immense variety of activities for guests: hiking, paddling, camping, swimming, beachcombing, or golf at the Highlands Links. In order to get from one coastline to the other within Cape Breton Highlands, the Cabot Trail takes you over steep mountains in the interior of the island, reaching 1,500 feet over sea level. While I was on Cape Breton, I stayed at the Broad Cove Campground within the national park which in additional to having beach access, also offers seasonal sites for Nova Scotia residents.
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site
Following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the French ceded Acadia (most of modern Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) and Newfoundland to Britian at the end the War of the Spanish Succession. France’s only remaining possessions in what is now Atlantic Canada were the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, which the French called Isle Royale and Isle Saint-Jean. The French used these islands as a base to continue the lucrative cod fishery off the Grand Banks. In 1719, the French began constructing a fortified town they called Louisbourg, named after King Louis XIV, in order to establish a stronghold on Isle Royale to protect the cod fishery and trade routes. As the capital of Isle Royale, the Fortress of Louisbourg was also a vital French military hub to protect the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Quebec to the west.
The town and settlement along the shore of Louisbourg Harbor soon became a thriving community. The cod fishery accounted for most of the Isle Royale’s prosperity. The cod was dried before export by salting and laying it in the sun on platforms which lined the beaches of Louisbourg and its outlining communities. During the summer fishing season, the population of Louisbourg swelled with Basque fishermen who came from a region of southwestern France and northern Spain. The Basque were not French for they had their own unique language and would often be segregated outside the fortified walls. Louisbourg became a hub of commerce, trading in manufactured goods and various materials imported from France, Quebec, the West Indies, and New England.
The Fortress of Louisbourg was constructed between 1720 and 1740. Running parallel long the harbor’s edge was a structure called a quay which had dual purpose as a sea wall and place for cargo ships to load and unload their goods. All along the quay were cutouts where cannons could be positioned to defend the harbor. The Dauphin gate and demi-bastion provided defense for one of three land approaches to the settlement. Manned by one-third of the garrison’s troops on twenty-four-hour shifts, the Dauphin was heavily fortified with stone walls, powder magazines, musket positions, and artillery. The guards would raise the draw bridge and secure the gates on a nightly basis to defend the community. At its core, Louisbourg was a prosperous French colonial village which consisted of warehouses along the harbor, bakeries, shops, and luxurious homes of some of the wealthiest merchants. By 1745, the population of Louisbourg had swelled to 3,000 civilian residents.
Overlooking the village of Louisbourg was the heavily fortified citadel which was a symbol of the aristocratic and military power of the France in Isle Royale. The edifice was known as the King’s Bastion and it was essentially a fortress within a fortress with its own dry moat, guardhouses, and ramparts with cannon positions. There are two wings to the steeple-topped King’s Bastion. One wing is the barracks of the 500 French soldiers who were stationed in Louisbourg. The other wing housed the Chapel and residence of the governor of the colony. The French inhabitants were Catholic and, although the settlement was wealthy, the civilian population never established their own church. Both civilians and military occupants of Louisbourg worshipped in the Chapel with the saint-king of France, Louis IX, appearing above the altar. The Governor’s Apartment occupies most of the second wing with kitchens, dinning rooms, and living quarters for both the Governor and his staff.
France and Britian declared war against each other in 1745 as part of a larger European conflict. Upon hearing reports of poorly equipped and motivated troops in Louisbourg, a New England colonial force along with the British navy launched an assault on the fortress. While exploiting some of the design flaws of its defenses, the attackers placed Louisbourg under siege and following the forty-six days siege the French were forced to surrender the position. To the chagrin of the New Englanders, only three years later the town was restored to the French by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. While the French did return to Louisbourg in 1748, it was never the military and commercial powerhouse of the past. The final blow came in 1758 when the British besieged Louisbourg for a second time during the Seven Years’ War. With over 13,000 troops and 150 warships, the defenses of Louisbourg were no match and the fortress surrendered to the British for the final time after a seven-week siege. Determined that Louisbourg would never again become a fortified French base, the British systematically demolished the fortifications in 1760 thus ending France’s ambitions of empire in North America.
The Fortress of Louisbourg was declared a national historic site in 1928. In 1961, the Canadian government began a massive historical reconstruction project, rebuilding roughly a quarter of the original town using original blueprints and artifacts. The project, which roughly lasted twenty years, employed hundreds of workers including unemployed coal miners to reconstruct everything from stone walls to hand-forged iron hardware. Today, the Fortress of Louisbourg is one of Canada’s most historic sites and a must for anyone visiting Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. During the summer months, costumed interpreters do a convincing job in recreating both military and civilian life in 18th century Louisbourg in both French and English. Throughout the town, visitors can sample period correct food at one of the inns, buy freshly baked bread at the King’s Bakery, or even spend the night in one of Parks Canada’s overnight experiences.
