Malagash is a dispersed community on the Malagash Peninsula in

Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. History The name Cumberland was applied by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Monckton to the captured Fort Beauséjour on June 18, 1755 in honour of the third son of King George I ...

, Canada. Upper Malagash is on

Nova Scotia Trunk 6 Trunk 6 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of trunk highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 3 at Amherst to the rotary at Pictou, a distance of . It is part of the Sunrise Trail, a designated tourist ...

, and just inland is Malagash Station on the former

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely o ...

, now part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross- Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail exten ...

. Malagash was first settled by the

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 nort ...

, and translates to the "land of games". Malagash is the location of Canada's first rock salt mine, which operated from 1918 through 1959 under the Malagash Salt Company. Despite there being a large amount of unmined salt left under Malagash, the mine was closed due to the shallow Malagash Harbour. A better harbour and rail spur existed at Pugwash, where a new shaft was sunk in 1956. After the mine closed in 1959, the main industries in Malagash reverted to agriculture and fishing. A modern government wharf serves a small lobster and

groundfish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

fleet. The Jost Winery produces wine from grapes grown in the temperate

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

of Malagash, one of the few places in northern Nova Scotia where grapes can grow. The Malagash School closed in 1982, one of the last one-room schools in Nova Scotia. Malagash Bible Camp is a nondenominational Christian camp that is located in Malagash. Malagash Area Heritage Museum has displays about local history and the fishing, farming and salt industries.

References

External links

Salt of the earth
A 1944

British Pathe 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, ...

newsreel Communities in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Mining communities in Nova Scotia General Service Areas in Nova Scotia {{CumberlandNS-geo-stub