Port Williams, Nova Scotia
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Port Williams is a Canadian village in
Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia * Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...
,
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 located on the north bank of the
Cornwallis River The Cornwallis River is in Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately through eastern Kings County, from its source on the North Mountain at Grafton to its mouth near Wolfville on the Minas Basin. The lower p ...
, named after
Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobite r ...
, first governor of Nova Scotia. As of 2021, the population was 1,110.


History

The village was once part of the Acadian settlement of
Rivière-aux-Canards Rivière-aux-Canards was an Acadian community located at the west side of the Minas Basin from 1670 until 1755. The community occupied the present-day site of Canard, Nova Scotia, Canard, Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Port Williams and Starr's Poin ...
who created dykes along the river beginning in the late 1600s. These dykes protect valuable farm land that is used by the local agriculture industry every year, and is considered very productive farm land.


18th Century

After the
Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...
in 1755, the area around Port Williams was settled by the
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 ...
in 1760 as part of Cornwallis Township. The Terry and Lockwood families took up land at the site of Port Williams and the location became known as Terry's Creek. A small wooden bridge was built at Port Williams in 1780, followed by more permanent bridge in the 1830s which attracted more settlement. During the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
the local fortification Fort Hughes (Nova Scotia) was decommissioned in 1780. In the spring of 1781, Samuel Bayard (promoted to major on February 9, 1781) was ordered to take a detachment of King's Orange Rangers overland from Halifax to Cornwallis (near present-day Port Williams) to overawe local Planters who were planning to erect a
Liberty Pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Rom ...
and thereby break with the King. There they fixed bayonets and "with bright weapons glittering, colours flying and drums beating, they marched up Church Street and back to Town Plot, where the barracks stood." This show of force brought the locals back in line. Months after the arrival of the King's Orange Rangers, American privateers were captured by the local militia in the
Battle of Blomindon The Battle of Blomidon took place on 21 May 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. The naval battle involved three armed U.S. privateer vessels against three Nova Scotian vessels off Cape Split, Nova Scotia. American Privateers caught two N ...
. Bayard took an interest in 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 ...
, and after the war he took up a grant of at
Wilmot Mountain Wilmot Mountain is a ski area in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Kenosha County, Wisconsin. It is located in the community of Wilmot, Wisconsin, Wilmot and lies in both the Town of Randall, Wisconsin, Randall and the village of Salem Lakes, Wiscon ...
. The reputation of the Regiment grew in these later years. A few months before disbandment, Brigadier-General
Henry Edward Fox General Henry Edward Fox (4 March 1755 – 18 July 1811) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Minorca and governor of Gibraltar. Family He was a son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Carol ...
expressed:
... the great satisfaction he has received in seeing the two provincial battalions of Royal N.S. Volunteers and the King's Orange Rangers, and highly approves of their discipline and military appearance ...
The King's Orange Rangers were disbanded in the autumn of 1783.


19th Century

Port Williams became an important regional shipping point for lumber and agriculture. In the days of sailing vessels, the river was used extensively to bring ships into the port to transport apples, lumber and potatoes, to be shipped to the world market, especially Great Britain. The village was renamed in honour of
Sir William Fenwick Williams General Sir William Fenwick Williams, 1st Baronet of Kars (4 December 180026 July 1883) was a Nova Scotian military leader for the British during the Victorian era. Williams is remembered for his defence of the town of Kars during the Crimea ...
, who fought in the
Siege of Kars The siege of Kars was the last major operation of the Crimean War. In June 1855, attempting to alleviate pressure on the defence of Sevastopol, Emperor Alexander II ordered General Nikolay Muravyov to lead his troops against areas of Ottoma ...
(which is the namesake of Kars Street, Port Williams). Sir Williams became the first post Canadian Confederation Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. The railway arrived in 1869 with the construction of the
Windsor and Annapolis Railway The Windsor and Annapolis Railway (W&AR) was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. The railway ran from Windsor, Nova Scotia, Windsor to Annapolis Royal and leased connections to Nova Scotia's capital of Ci ...
, later to become the
Dominion Atlantic Railway The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley. The Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR) was unusually divers ...
. A station was built for Port Williams across the river in
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
. In 1884, Hantsport apple exporter W. H. Chase built the first apple warehouse in Nova Scotia beside the station, quickly followed by many others in the 1890s paving the way for a rapid growth in the apple industry in Nova Scotia.


20th Century

Port Williams became a focus of the apple industry with a larger barrel making factory and a processing plant for apple exporter W.H. Chase. The wharves were rebuilt so serve large steamships in 1930 and continued in use until the 1970s. Although the apple industry declined after World War Two, several apple processing plants remained in Port Williams. Pulpwood was actively shipped from the port in 1950-1971, from the field behind the Port Williams Elementary School. The hull of the ships were fully exposed when sitting on the flat cribwork of the dock. Poultry, bulk feed and fuel feed plants were built around the railway until it ceased service to Port Williams in 2006. In 1972 the government gave $100,000 to renovate the wharf. Three years later the widest ship to dock at Port Williams brought a load of soybean meal to the port from Chicago.


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 ...
, Port Williams had a population of 1,110 living in 473 of its 492 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,186. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.


Education

The village is home to Port Williams Elementary School, located on Belcher Street. The current school was built in 1966 to replace the previous one that burned down, and includes a gymnasium, modern music room and many class rooms.


Gallery

File:WilliamFenswickWilliamsNSHouseOfAssembleyByWilliam Gush.jpg, Sir William Williams,
Province House (Nova Scotia) Province House () in Halifax is where the Nova Scotia legislative assembly, known officially as the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, has met every year since 1819, making it the longest serving legislative building in Canada. The building is Can ...
File:Cornwallis River near low tide.JPG,
Cornwallis River The Cornwallis River is in Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately through eastern Kings County, from its source on the North Mountain at Grafton to its mouth near Wolfville on the Minas Basin. The lower p ...
near low tide File:Cornwallis River near high tide.JPG, Cornwallis river near high tide File:PortWilliams NS PO 2017.jpg, Post Office, Port Williams


Notable residents

* Benjamin Belcher *
Samuel Bayard Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard (born 1757, New York – d. 28 May 1832 Wilmot, Nova Scotia) was a Loyalist (American Revolution), Loyalist military officer in the American Revolution who served in the King's Orange Rangers (KOR). He is t ...
of the King's Orange Rangers *
Jacob Shaffelburg Jacob Everett Shaffelburg (born November 26, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Major League Soccer club Nashville SC and the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada national ...
- professional footballer for
Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...
*
Drake Batherson Drake Batherson (born April 27, 1998) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey right winger for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round, 121st overall, of the ...
- professional hockey player for the
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...


References


External links


Village of Port Williams
{{Authority control Communities in Kings County, Nova Scotia Villages in Nova Scotia Designated places in Nova Scotia Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia