Port Hawkesbury: Gateway to Cape Breton - Port Hawkesbury, NS
N 45° 36.845 W 061° 21.877
20T E 627508 N 5052471
This plaque is located at the end of the boardwalk that runs along Water Street at the harbour in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. It describes the history of the town.
Waymark Code: WMGFQ3
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 02/28/2013
Views: 7
The sign reads:
"Port Hawkesbury
Gateway to Cape Breton
"Port Hawkesbury was formerly called "Ship Harbour", presumably because it has the best harbour on the Strait of Canso. Indeed, it is the only port along that interesting passage of water entitled to be called a harbour. This harbour is a boon not only to Hawkesbury, but to all the island of Cape Breton. When the Intercolonial Railway was extended eastward to the strait and thence to Sydney, and the Inverness Road was built to Inverness, this place took on a new importance as a cantre of travel and traffic."
" J.L. MacDougall, History of Inverness County (1922) P.123"
"Port Hawkesbury's most important attribute is its strategic location on the Strait of Canso in relation to mainland Nova Scotia and the rest of the North American continent. The strait area, over the last two hundred years, became a focal point for communications - first by rowboat, then railway and car ferries, and telegraph. In effect, Port Hawkesbury was "The Gateway to Cape Breton"
Group that erected the marker: Not shown
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
1 Water Street
Port Hawkesbury, NS Canada
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