Eatonville, Nova Scotia
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Eatonville, Nova Scotia (formerly Three Sisters) |
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| Ghost town | |
Eatonville Harbour, showing the site of the mill and shipyard
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 Eatonville, Nova Scotia
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| Coordinates: 45°25′12.5″N 64°54′55.2″W / 45.420139°N 64.915333°WCoordinates: 45°25′12.5″N 64°54′55.2″W / 45.420139°N 64.915333°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
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| Province |
 Nova Scotia
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| Founded | 1826 |
| Abandoned | circa 1940 |
| Population | |
| • mid-1880s | 350 (Peak) |
| Website | www |
Eatonville is a former lumber and shipbuilding village in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. It includes a large tidal harbour at the mouth of the Eatonville Brook beside several dramatic sea stacks known as the "Three Sisters". It was founded in 1826 and abandoned in the 1940s. The site of the village is now part of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park.
The complex geology of Eatonville Harbour and powerful erosion forces of the Bay of Fundy tides created a series of dramatic sea stacks, stone arches and caves. Three of the sea stacks are closely grouped and known as the "Three Sisters". According to a Mi'kmaw legend, they were created by the mythical figure Glooscap when he turned a pack of dogs pursuing a moose into the stone towers. The fleeing moose became the Isle Haute and can be seen in the distance from the frozen stone forms of the Three Sisters. Settlers established a small sawmill on crown land at the tidal harbour beside the sea stacks about 1826. Early families at the settlement which became known as "Three Sisters" included the McDade, McNamara, Atkinson and Spicer families. By 1837 they had built a rough, but much-used road to Advocate, the beginnings of what came to be known as the "Eatonville Road". The land around the community was granted to James McDade in 1851. The land around the harbour and extensive timber holdings inland along Cape Chignecto were purchased by David Rufus Eaton and Charles Frederick Eaton in 1864.
The Eatons built a series of saw mills, lumber camps and a large shipyard. The growing settlement around their mills was named after their family. A shipyard at the harbour produced over 20 large vessels beginning with the 1000 ton barque Chignecto in 1874 and finishing with the tern schooner J. L. Ralston in 1919. Eatonville ships were noteworthy enough to attract coverage from Harpers Weekly Magazine which published an illustrated feature article on the launch of the barque Argenta at the Eaton's yard in 1890. A notable example was the large ship Joseph H. Scammell built at Eatonville in 1884 which became a famous shipwreck in Australia when she sank in 1891. Eatonville Harbour attracted considerable shipping for the timber export trade. Two small tugs were based at the harbour to assist in docking ships and moving timber rafts and the volume of shipping led to the construction of the Eatonville Lighthouses on the beach south of the wharf which operated from 1909 to 1923. The harbour witnessed several shipwrecks including the spectacular wreck of the three masted schooner Marjorie J. Sumner which was severely damaged in the harbour in 1906 when it toppled over at low tide and was crushed by its large deckload of timber. The shipyard and large sawmill were located at the harbour while the main village, known as "the Old Town" was located 1 mile (2 km) inland. The two were connected by a "tramway", a horse-drawn pole railway.
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Wikipedia