The Annapolis River (french: Rivière Annapolis) is a Canadian river located in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

's Annapolis Valley.

Geography

Measuring 120 kilometres in length, the river flows southwest through the western part of the valley from its source in Caribou Bog (50 m

60 ft 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

above sea level) near the villages of Aylesford and Berwick in western

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia *Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...

, to its mouth at Port Royal where it empties into the

Annapolis Basin The Annapolis Basin is a sub-basin of the Bay of Fundy, located on the bay's southeastern shores, along the northwestern shore of Nova Scotia and at the western end of the Annapolis Valley. The basin takes its name from the Annapolis River, whi ...

. The estuary portion of the Annapolis River runs from

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Cit ...

to Port Royal and experiences a tidal range of approximately between tides. The eastern part of the Annapolis Valley is drained by the Cornwallis River, also rising in the Caribou Bog, which has been dated to 10,000 years old. According to estimates by the Province of Nova Scotia, there were 31,877 people resident within the Annapolis River watershed in 2011. The river flows through some of the most productive agricultural land in the province. The comparatively mild micro-climate produced by the valley's North and South mountain ranges, as well as its proximity to the waters of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is th ...

make the region ideal for fruit crops such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

History

Port Royal, Nova Scotia - circa 1609 - Project Gutenberg etext 20110

The Annapolis River's importance in history is evident through its use as a transportation corridor in early Acadia after Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts established the Habitation at Port-Royal on the north bank of the river's mouth in 1605. Champlain's map of 1609 showed the river as being named Rivière du Dauphin. A British attack in 1710 saw this part of Acadia fall from French hands. An Acadian settlement at the mouth of Allains Creek, ten kilometres upriver from Port Royal, was renamed Annapolis Royal, in honour of the reigning monarch, Queen Anne. The river was also given the name Annapolis at this time. After France relinquished the part of Acadia which is now peninsular Nova Scotia to Britain in 1713, Annapolis Royal became the capital of the British colony of Nova Scotia until 1749; Fort Anne was established at the mouth of Allains Creek where it drains into the river to protect the community from attack. Throughout the 18th to the 20th century the river was heavily used as a transportation corridor, particularly during the age of sail when sailing ships would sail as far upriver as

(the tidehead, and head of navigation); Bridgetown being home to a thriving shipbuilding industry. A ferry service once crossed the river at Annapolis Royal to Granville Ferry on the north bank; it was succeeded by a bridge in the early 20th century. AnnapolisRoyalGeneratingStation

In 1984,

Nova Scotia Power Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a vertically integrated electric utility in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is privately owned by Emera and regulated by the provincial government via the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). Nova Scotia Power Inc pro ...

opened the

Annapolis Royal Generating Station The Annapolis Royal Generating Station was a tidal power generating station in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada. When operational, it was the only tidal generating station in North America and was one of the few in the world. Located ups ...

, which operates as a tidal power plant. A rock-filled dam now blocks the river between Annapolis Royal and Granville Ferry, carrying Trunk 1 and the stretch of river between Annapolis Royal and Bridgetown is now used as a reservoir. In the late 1980s, an application to designate the Annapolis River as a Canada federal Heritage River was rejected because of the high levels of pollution in the river from residential and agricultural development. A variety of monitoring and clean-up projects have followed in the wake of the rejection and led to the creation of the Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP).A Case Study of a Work in Progress: The Clean Annapolis River Project and The Atlantic Coastal Action Program

Popular culture

The title of Dauphin Herald Extraordinary at the

Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority i ...

is derived from the ancient name of the river.

Communities

Communities located along the Annapolis River in downstream order (from northeast to southwest), include: * Aylesford East * Aylesford * Auburn * Green Acres *

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth C ...

* South Farmington * Wilmot * Nictaux East * Middleton * Nictaux * Lower Middleton * Nictaux West * Brickton * North Williamston * Lawrencetown * West Lawrencetown *

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

* West Paradise *

* Carleton Corner * Centrelea * Upper Granville * Tupperville * Belleisle * Round Hill * Granville Centre * Moschelle * Lequille * Annapolis Royal * Granville Ferry * Allains Creek * Granville Beach * Upper Clements * Port Royal

References

External links