Port Morien (also referred to as "Morien") is a small
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
community of 700 people in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...
province of
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 ...
, located in the southeastern
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. ...
near the rural community
Donkin, and six miles from the town of
Glace Bay
Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton.
Formerly an incorporated t ...
.
Name
Port Morien was first recorded as "Baie de Mordienne" on a map in 1580. In the nineteenth century, it was renamed Cow Bay by settlers. A cow allegedly escaped from a vessel when being transported from
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
to Louisbourg and was found in the area. In 1895, its name was changed to Port Morien.
History
As with much of Cape Breton, Port Morien has a long history. It is one of the oldest communities in Eastern Canada.
Its bay was first navigated by the Aboriginal population of the area, and then by the Portuguese.
When coal was discovered in Port Morien in the early eighteenth century, people began to live there. The village was officially settled in 1786.
In 1869, a merchant vessel known as The Amazon ran aground in Port Morien (then known as Cow Bay). The ship was then sold, repaired and renamed ‘
Mary Celeste
''Mary Celeste'' (; often erroneously referred to as Marie Celeste) was an American-registered merchant brigantine, best known for being discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands on December 4, 1872. The Cana ...
’. On Dec 4, 1872, The Mary Celeste was found abandoned yet intact off the coast of Gibraltar, creating one of history’s greatest nautical mysteries.
By the 1870s, the village grew to a population of 3000 as a result of the establishment of the Blockhouse and Gowrie coal mines. There were up to forty businesses in the village. Gradually, its population and businesses dwindled in the twentieth century.
Coal mining
The presence of coal in Cape Breton was first noted by
Intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
Jean Talon in 1671.
It was the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
in 1713, and the subsequent founding of
Louisbourg
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...
, which really focused French attention on Cape Breton coal as a valuable and necessary resource. The Fortress of Louisbourg and its inhabitants were in need of a local coal supply, and the closest source was the outcrop at Port Morien
So, the first commercial coal mine in North America began production at Port Morien in 1720. By 1724, coal from Port Morien was being traded to Boston in the first officially recorded export of minerals in Canada. The ownership of the mine, called the Gowrie Mines, changed hands between the English and French four times, with the English ultimately gaining control in the late eighteenth century.
In 1725, a blockhouse was built by the French to protect the valuable coal reserves.
Fishing
Alongside the mining industry, the fishing industry also grew. Over time, the village has become dependent on lobster fishing as its main resource. In 2000, the lobster fleet consisted of 47 boats.
There has been a fish-processing plant operating at the harbour continuously by one family since 1941. There is also a boat-building business in town.
Organizations and clubs
There are many active organizations and clubs in the Port Morien community. They include: a
Royal Canadian Legion
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...
branch, a development association, a volunteer fire department,
Girl Guides of Canada
Girl Guides of Canada (GGC; french: Guides du Canada) is the national Guiding association of Canada. Guiding in Canada started on September 7, 1910, and GGC was among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (W ...
, a camera club, a community fair committee, a women's institute, an acting group, a wildlife association, a youth sports league, and a walking club. There are also three churches: St John’s United Church, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, and St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
Although there is currently no active group, Port Morien was the site of the first Boy Scout troop in North America, founded in 1908 by William Glover, the chief book keeper of the North Atlantic Colliery.
Attractions
* The
Marconi Wireless Station National Historic Site of Canada is located near Port Morien.
Recognition
* In 2008, Port Morien received the Lieutenant Governor's Community Spirit Award.
References
Further reading
*''Port Morien: Pages of the Past'' (University College of Cape Breton Press)
External links
Port Morien on Destination Nova Scotia*https://web.archive.org/web/20091212213423/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/places/morien/morien.htm
{{Coord, 46, 7, 55.73, N, 59, 52, 30.21, W, name= Port Morien, Nova Scotia, display=title, region:CA-NS_scale:100000
Communities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality
General Service Areas in Nova Scotia
Mining communities in Nova Scotia