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28-689: The Basalt Headlands are a chain of intermittent high-cliffed bluffs and islands that fringe the northern edge of the Minas Basin , Nova Scotia , Canada . Its name comes from the basaltic outcrops that formed about 200 million years ago when this region was volcanically active by continental rifting . This Nova Scotia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 45°23′38.64″N 63°48′43.28″W  /  45.3940667°N 63.8120222°W  / 45.3940667; -63.8120222 Minas Basin The Minas Basin forms

56-655: A form of polderisation . Burntcoat Head , located on the "Noel Shore" along the south side of the Minas Basin, is the location of the highest tidal range ever recorded, exceeding 16-metre (52 ft) (during a spring tide only) and has one of the highest average tidal ranges every day. The waters of Minas Bay exchange with the main part of the Bay of Fundy through the Minas Channel which flows between Cape Split and Cape Sharp, creating extremely strong tidal currents. Near Cape d'Or,

84-566: A means of transporting commodities such as lumber, apples and gypsum and powered Tide mills at locations such as Canning , Hantsport and Walton . Mining included gypsum (several locations including Windsor and Cheverie), iron (Londonderry), barite (near Walton and the Eureka Mine at Five Islands), manganese (several locations including Cheverie and Tennycape), and copper (the Colonial Copper Company at Cape d'Or ). Gypsum

112-464: Is an unincorporated rural community in western Colchester County , north-central Nova Scotia , in the Maritimes of Canada . It is shares the name of the river located there, that flows into Cobequid Bay . Bass River is located along an approximate 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) stretch of Cobequid Bay north shoreline , from the bordering communities of Upper Economy to the west, Porta(u)pique to

140-475: The Avon River . Rarely, fossils have been found at Evangeline Beach, Burntcoat Head, and other locations. These fossils include various shells ( brachiopods , molluscs ), sponges , trees , fish , amphibians , reptiles , and dinosaurs . Trace fossils include vertebrate footprints, fish fin-tracks , invertebrate trackways (ex. scorpions at Blue Beach), raindrop imprints, and wave ripples. They range from

168-612: The Canadian Forces being common destinations. The community is named after the small river, Bass River, which runs south from its source in the Cobequid Hills at Upper Bass River, through the village center, and out to Cobequid Bay . At its height, economic activity in the village of Bass River was centred on wooden furniture production, wooden ship-building , and timber export. The furniture manufacturer Dominion Chair Company employed 40 to 70 workers at any one time from

196-710: The Canard River , Diligent River, Farrell River , and the Debert River. Along the northern edge of the Minas Basin lies a chain of intermittent high-cliffed basaltic bluffs and islands called the Basalt Headlands . On the northern shore of the Minas Basin, around the Gaspereau River , and around the Salmon River , extensive areas of farmland have been created using dykes with sluices (one-way flow control valves),

224-643: The "Baie des Mines"', later Anglicized to Minas Basin. French Acadian settlements began in the late 1600s first with settlements around the southern shore of the Minas Basin which became known as Les Mines . The Acadians had a particularly significant impact on the area in that they reclaimed considerable farmland through the use of dykes and aboiteaux . They founded in the area Grand-Pré , Les Mines , Pisiguit , Cobequid , Rivière-aux-Canards , and Beaubassin . Even today their dyke systems—greatly expanded by later additions—are still used near Truro and Wolfville at Port Williams and Grand Pré . In 1755,

252-571: The British forcibly expelled the over 12,000 Acadians from Grand Pré , Pisiguit , Cobequid , and Beaubassin , in what became known as the Grand Dérangement, or Great Expulsion . During the Acadian era, virtually all inhabitants lived in distributed clusters or villages , with no single place dominating. The area was administered from Port Royal, later Annapolis Royal . The following table shows

280-658: The Minas Basin were sustained by fishing , logging , farming , mining , boat building and shipbuilding . In the late 19th Century the Basin's shipyards produced some of the highest numbers of wooden ships in Canadian history and some of the largest, including the ship William D. Lawrence , the largest wooden ship built in Canada along with the giant barques Kings County , Canada's largest four masted-barque and Hamburg , Canada's largest three-masted barque. The tidal water also provided

308-1036: The Minas Basin. Community parks interpreting the Basin include the Kingsport waterfront in Kings County ; the Walton Lighthouse and Burntcoat Head Lighthouse in Hants County and the Lookout Tower in Economy and the Ottawa House Museum in Parrsboro in Cumberland County . The Mi'kmaq were the first people to inhabit the area around the Minas Basin. Mi'kmaq tradition ties the god Glooscap in with significant geographical features such as Cape Blomidon and Five Islands . European explorers and traders arrived in

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336-552: The areas Edgewood and Saint's Rest), and south to include Birch Hill and King's Rest. Bass River has a population of approximately 300 permanent residents . The number of residents increases in summertime by 20 to 40 percent with the influx of those with cottages in the area. The region suffers from out-migration . More than half of those who grow up in Bass River leave the area to live, with Halifax , Ontario , Alberta and its petroleum products industry, British Columbia , and

364-690: The basalts include calcite , magnetite , copper , and quartz (often as amethyst ). Beautiful agate is also found. In the sedimentary rocks, gypsum is commonly found at Blomidon, Clarke Head, and near Windsor in both the colorless variety (selenite) and the fibrous variety (satin spar), the latter sometimes being bright orange. Other minerals from the sedimentary rocks include pyrite , calcite , barite , manganite , and pyrolusite . Small amounts of fluorite , celestite , howlite have also been found at Cheverie. Bass River, Nova Scotia 45°24′N 63°46′W  /  45.400°N 63.767°W  / 45.400; -63.767 Bass River

392-617: The beginning of the Carboniferous to the Jurassic . They were deposited when the region was warm and tropical , later when it was covered by a shallow sea, and later still when it was a desert . Minerals include a variety zeolites from the basalt cliffs at Cape Split, the area around Parrsboro, Five Islands and Cap D'Or. These include Nova Scotia's provincial mineral stilbite , as well as heulandite , analcime , chabazite , gmelinite , natrolite and thomsonite . Other minerals found in

420-482: The combined flow of all the rivers and streams on Earth together (about 4-cubic-kilometre (0.96 cu mi) per hour). Several communities border the Minas Basin or the rivers that flow into it. The largest is the town of Truro which lies at the head of Cobequid Bay. Smaller centres include Parrsboro , Wolfville , Windsor and Maitland . Other communities include Great Village , Bass River , Five Islands , Economy , Walton , and Kingsport . Historically,

448-651: The community as is evident from a list of surnames prevalent in the area today. Ulster-Scottish Campbells , Creelmans , Davisons / Davidsons , Fishers , Fultons , McLellans , Starratts / Starritts , Vances , and Wilsons settled the area, as did Lewis 's from Scotland . Other common surnames of the area include Burns , Cameron , Carde , Carr , Cooke , Corbett , Dickie , Faulkner , Fletcher , Gamble , Gilbert , Grue , Jordan , Lawson , McIntosh , Rushton , Rutherford , Smith , Taggart , Taylor , Thompson , and Welch . Most of these names have Ulster-Scottish or Scottish origins, as much of Colchester County

476-521: The community. Most commuters go to Truro and its surrounding area. Bass River was founded by members of the Ulster emigrant "Judge" James Fulton 's family, who himself in c.1767 was the first to settle the area (at King's Rest) a decade after the tragic expulsion of Acadians from the region. Those who settled Bass River and its neighbouring communities were largely of direct Ulster-Scottish descent. Many of these settlers' descendants have remained in

504-532: The early 1600s. Among them were the French explorer Samuel de Champlain who explored the copper deposits at Cape d'Or at the entrance to the Basin in 1607. Champlain bestowed the name Port of Mines onto the nearby Advocate Harbour to reflect the seams of copper ore at Cape d'Or. While the French did not establish a mine, the name "Les Mines" became associated with the upper Bay of Fundy beyond Cape d'Or which became known as

532-529: The east, and Castlereagh in the Cobequid Hills to the north. The community is centred at approximately 45°24' North , 63°46' West . Most of its residents live along or just off of the Trunk 2 , the Glooscap Trail . Bass River's jurisdiction is thought locally to extend north from the bay approximately 5 km to include Upper Bass River and Hoeg(')s Corner, east to incorporate Little Bass River (which includes

560-471: The eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits at Cape Chignecto and is delineated by the massive basalt headlands of Cape Split and Cape d'Or . The Minas Basin is divided into four sections: (1) the Minas Channel, from the shortest line between Cape Chignecto and the Annapolis Valley Shore to Minas Passage, between Parrsboro and Cape Blomidon ; (2) Central Minas Basin, from Minas Passage to

588-461: The late 19th century to February 1989, when fire destroyed most of the company's operating facilities. Shipbuilding took place in two locales, at Saint's Rest, site of the (no longer in use) village lighthouse , with the building of the brig 'Jos. Howe' in 1867, and between 1884 and 1918 in Little Bass River with the construction of a further seven wooden ships (Hemeon, 1987). Bass River timber

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616-680: The mouth of Cobequid Bay, the shortest line point between Economy and the Noel Shore; (3) Cobequid Bay which extends to the mouth of the Salmon River ; and (4) the Southern Bight, from the mouth of the Avon River to the shortest line between Cape Blomidon and the Noel Shore. Several large rivers drain into the Minas Basin: the Shubenacadie River , Cornwallis River , Avon River , Gaspereau River , and Salmon River . Lesser rivers include

644-477: The north and southern sides of the basin were connected by a succession of ferries, which operated for more than 200 years, from Acadian times to 1941. The last ferry connected Parrsboro, Wolfville, and Kingsport and was called the MV Kipawo ferry, whose name was derived from the three communities. Provincial parks at Anthony (near Truro), Five Islands , and Cape Blomidon allow visitors to enjoy and explore

672-573: The population of the region during the Acadian era: The vacant Acadian settlements around the Minas Basin were succeeded by the New England Planters who arrived in 1760 and were later joined by Loyalists settlers in the 1780s. The Planters maintained operation of the ferry, rebuilt and expanded the Acadian dyke systems, and reclaimed more farmland from the Basin through projects like the Wellington Dyke in 1816. The communities around

700-453: The turbulent collision of currents is known as the Dory Rips . The water in Minas Basin is a dense and nearly opaque reddish brown due to large amounts of suspended silt which are continually churned by tidal currents. At mid-tide, the currents exceed 8 knots (4-metre (13 ft) per second), and the flow in the deep, 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) -wide channel on the north side of Cape Split equals

728-752: Was famously also used to build staging used in construction of the Empire State Building . Other former industry included grist mill operations, shad fishing , and silica mining . In the early 20th century, there was a bank and a hotel located in the village. The population then was two or three times what it is now. Present-day economic activity includes a few commercial farms ( cultivated strawberries , dairy , and sheep ), pulp wood , fire wood , and timber harvesting, lowbush blueberry and Christmas tree production, and clam mollusc harvesting (i.e. " clam digging "). Most present-day residents however commute to assorted work done outside

756-809: Was settled by Ulster Scots. Settlement took place in what was then merely an unnamed parcel of the Township of Londonderry , an area centred on the present-day community of Londonderry . Prior to British settlement, it is believed that Acadian families lived in what are now the neighbouring communities of Economy and Portapique (or Portaupique), places whose names were most likely derived from Acadian French language. Mi'kmaq Indigenous Peoples / First Nations peoples are thought to have hunted and gathered in Colchester County for several hundred years prior to British control and settlement. West Colchester Consolidated district public school for grades primary to 9

784-593: Was shipped from Hantsport until 2009. There have been attempts to generate energy from the rough waters of Minas Basin. However, the attempts were not successful. Marine mammals include seals and porpoises . Fish include bass , shad, and flounder ; lobster , crab , mussel , and clam are common. Many types of seaweed , sponges , worms , seajellys and more are also found. Birds include sandpipers , terns (visitors only), eagles , falcons , seagulls , herons , and kingfishers . Fossils are found near Parrsboro , Blue Beach and other areas along

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