Barrington Passage is a community in the
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
province of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, located in the
Municipality of the District of Barrington
Barrington, officially named the Municipality of the District of Barrington, is a district municipality in western Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
Geography
...
of
Shelburne County
Shelburne County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
History
Shelburne County was founded in 1784 shortly following the influx of Loyalist settlers evacuated from the newly independent United States. It was originally named Port ...
.
[Government of Nova Scotia website: Community Counts](_blank)
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It is named after William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington
William Wildman Shute Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, PC (15 January 1717 – 1 February 1793), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 38 years from 1740 to 1778. He was best known for his two periods as Secretary a ...
.
History
The Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
called the area, "Ministiguish" or "Ministegkek", meaning "he has gone for it." The Acadians
The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...
called the area, "La Passage". Eighty families from Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
and Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...
, Massachusetts settled in the area in 1760.
While Barrington has grown substantially over the past decade, it has experienced tough economic times because of a shortage of lobster (the primary industry).
A causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...
to Cape Sable Island
Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canada, Canadian island at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. It is sometimes confused with Sable Island. Historically, the Argyle, Nova Scotia region was known ...
, just south of the community, was opened in 1949 to replace the ferry service, which had had to run through heavy currents. A bridge had been considered but was rejected. Since then, sand has been collecting on the east side of the causeway, making a beach on Cape Sable Island that has nearly connected to the mainland. It is called North East Point Beach.
It is also the home of Lucy the Lobster, a groundhog
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...
alternative for Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...
.
Sports
Barrington Passage has an indoor hockey arena- The Sandy Wickens Memorial Arena, as well a curling club just down the road at the Barrington Passage Recreational Complex.
See also
* List of communities in Nova Scotia
This is a list of communities in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. For the purposes of this list, a community is defined as an unincorporated area, unincorporated settlement inside or outside a municipality ...
References
External links
Barrington Passage on Destination Nova Scotia
{{Subdivisions of Nova Scotia
Communities in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia
Populated coastal places in Canada
1760 establishments in the British Empire