, settlement_type =

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

, image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.png , image_seal = Antigonish NS seal.png , seal_size = 100x90px , image_shield = Antigonish ns crest.jpg , shield_size = 100x90px , pushpin_map = Nova Scotia , pushpin_label_position = top , pushpin_map_caption = Location of Antigonish in Nova Scotia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_type2 = County , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision_name1 =

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 Eng ...

, subdivision_name2 = Antigonish County , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Founded , established_date = 1784 , established_title2 = Incorporated , established_date2 = January 9, 1889 , established_title3 = , established_date3 = , government_footnotes = , government_type = Town Council , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Laurie Boucher , leader_title1 = Governing Body , leader_name1 = Antigonish Town Council , unit_pref = , area_footnotes = (2016) , area_magnitude = , area_total_km2 = 5.01 , area_land_km2 = , area_water_km2 = , area_urban_km2 = 5.49 , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_min_m = 0 , population_total = 4656 , population_as_of =

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, population_footnotes = , population_density_km2 = 871.7 , population_urban = 5002 , population_density_urban_km2 = auto , population_demonym = Antigonisher , population_note = , postal_code_type =

Canadian Postal code A Canadian postal code (french: code postal) is a six-character string that forms part of a postal address in Canada. Like British, Irish and Dutch postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. They are in the format ''A1A 1A1'', where ' ...

, postal_code = B2G , area_code =

902 __NOTOC__ Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margr ...

, website = , footnotes = , leader_title2 = MLA , leader_name2 = Michelle Thompson (Progressive Conservative) , leader_title3 = MP , leader_name3 = Sean Fraser (L) , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , timezone = AST , utc_offset = -4 , timezone_DST = ADT , utc_offset_DST = -3 , elevation_max_m = 34 , blank_name =

Telephone Exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

s , blank_info = 318 735 863 867 870 872 948 968 971 , blank1_name = Median household income, 2000 (all households) , blank1_info = $41,773 , blank2_name = NTS Map , blank2_info = 011F12 , blank3_name = GNBC Code , blank3_info = CAATB Antigonish ( ; gd, label=

Canadian Gaelic Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig Chanada, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada. Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scot ...

, Am Baile Mòr ) is a town in Antigonish County,

, Canada. The town is home to

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

and the oldest continuous Highland games outside

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is approximately 160 kilometres (100 miles) northeast of Halifax, the provincial capital.

History

Antigonish had been the location of an annual

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

summer coastal community prior to European settlement. The original definition of the name has been lost as the

Mi'kmaq language The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

has undergone many revisions over the last two centuries. The first European settlement took place in 1784 when Lt. Colonel Timothy Hierlihy of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment received a large land grant surrounding

Antigonish Harbour Antigonish Harbour is a community and harbour in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Antigonish County , nickname = , settlement_type = List of counties of Nova Scotia, County , motto ...

. Hierlihy and his party founded the Dorchester settlement, named for

Sir Guy Carleton Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 17 ...

, who was

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

and subsequently Lord Dorchester. Shortly after, Sgt Nathan Pushee of the

Duke of Cumberland's Regiment The Duke of Cumberland's Regiment, also known as Montagu's Corps, South Carolina Rangers, and the Loyal American Rangers, was a British Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalist provincial unit raised from American colonists and rebel prisoners by ...

settled at Chedabucto (present-day

Guysborough Guysborough (population: 397) is an unincorporated Canadian community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. Located on the western shore of Chedabucto Bay, fronting Guysborough Harbour, it is the administrative seat of the Guysborough municipa ...

), eventually establishing present-day

Amherst, Nova Scotia Amherst ( ) is a town in northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, and south of the Northumberland Strait. The town sits on a height of land at the eastern boundary of th ...

. In 1796 another settler, with the assistance of a First Nations guide, blazed a trail from Antigonish Harbour to Brown's Mountain, using the shortest route. This trail became a guide for travellers and eventually evolved into a winding Main Street. By the late 1820s, Dorchester was commonly referred to as Antigonish. In 1852, a newspaper, '' The Casket'', began publication. It was recently purchased by Bounty Print in 2015.

was established in Antigonish in 1855, having been founded in 1853 in Arichat, Cape Breton and originally called the College of East Bay after East Bay, Nova Scotia where an earlier institution had once existed (1824–1829). St.F.X. was originally a Catholic

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

and was granted full university powers in 1866 by an act of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The town is also the episcopal seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish ( la, Dioecesis Antigonicensis) is a Latin Rite diocese in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its current diocesan ordinary is Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick. History The Diocese was established on 22 September 1844, under ...

. The first hospital in Antigonish opened on June 10, 1906. Antigonish is notable for having a social movement named for it, the Antigonish Movement, launched from St. Francis Xavier University in the 1920s by local priests and educators including

Moses Coady Moses Michael Coady (3 January 1882 – 28 July 1959) was a Roman Catholic priest, adult educator and co-operative entrepreneur best known for his instrumental role in the Antigonish Movement. Credited with introducing "an entirely new organizati ...

and Jimmy Tompkins.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Antigonish had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Antigonish is a service centre for the surrounding region that includes

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

and Guysborough Counties and many local businesses are based in the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

. There are no major industrial operations located in the town or county. The workforce is primarily

white collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...

with the largest employers being St. Martha's Regional Hospital and St. Francis Xavier University. Until 2011, Antigonish accommodated

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

's National Philatelic Centre, which provided mail-order services for worldwide collectors of Canadian stamps.

Highway 104 Twinning

In 2005, the provincial government approved the twinning of Highway 104 from Addington Forks Road easterly to Taylor's Road. In 2017, the provincial government announced that a further from Sutherlands River to Antigonish would be twinned, thus creating an uninterrupted four-lane highway network from Halifax to Antigonish. The project is expected to be completed by the early to mid 2020s, without the creation of tolls.

2004–07 retail building boom

The Antigonish area experienced great deal of economic growth and retail development between 2004 and 2007 when the retail landscape of the town and county changed significantly. Much of the growth took place in the Post Road area, just outside town.

Atlantic Superstore Atlantic Superstore is a Canadian supermarket chain. The chain operates 54 stores in the Maritimes of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. It is owned by George Weston Limited through Loblaw Companies Limited, and operates und ...

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

(now Kent) constructed new stores while the former Atlantic SuperValue, also located in this area, was redeveloped as a Staples Business Depot. Other areas also saw growth. In June 2005,

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1962 ...

opened a new store downtown while the NSLC opened a new store attached to the existing

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

store, located next to mall. A multi-unit retail annex was constructed at the local shopping mall in the spring of 2006. This complex houses a new Cleve's sporting goods store, and other businesses and services. The mall area also saw the construction of a

Boston Pizza Boston Pizza (BP), known as Boston's The Gourmet Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar outside of Canada, is a Canadian multinational restaurant chain that owns and franchises locations in Canada, the United States and Mexico. History Boston Pizza ...

restaurant which opened in late 2006, and an A&W restaurant that opened in February 2007.

Education

is located in Antigonish. St. Francis Xavier has 4,267 full-time students and 500 part-time students. It was named as the best primarily undergraduate university in Canada by ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...

'' magazine for five consecutive years (2002–2006). St. Francis Xavier is also well known for the X-Ring and the

Coady International Institute The Coady International Institute is located on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Established in 1959, Coady Institute is named for Rev. Dr. Moses M. Coady, a founder of the Antigonish Movement The Antig ...

. The elementary and secondary schools in Antigonish fall under the jurisdiction of the Strait Regional School Board. Antigonish is home to three public schools: Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School,

St. Andrew Junior School Strait Regional Centre for Education is a Canadian school board operating in eastern Nova Scotia's counties of Richmond, Antigonish, Inverness, and Guysborough. The centre has a student population of 7,281 and it employs 612 teachers. The annual ...

and the Antigonish Education Centre.

Sports and culture

The annual Antigonish Highland Games have been held since 1863. The first games were held to raise funds for the construction of St. Ninian's Cathedral. Year-round, the town has access to professional and community theatre through the Bauer Theatre on the StFX Campus. It is home to

Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre runs every year from July through September, in the town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1987, FAST presents a summer-long repertory season with a range of productions which appeal to all age groups. Perfor ...

and Theatre Antigonish.

Notable residents

August Ames August Ames (born Mercedes Grabowski; 23 August 1994 – 5 December 2017) was a Canadian pornographic actress. She appeared in more than 100 films, including a non-pornographic film in 2016, and was nominated for several AVN Awards. In 2017, at ...

, pornographic actress *

Donald Chisholm Donald Chisholm may refer to: * Donald Chisholm (politician) (1822–1890), Canadian member of parliament * Donald Chisholm (racing driver) (born 1976), Canadian racing driver See also * Donald Chisholm Towner Donald Chisholm Towner (born Eastb ...

, stockcar driver * Mary-Colin Chisholm, stage, film and TV actor *

Mark Day (actor) Mark Day (born October 4, 1978) is a Canadian actor and broadcaster from Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. Career 1999–2004: Halifax and Toronto In the fall of 1999, Day moved to Halifax and made his feature film debut as a young fisherman in ...

, film and TV actor *

, Catholic priest, adult educator, and leader of the Antigonish Movement *

Eric Gillis Eric Gillis (born March 8, 1980) is a Canadian athlete. He was born and raised in the community of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He resides in Antigonish, Nova Scotia as the head coach of the St. Francis Xavier University cross country and track teams. ...

, 2008, 2012, 2016 Olympian (athletics-10,000m, marathon) *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Nichola Goddard, MSM, fallen Canadian soldier *Tareq Hadhad, Syrian-Canadian businessman, founder of

Peace by Chocolate Peace by Chocolate is a Syrian-Canadian chocolatier company, based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Prior to being forced to flee from Syria during the country's civil war in 2012, the company's CEO and Founder Tareq Hadhad’s father, Es ...

Max Haines Max Haines (January 4, 1931 – September 30, 2017) was a Canadian true crime newspaper columnist and author, widely syndicated internationally. Max Haines was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, to Jewish parents, Alexander and Augusta (Rich) Haine ...

, crime writer, columnist for the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'' *

Edward Langille Edward M. Langille (born 1959) has been a professor of Modern Languages (French language and literature) at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, since 1989. He specializes in the area of Enlightenment studies, and is one of Ca ...

, university professor * Craig MacDonald, former professional hockey player *

Garfield MacDonald James Abram Garfield MacDonald (August 8, 1881 – November 6, 1951) was a Canadian athlete who competed mainly in the triple jump. He was born in Lower South River, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces an ...

, Olympic Athlete * Shauna MacDonald, actress, also known as "

Promo Girl Shauna MacDonald is a Canadian television and film actress, director, producer, writer, voice actor, and radio announcer. She became known for her role as the national continuity announcer for CBC Radio One. Life and career MacDonald was born ...

" on CBC Radio One * Allan MacEachen, Liberal MP, cabinet minister, Senator *

Ryan MacGrath Ryan MacGrath is a Canadian singer-songwriter, whose folk-pop style is frequently compared to Rufus Wainwright and Hawksley Workman.

, musician and painter *

Al MacIsaac Al MacIsaac (born October 10, 1967) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey executive and player. He is the former Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. He was employed by the Ch ...

, Vice President

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

* Paul MacLean, former head coach of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

and current assistant coach of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Carole MacNeil Carole MacNeil is a Canadian television journalist, known for her work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which spanned over thirty years. MacNeil began her career anchoring local news programs in New Brunswick and Ontario in the early ...

, television journalist, former co-host of '' CBC News: Sunday'' and '' CBC News: Sunday Night'' * Stephen McHattie, stage, film and TV actor * Robyn Meagher, Olympic runner *

Carroll Morgan Carroll Morgan may refer to: * Carroll Morgan (boxer) * Carroll Morgan (computer scientist) Charles ''Carroll'' Morgan (born 1952) is an American computer scientist who moved to Australia in his early teens. He completed his education there (hi ...

, Olympic heavyweight boxer * Archbishop James Morrison, Catholic Bishop 1912 *

Aleixo Muise Aleixo M. Muise (born June 5, 1969) is a Canadian scientist, pediatrician and gastroenterologist known for contributions to the understanding of very early onset inflammatory bowel disease. He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of T ...

, medical researcher and physician *

Anne Simpson Anne Simpson is a Canadian poet, novelist, artist and essayist. She was a recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize. Biography Simpson received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen's University, and graduated in Fine Arts from OCAD University (form ...

, poet * Sandy Silver, Premier, Yukon *

Wendell Smith Wendell Smith may refer to: * Wendell Smith (sportswriter) (1914–1972), American baseball writer *Wendell Smith (actor) Wendell Smith is a Canadian actor born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. History Originally based in Nova Scotia, Wendell Smit ...

, actor *

Lewis John Stringer Petty Officer 2nd Class Lewis John Stringer (1930–1969) was one of nine sailors who died aboard in an incident for which he was posthumously awarded the Cross of Valour, Canada's second highest bravery decoration. He is commemorated on a plaqu ...

, Cross of Valour (Canada) Recipient, Wall of Valour * The Trews, a rock band

Climate

Antigonish experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

( Köppen ''Dfb''), with warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The highest temperature ever recorded in Antigonish was on 12 August 1944. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 19 January 1925.

Gallery

File:Main Street Antigonish Summer.jpg, Main Street File:AntigonishNovaScotia.jpg,

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

and English road sign File:Antigonish_Harbour.jpg, Antigonish Landing Wildlife Area File:Antigonish2005 78th citadel.jpg, Antigonish Highland Games File:Anglican_Church_Antigonish.jpg, St. Paul the Apostle Anglican Church File:North West Antigonish.jpg, Aerial view of North-west end

Notes

References

Sources

External links

*
Town of Antigonish
{{Authority control Populated coastal places in Canada Populated places established in 1784 Towns in Nova Scotia