Digby is a Canadian town in southwestern

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 ...

. It is in the historical county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the

Digby Gut The Digby Gut is a narrow channel connecting the Bay of Fundy with the Annapolis Basin. The town of Digby, Nova Scotia is located on the inner portion of the western side of the Gut. The eastern entrance is marked by the Point Prim Lighthouse. St ...

, which connects the basin to the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

. Named after Admiral Robert Digby, the town has a

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

fishing fleet. The MV ''Fundy Rose'' ferry service connects the town to

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

History

Digby is called Oositookun, meaning ear of land, by the

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 ...

. A small group of

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 ...

settled in the area of the town in the 1760s naming it Conway. However Digby was formally settled and surveyed as a town in June 1783 by the

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec and Governor General, governor ...

under the leadership of Sir Robert Digby. The town developed a sizable shipping fleet in the 19th century. One famous Digby vessel was the brigantine ''

Dei Gratia By the Grace of God (, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. In England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was formally added to the royal sty ...

'', which discovered the famous mystery ship ''

Mary Celeste ''Mary Celeste'' (; often erroneously referred to as ''Marie Celeste'') was a Canadian-built, American-registered merchant brigantine that was discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores on December 4, 1872. The Canadi ...

'' in 1872. The town became an important regional transportation centre in the 1890s with the arrival of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. Trains connected with a series of steamships such as the ''City of Monticello'' and later the SS ''Princess Helene''. Digby's history is preserved and interpreted by the Admiral Digby Museum, located facing the harbour in the historic Woodrow/Dakin home, one of oldest houses in the town.

Tourism

Tourism has played an important role in Digby during the 20th century beginning with the establishment of railway and steamship links that opened the town and surrounding communities as an-easy-to-reach destination for larger urban centres in eastern North America. A landmark in this industry was the construction of the Digby Pines Resort on the town's outskirts. Built in 1905 and then purchased in 1917 by the Dominion Atlantic Railway, the resort provided a focal point to the local tourism industry with a large expansion in 1927. The Pines attracted notable visitors including early film star

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

who spent her honeymoon there in 1921. Expanded several times since, it was bought by the Government of

after the Dominion Atlantic sold its hotels. About 20 additional motels, inns and bed and breakfast operations are based in Digby making tourism an important employer. The annual Scallop Days Festival, held the first week of August, brings the fishing and tourism industries together to showcase the town's history and heritage to the tourists. The festival offers a variety of themed activities for all ages, including scallop shucking contests, a parade, and an exhibition of local artists.

Wharf Rat Rally

Since 2004, Digby has become the destination of the largest motorcycle rally in Atlantic Canada, the annual Wharf Rat Rally. It attracts many times the town's population; the town of 2,000 residents grows to 50,000 people, including 25,000 motorcycles. So many that schools and some roads have to close for the day due to crowds and motorcycle traffic. The Wharf Rat Rally event is held the weekend of

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

in August/September each year.

Fishing

Fishing has been an essential economic activity since the town's settlement. Digby's schooner fishery reached its peak in the early 1900s, documented by Frederick William Wallace. Later, trawlers, especially those harvesting

scallops Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

became the mainstay.

Government

The town council consists of a mayor and four councillors. The offices of

Digby County Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. History It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS ''Atalanta'' to convey Loyalists from New York City in ...

are located immediately adjacent to the town. Digby is represented provincially by the riding of Digby-Annapolis and federally by the riding of

West Nova West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. Numerous provincial and federal services for the county and western Nova Scotia such Access Nova Scotia and the Department of Community and Social Services are located in Digby.

Amenities

There is a

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) station located on Victoria Street. The Digby General Hospital, located on Warwick Street, provides medical care to the residents of Digby. This includes Emergency Care, Primary Care, Inpatient Care, Restorative Care, Ambulatory Care, Day Surgery, Renal Dialysis. Although they provide emergency care, the Emergency Room does close occasionally due to a lack of physician or nursing coverage. During closures, patients are advised to go to the nearest hospital (Yarmouth or Kentville). As of March 2024, the base cost for a visit to the Emergency Room at the hospital for a non-Canadian visitor is $897.50 Canadian; that fee excludes any doctor's fees, tests, or medicines. Similar charges apply in other hospitals and clinics.

Geography

Digby is located approximately from Yarmouth, and about from

Downtown Halifax Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business di ...

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

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 ...

, Digby 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. File:Digby Nova Scotia.jpg, Main Street of Digby. File:Digby Harbour Annapolis Basin.jpg, Harbour of Digby. File:Nova Scotia DGJ 5583 (3830611365).jpg, Balancing Rock near Digby. File:Tidal Boatworks, Digby, N.S..JPG, Tidal Boatworks, Digby 2008. File:Digby bay scene.JPG, Mist on Digby bay.

Notable residents

* Pop Smith, major league baseball player * Maud Lewis, One of Canada's best known folk artists

Public library

*Isaiah W. Wilson Memorial Library;

Digby Digby may refer to: Places Australia * Digby, Victoria, a town Canada * Digby (electoral district), a former federal electoral district in Nova Scotia (1867–1914) * Digby (provincial electoral district), a provincial electoral district ...

Parks

*Annapolis Basin Provincial Park *Central Grove Provincial Park *Digby Campground and Fun Park *Digby Parks & Recreation *Lake Midway Provincial Park

External links

* *

References

{{Coord, display=title, name=Digby, 44, 37, 20, N, 65, 45, 38, W, type:city_region:CA-NS Communities in Digby County, Nova Scotia Towns in Nova Scotia Populated coastal places in Canada Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia