Middleton is a town in Annapolis County,

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 ...

, Canada. Situated on the north bank of the

Annapolis River The Annapolis River () is a Canadian river located in Nova Scotia'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...

, it is located close to the centre of the

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a Trough (geology), trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the B ...

, from which it gets its nickname, "The Heart of the Valley".

History

Where the Annapolis River and the Nictaux River meet was a popular

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

fishing spot for

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 ...

families before the arrival of the European settlers. It would be later settled by French

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 ...

that used these waterways to reach the capital of Port-Royal and farming. In the late 1750s the region was settled by

New England Planters The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ...

, and

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

to replace the ousted French Acadians. The first four families to be granted land there would later comprise the town of Middleton. They included families with names like Gates and Marshall and Richardson. Col. Philip Richardson received six lots of two hundred and fifty acres each, which ran from the Annapolis River halfway to the Mountain to the north, while his neighbour to the west, Anthony Marshall, got two 424-acre lots which ran all the way to the top of the mountain. A Neily family, from Ireland via Ardoise in Hants County, got the next two lots in what would be Lower Middleton, while Benjamin Chesley got the last two lots, next to the town limits. At a public meeting held December 18, 1854, Rev. James Robertson having been appointed chairman and W. A. Fowler, secretary, passed the resolution unanimously. 'Resolved, first, that the locality hitherto known as Wilmot Corner, or Fowler's Corner, be henceforth called by the name of Middleton'. This name was chosen by its citizens and selected because of its location midway between Halifax and Yarmouth. The town was incorporated in 1909.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Middleton 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

The re-opening of the Torbrook Iron Mines and the second railway line in 1889 sparked a decade of rapid growth and development. With many industries supporting and connected to the agriculture and manufacturing industry. Today the town's economy is also heavily influenced by its proximity to the air force base CFB Greenwood in nearby Kings County.

Board of Trade

The early records of the Board of Trade were lost in the Great Fire of 1911 but from the reports of its initial activities, the board was formed out of a need to vigorously pursue the issues of the day which affected business and industry - railway schedules and rates, street lighting and a variety of matters involving the municipal government of the day. Two merchants, Harry Reed and Gorden Gross, formed the Board, with newspaper publisher Fred Cox as their secretary-treasurer.

Transportation

Middleton is at the half-way point between Halifax and Yarmouth on Highway 101 and Trunk 1. Middleton is the northern terminus of Trunk 10 which connects the town with Bridgewater and Lunenburg on the South Shore. The town was located on the Dominion Atlantic Railway's (DAR) mainline from Halifax to Yarmouth and was also served by

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

's line from Bridgewater to

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

(and on to Victoria Beach). CN Rail abandoned its line through Middleton in 1982; it had formerly been the Nova Scotia Central Railway (NSCR). The DAR abandoned its mainline through the town in March 1990, following the January 15, 1990, abandonment of the '' Evangeline'' passenger train service by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

. The abandoned DAR and CN railway lines are currently owned by the

Government of Nova Scotia The Government of Nova Scotia (, ) is the government of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The powers and structure of the province are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term ...

and used as recreational trails. The 1917 railway station is now a railway museum operated by the Middleton Railway Museum Society.

Parks

*Centennial Park *Cottage Cove Provincial Park *Riverside Park *Rotary Park

Institutions

Middleton is home to two public schools: Annapolis East Elementary School serves grades Primary-5, and Middleton Regional High School serves grades 6-12. The town is also home to a Nova Scotia Community College campus. Soldiers Memorial Hospital is located in the town and provides tertiary care services for the eastern part of Annapolis County. The provincial government funded construction of the 50-bed Heart of the Valley Long Term Care Centre in the town which opened in late 2009. Middleton is home to the Annapolis Valley MacDonald Museum, which is housed in the original Macdonald Consolidated School. This school, founded in 1903, was the first consolidated school in Canada, established with a grant from the Macdonald Tobacco Company of Montreal. The museum has many travelling exhibits, and is the home of the Nova Scotia Museum Clock collection.

Festivals and events

Middleton hosts an annual three-day festival called "Heart of the Valley Days" every summer, during the month of July. Middleton Farmers' Market was founded in 2008. It is held every Friday during the summer and fall in the park across from the Town Office from 3 pm to 7 pm. The Market is a non-profit member-run organization of market vendors and individuals. Middleton has an official

town crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dre ...

who has performed his functions for the town since 1984. He has attended all Heart of The Valley parades and attended town crier competitions in Nova Scotia,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

on behalf of the town. In 1988 he organized and hosted the first Heart of the Valley International Town Criers Challenge. In 2009, as part of Middleton's centenary celebrations, the second Heart of the Valley International Town Criers Challenge was held.

Notable residents

* Hanson Dowell (1906–2000) - President of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

and member of the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...

* Frank R. Elliott (1877–1931) - Political figure * Obediah Parker Goucher (1865–1947) - Former mayor * Bob Hess (born 1955) - NHL defenseman St. Louis Blues * Cail MacLean (born 1976) - Professional athlete, hockey coach * John D. McKenzie (1889–1952) - Businessman and politician * Mona Louise Parsons (1901–1976) - Former Canadian actress, nurse, and member of a Dutch resistance network * Earle Rafuse (1930–1998) - Business owner, political figure * William Benjamin Ross (1855–1929) - Halifax lawyer, business owner, political figure * William Sampson (1959–2012) - Torture victim, biochemist, author * Holly Taylor (born 1997) - Actress * Michael Durland - Businessman and Chancellor of

Saint Mary's University (Halifax) Saint Mary's University (SMU) is a public university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The school is best known for having nationally leading programs in business and chemistry. The campus is situated in Halifax's South End and covers ap ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Towns in Nova Scotia