Pictou Landing (

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

Eilean Phiogto) is a community 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

Pictou County Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Furthermo ...

Geography

It is situated on the south shore of

Pictou Harbour Pictou Harbour is a natural harbour in Nova Scotia on the Northumberland Strait. Geography The distance between the town of Pictou on the north shore, and the community of Pictou Landing to the south is about . The south side of the harbour ope ...

across from the town of

Pictou Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Gla ...

History

Its name is probably derived from the fact that it is the landing place for ferries crossing the harbour. An earlier name for the area was Fishers Grant after a grant of land made to John Fisher in 1765. The only populated reserve of the

Pictou Landing First Nation Pictou Landing First Nations is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in Nova Scotia, Canada. Their territory spans five reserves that have a combined area of . As of September 2017, the Mi'kmaq population is 485 on their own reserve, 23 on oth ...

is named

Fisher's Grant 24 Fisher's Grant 24 is a Mi'kmaq reserve located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. It is solely used by the Pictou Landing First Nation Pictou Landing First Nations is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in Nova Scotia, Canada. Their territor ...

and is located 3 km north-east of Pictou Landing. The

Nova Scotia Railway The Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond (immediately north of Halifax) with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou Landing via Truro. The railway was incorpo ...

reached here in 1867. It was the main route for travelers to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in the ice-free months until the opening of the

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 ...

in 1876. The steamship ''Mayflower'' carried passengers and freight across the harbour. A map published in 1879 shows four piers at Pictou Landing, three of them carrying track of the Intercolonial rail road and two of these piers belonging to coal companies.

References

* Communities in Pictou County General Service Areas in Nova Scotia {{PictouNS-geo-stub