The Municipality of the County of Victoria is a county municipality on
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
,
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It provides local government to about 7,000 residents of the eponymous historical county except for the
Wagmatcook 1
Wagmatcook 1 is a Mi'kmaq reserve located in Victoria County, Nova Scotia
It is administratively part of the Wagmatcook First Nation
Wagmatcook First Nation is a band of Mi'kmaq people in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
As of 2016, the regis ...
reserve. The municipal offices are in the village of
Baddeck
Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake.
Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
.
History
Prior to European settlement, the area was sparsely inhabited by the
Miꞌkmaq
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 nort ...
, who hunted in the area.
French
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
s settled at
St. Anns in 1629.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
settlement began in the 1700s after the territory was had been by France.
In 1839, a property containing an inn, a tavern, and a post office was built in Baddeck. In 1841,
Charles James Campbell
Charles James Campbell (November 6, 1819 – April 17, 1906) was a Scottish-born merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Victoria in the House of Commons of Canada from 1874 to 1875, from 1876 to 1878 and from 18 ...
opened a store, began shipbuilding, and developed coal mining.
In 1851, Victoria County was split from Cape Breton County, and Baddeck became the site for the new county's jail and court house, and later the site of
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
's
Beinn Bhreagh
( ) is the name of the former estate of Alexander Graham Bell, in Victoria County, Nova Scotia. It refers to a peninsula jutting into Cape Breton Island's scenic Bras d'Or Lake approximately southeast of the village of Baddeck, forming th ...
, a summer residence and research centre,
and the
Bell Boatyard The Bell Boatyard was a boatbuilding facility which operated as part of Alexander Graham Bell's laboratories in Baddeck, Nova Scotia from 1885 to 1928. The boatyard built experimental craft, lifeboats and yachts during the first part of the twentiet ...
. Bell is commemorated at the
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a property in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes. The site is a unit of Parks Canada, the national park system, and includes the Alexander Graham Bell Nat ...
.
The county is named for
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.
Demographics
As a
Census divisions of Canada
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...
in 2016, Victoria County had a population of 7,089 in 4,437 dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 7,115.
Economy
Fishing and tourism are the main industries.
See also
*
Communities in Victoria County, Nova Scotia
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, to ...
*
Cabot Trail
The Cabot Trail is a scenic highway on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a loop around the northern tip of the island, passing along and through the Cape Breton Highlands and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
It is named ...
: a scenic drive that circles
Cape Breton Highlands National Park in the north of the municipality.
References
External links
Municipality of Victoria County website
{{Authority control
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...