From the earliest days of European interest in the New World the French and English battled over control of Atlantic Canada. After 150 years and six wars between the two nations (plus the Mi'kmaq who fought alongside the French) the English gained full control of Nova Scotia after they captured Fortress Louisbourg in 1758. That defeat ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada. In 1759, the English divided the province of Nova Scotia into five counties, Annapolis, King's, Cumberland, Lunenburg and Halifax. Halifax County covered all of eastern Nova Scotia including what is now Pictou, Colchester, Antigonish and Guysborough counties. Sydney County was carved out of Halifax County in 1784 to better administer the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia. It was bordered on the west by Halifax and Pictou counties – which formed its only land based, straight line borders. The irregular shorelines of the surrounding water bodies formed the rest of the boundaries. Without deliberately trying to be confusing - two of those crooked water body boundary lines include straits. The Northumberland Strait along with St Georges’ Bay on the north and the Canso Strait and Chedabucto Bay on the east. The Atlantic Ocean – the most crooked boundary of them all – provides the southern boundary.
Up until Sydney County was carved out of Halifax County settlers had to make the arduous trip to Halifax for all legal matters. A round trip to Halifax, on roads that were not much more than foot paths, could take weeks. After 1784 the residents of Sydney County had the difficult journey to Halifax replaced with a much more reasonable trek to the relatively nearby town of Guysborough. In 1818 those that lived along both sides of the St. Mary’s River near Sherbrooke requested the establishment of the St. Mary’s Township to provide an even more convenient administrative center for legal matters that could be handled locally rather than requiring a trip to the courts and institutions of Guysborough or Halifax. The request was granted but the St Mary’s Township was, from its inception, split by the St Mary’s River. Those on the west side were still in Halifax County. Those on the east side were in Sydney County. It was immediately apparent that this situation needed to be fixed. So, four years later the part of the St Mary’s Township that was in Halifax County was annexed to become part of Sydney County and the southwestern most border of Sydney County was redrawn. In 1824 Sydney County was deemed too large to be effectively administered so it was divided into upper and lower administrative districts. So, some more straight line boundary lines – with a different symbology to differentiate the district lines from county lines - were added to the maps of the time. The district boundary line, which eventually did become a county boundary line, runs in a roughly east – west direction a little south of where the Trans Canada Highway Route 104 now runs. In 1836, in order to gain more representation, an act was passed to split Sydney County into two separate counties. The lower district would become Guysborough County while the upper district maintained the moniker of Sydney County. In 1863 a petition from the inhabitants of Sydney County was presented in the House of Assembly. It requested that Sydney County be renamed. The request was granted and about four score after its first cartographic appearance, Sydney County was renamed to Antigonish County. The reason for the name change was likely due to the common practice for a shire town, or county seat, to be named the same as the county. The emerging businesses and political leaders of Antigonish may have wanted to recognize their town in that way. Also, the name change removed the inherent confusion with the town of Sydney on Cape Breton Island. And, with that, Sydney County was purged from all future cartographic efforts and became a forgotten footnote in the history of the area. In Nova Scotia throughout much of the 19th century the creation and adjustments of townships and counties along with the renaming of towns and counties led to a short shelf life for maps of the area. There must have been a great sense of job security for the cartographers of the day.
I have asked several residents of eastern Nova Scotia what they know about Sydney County and except for the local museum curators and librarians the response is usually a blank stare or a guess that it is at the far end of Cape Breton Island where the towns of Sydney and North Sydney are located. The lack of knowledge about Sydney County by the locals did not really surprise me. I first became aware of Sydney County about a year after I purchased my Georgeville property. One day while looking at some old maps at the Lyghtesome Gallery on the east end of Main Street in Antigonish, I found a small scale map of the Maritimes and when my eyes zoomed into my area of interest – Antigonish and Guysborough counties – much to my surprise a single county by the name of Sydney was there instead. The map is 14”x17” and was printed in New York in 1843. Curiously, this map depicts Sydney County before it was split in two which happened in 1836 making this map obsolete before it was ever released.
Back when the Canadian Federation was formed in 1867 the economy of Nova Scotia as a whole was the
most prosperous in British Canada. It was the Golden age of wooden sail ships and towns such as
Lunenburg, Advocate, Guysborough and many others prospered by having abundant timber, ship
building knowhow and a ready market to sell to. The fisheries were healthy with the negative effects
of over fishing many decades away. But, the entire region would be impacted negatively as wooden sail
ships gave way to steam powered steel vessels. That technological transition alone caused a major, long
lasting economic decline for Nova Scotia and all of Atlantic Canada. Then, towards the end of the 20 th
century, the entire region was dealt another ruinous economic hardship when the fisheries collapsed – a
result of being under regulated long after the signs of population decline were apparent. Along with the
global and region wide reasons for economic decline various communities suffered from their own
localized economic catastrophes such as the unfulfilled promise of the Guysborough Railroad and the
impact of the Canso Causeway on the town of Mulgrave. The long lasting economic condition has lead
to years of out migration as the youth of the Sydney County have left for employment opportunities in
Canada’s more lucrative western provinces, the US, and the far corners of the world. This trend
continues today with employment ads such as these listed not too long ago in the classifieds of the
Guysborough Journal …
• LOOKING FOR OILFIELD WORK? Guaranteed Roughneck Employment in Alberta. Training costs vary with experience. Swaindrilling Inc, Dartmouth, 902-442-1235 or 1-877-456-8333. or visit our web: www.aptcollege.com.
• Looking for mechanically inclined persons to do service and maintenance on Caterpillar equipment. Seasonal job, runs till middle of October. Transport to Yukon, room and board provided. Wages or salary negotiable. Email: tamarack748@hotmail.
• Australia/New Zealand dairy, beef, sheep, crop enterprises have opportunities for trainees ages 18-30 to live & work Down Under. Apply now! Ph:1-888-598-4415 www.agriventure.com.
The result of all this out migration is that today’s population of Guysborough County, of about 8000 people, is 24% lower than what is was in 1996 1 and roughly half of what it was in 1871. Antigonish has fared better but it has seen its population decline 3.9% since 1996 and the 2011 Census shows a gain of only about 3000 residents since 1871. Despite the stagnant population growth, the town of Antigonish has a feel of prosperity. Antigonish is a university town with a vibrant downtown. Not long ago a couple of big box retail outlet stores opened just west of town on the Trans Canadian Highway. Antigonish has several large supermarkets and with regard to modern conveniences it is a comfortable fit for me - someone raised in a suburb of New York City. The population of the Town of Antigonish nearly doubles each fall when the student body of roughly 4000 returns to class at St Francis Xavier University. The influx of students provides a significant stimulus to the local economy – mostly in the way of pizza and beer sales. There are seven pizza shops in Antigonish and the legal age for drinking in Nova Scotia is 19. The university also offers cultural amenities and is a major employer in the region. It is also home of Moses Coady and the Antigonish Movement – a worldwide initiative that blossomed in the 1930’s promoting the use of collectivism and co-operatives in a democratic, free enterprise framework.
The town of Antigonish serves as the regional service center for the eastern end of mainland Nova Scotia and for residents in eastern Halifax and Pictou counties as well. Household freezers throughout the area are filled with perishables purchased on the weekly trip to Antigonish. Guysborough County, with the lowest population density of all counties in Nova Scotia, is quite a different story. A trip south of the Trans Canada Highway requires some planning. Canadian dollar bills are about as common as gas stations and grocery stores along the Marine Drive and the interior of Guysborough County. There are gas stations and small supermarkets in Canso, Guysborough and Sherbrooke. There is a micro mart convenience store in Larry’s River and a decent size store just north of Salsman Provincial Park on Country Harbor. If you are sticking to the Marine Drive it is 142 km (88 miles) between Sherbrooke and Canso – almost a two hour drive without stopping. If you decide to veer off the Marine Drive the distance from Sherbrooke to Guysborough via the Larry’s River (aka Lundy) Road is 113 km (70 miles) - a 1.5 hour drive. So, be sure to check your tank, thermos and stomach whenever you’re at any of these three service towns. Extreme planning is required for anyone riding a motorcycle with a peanut gas tank. It has been my experience that throughout Sydney County vacation travel time can’t help but be at least doubled the drive time. Along the way there are countless photo opportunities, numerous trails and beaches to hike, coves for kayaking, and frequent museums and interpretive centers to soak in local history. Gas needs are determined by distance or drive time – dietary needs are determined by travel time.
Antigonish offers all the modern conveniences and a tremendous amount of pastoral and natural beauty. The pace in Antigonish is comfortable - stunningly slower than that of a major metropolitan area. Right next door in Guysborough County the pace has essentially flat lined. When you are in Guysborough County you can move at your own pace as your schedule is unencumbered by most of the outside influences introduced by the proximity to other humans and all their time consuming trappings. With its population density of just two people per square kilometer (5ppl/Sq Mile), it might be hard to find a gas station in Guysborough County but finding an empty beach is easy. This is the exact opposite of what it was like for me growing up on Long Island, New York.
The physiographic attributes of Antigonish and Guysborough differ greatly and this difference plays a major role in the stark contrast of landscapes and land use between the counties. The line of demarcation runs roughly along the Chedabucto fault line which runs west to east from the Minas Basin to the Chedabucto Bay - roughly parallel and a bit south of the Trans Canada Highway 104. Sydney County is dominated by three major landforms: 1) the Antigonish-Lowlands - the coastal plain of the Northumberland Strait, 2) the Atlantic Uplands – this physiographic region found all along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and 3) the Antigonish-Pictou Highlands – which includes the Cobequid Mountains and Cape St George. Above the Cobequid Chedabucto fault line the Antigonish-Pictou Highlands were heavily covered in sediment during the last glacial period making this area is generally well drained and able to host an abundant forest as well as agricultural activities. South of the fault line, the Atlantic Uplands found throughout Guysborough County is dominated by poorly drained stony soil. About 60% is covered by a coniferous forest with a fir, spruce and pine mix being the most prevalent forest type. The rest of the Atlantic Upland is dominated by a landscape of bogs and coastal barrens. The barrens, with their exposed granitic bedrock, bogs, and numerous glacial erratics, seem like a landscape from some other world. The erratics, rocks often the size of a Chevy Suburban, were carried from the north by glaciers and typically differ from the native bedrock of the area. The rocks dropped out as the glacial advance stopped and the ice melted. This glacial poop is strewn about in a totally random fashion. They are ubiquitous throughout Guysborough County but most easily seen in any of the barren areas such the Canso Barrens and the Lundy Fire Tower Hill.
A result of the vast physiographic differences above and below the Chedabucto fault line is readily apparent in the land use patterns seen when you look at a satellite image of Sydney County. There are clearly defined agricultural lots north of the fault line and almost none to the south. The geomorphology of Antigonish County along with the relatively warm waters of the Northumberland Strait results in an environment that is substantially more tame and agricultural when compared to the harsh and untamable environment found along the Atlantic coast of Guysborough County. In Guysborough County the coastline is rocky and the climate is far less forgiving. Here there is frequent fog and cooler temperatures which are brought to the region compliments of the Labrador Current’s frigid waters that flow southward along the Atlantic coast. The Shallow waters along the Northumberland Strait heat up well during the summer months with the result being the warmest salt water north of the Carolinas – a phrase that the tourism bureau seems intent on wearing out. The warm waters help moderate the weather along the coast and the generally calmer seas provide plenty of good beaches for swimming. While, on the eastern shore, the North Atlantic offers punishing waves and water temperatures barely warm enough to stick your toes in even in the middle of August. To the traveler these differences provide an opportunity to see two distinctly different landscapes all within a short drive from each other. Antigonish’s coast line along the Northumberland Strait and Guysborough’s Atlantic coast offer miles and miles, or should I say kilometers and kilometers, of unspoiled beaches. Inland there are many pristine lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Both of these two distinct regions are ideal for hiking, beachcombing, kayaking, canoeing, camping, fishing, photography and bird watching. Add to that the town of Antigonish - an easily accessible college town with all the necessary amenities that is conveniently located to serve as a jumping off point - and you have a genuine tourist destination rather than just a corridor connecting the mainland to Cape Breton Island. The juxtaposition of these two counties, each with its own distinct personality, makes up a large portion of Sydney County’s charm.
But, Nova Scotia is such a beautiful landscape and within the province there are many other compelling tourist attractions to compete against. Guysborough County has long been at the bottom of every tourism statistical metric for the province. The Eastern Shore tourism district – which includes Guysborough County and the eastern portion of Halifax County - had 20,000 fixed roof accommodations sold in 2018. 2 This is by far the lowest number for the province. The Yarmouth & Acadian Shores district is the next lowest with a little over three times the room nights sold. But, in terms of tourism satisfaction, I have been richly rewarded with each of the many visits I’ve made to the area. I have been able to see something new and interesting each time. I admit to being highly biased towards this underdog of a tourism region but I’ve seen firsthand the beauty and diversity that Antigonish and Guysborough counties have to offer and I have discovered that they provide a great vacation destination, especially for those looking to veer slightly off of the beaten tourism path. And, I am convinced that this region could grab some tourism dollars away from the other more popular regions with just a bit more in terms of attractions, services and amenities.
1 Harling Stalker, L., & Phyne, J. (2014). The social impact of out-migration: A case study from rural and small town Nova Scotia, Canada. The Journal of Rural and Community Development, 9(3), 203-226