Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Summerside, and northwest of the city of

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. It has a population of 719. The name "Tignish" is derived from the Mi'kmaq "Mtagunich", meaning "paddle". The name is also believed to come from a Gaelic phrase meaning “Home Place”. Tignish was founded in the late 1790s by nine

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

families, with further immigrants (mostly

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

) arriving in the 19th century and settling mostly in the nearby smaller locality of Anglo–Tignish (meaning "English Tignish"). Many of Tignish residents today are either of Acadian or Irish heritage. One of the town's most popular and defining structures is the local

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, St. Simon & St. Jude Catholic Church, which was among the first major structures built in Tignish, constructed between 1857 and 1860. Tignish was designated a community or village in 1952. It changed its status to a town in 2017.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), 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 cultur ...

, Tignish 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.

History

Tignish was settled in 1799 by eight

families. Two Irish families joined them in 1811. Tignish was once the western terminus of the

Prince Edward Island Railway The Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR) was a historic Canadian railway in Prince Edward Island (PEI). The railway ran tip-to-tip on the island, from Tignish in the west to Elmira in the east, with major spurs serving Borden-Carleton's train fer ...

. Rail service to the town was abandoned in 1989.

Community

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 ...

is one of the most important aspects of daily life and employment in Tignish, with many local families depending on this industry for income. There are three functioning

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

s located in the Tignish area: the Tignish harbour, the

Skinner's Pond Skinners Pond is a rural unincorporated community in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is located northwest of the town of Tignish in the township of Lot 1, near the northwestern tip of the province. The primary industries for th ...

harbour, and the Seacow Pond harbour. Among the businesses in Tignish include the Tignish Heritage Inn, which was a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

from 1867 through 1991, Eugene's General Store, Judy's Take-out (until 2013), Shirley's restaurant, Tignish Co-op grocery store, hardware store, and gas station, Tignish Cultural Center, Cousin's Diner (until 2016), Pizza Shack (until 2012), and Perry's Construction. Citizens of Tignish celebrated the

bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

of Tignish in 1999. Among local festivities were

music, local parties, carnivals, and the creation of a local music CD rich with the voices of Tignish residents. In addition, each summer there is a bluegrass festival that is held in Tignish.

Education

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

–12 students in the Tignish area mostly attend Tignish Elementary School from grades K–6, followed by Merritt E. Callaghan Intermediate and Westisle Composite High schools for grades 7–12.

Government

Tignish is within district #27 of PEI's electoral boundaries, which is labeled the Tignish–Palmer Road division. There is a polling station at the Tignish fire hall, and others located elsewhere in Tignish as well as in St. Felix and Palmer Road. The name of the district used to be "Tignish–DeBlois", but was changed to "Tignish–Palmer Road" before the 2007 provincial election with slight boundary changes. As of the 2011 provincial election, Hal Perry is the MLA for the region. Perry left the PCs and joined the Liberals on 3 October 2013. As a Liberal, Perry won re-election in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Surrounding communities

Nearby smaller localities, considered to be "part of" Tignish due to their proximity, include: * Ascension (2 mi NW of Tignish) * St. Felix (2 mi S) *

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

(2 mi SW) * Leoville (3.5 mi SW) *

Peterville Peterville (also known as Peter Road) is a small community located on Route 159 from 2.01 – 3.78 miles SW of Tignish, in the Lot 1 township. Peterville is within the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, in Eastern Canada. The communi ...

(2.5 mi SW) *

Nail Pond Nail Pond (2006 population: ~250) is a Canadian rural community in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is located north of Tignish, near the communities of Skinner's Pond, Ascension, and Peterville. History It was founded by a cattle fa ...

(3 mi N) * Greenmount (3.5 mi S) *

(5 mi NW) * St. Peter and St. Paul (3 mi S) *Kildare North (4 mi SE) *Tignish Shore (2 mi E) *Anglo Tignish (2 mi NE) *Seacow Pond (5 mi NE) *Norway (6 mi NE) *Christopher’s Cross (1 mile NE)

Mars crater namesake

The name "Tignish" has been adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

for a crater on the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. The crater is located at −30.71 degrees south by 86.9 degrees east on the Martian surface. It was officially adopted by the IAU/WGPSN in 1991, and has a diameter of .A Little Bit of Canada on the Red Planet

Climate

Tignish experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman * Erwin Koppen (1929–1990), German literary scholar * Luise Koppen (1855–1922), German author * Wladimir Köppen (1846� ...

: Dfb) with four seasons, with winter being the longest. Summers are very mild to warm due to the Gulf of St Lawrence moderating temperatures during the warmer months. Wintertime is very cold with daily highs often below freezing.

References

External links

* {{Subdivisions of Prince Edward Island Communities in Prince County, Prince Edward Island Populated places established in 1799 Towns in Prince Edward Island Populated coastal places in Canada