Stewiacke

Stewiacke is a town located in southern Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The town was incorporated on August 30, 1906.

Stewiacke
Town
Town of Stewiacke Public Works Building and Cenotaph
Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
Halfway between the North Pole and the Equator
Motto(s): 
Respect, Prosperity, Growth
Stewiacke
Location of Stewiacke, Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 45°8′32″N 63°20′54″W
Country Canada
Province Nova Scotia
MunicipalityColchester County
IncorporatedAugust 30, 1906
Government
 • Governing BodyStewiacke Town Council
 • MLALarry Harrison
 • MPLenore Zann (L)
Area
 (2016)[1]
 • Total17.62 km2 (6.80 sq mi)
Elevation
100 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total1,373
 • Density77.9/km2 (202/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−4 (AST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−3 (ADT)
Postal code
B0N 2J0
Area code(s)902
Telephone Exchange639, 671
Median Earnings*$55,339
NTS Map011E03
GNBC CodeCBKOM
Websitestewiacke.net
  • Median household income, $55,339
Places in Nova Scotia

Geography

The town is located in the Stewiacke Valley at the confluence of the Stewiacke and Shubenacadie Rivers, and is a service and support centre for local agricultural communities as well as a service exit on Highway 102.

The town is noted as being located halfway between the North Pole and the Equator (which is actually in Alton, Nova Scotia).[2] Controversy in the past over this claim stems from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, and therefore the halfway mark lies approximately 16 km North of the 45th parallel.[3]

History

Stewiacke was named in the language of the local Mi'kmaq First Nations and is a word meaning "flowing out in small streams" and "winding river" or "whimpering or whining as it goes".[4] During the French and Indian War, the British built Fort Ellis in the area to protect New England Planters from Mi'kmaq raids.

Drawing of a mastodon skeleton by Rembrandt Peale

In the late 1990s, a tourism attraction named Mastodon Ridge opened near the town's highway exit, based on a local discovery of a mastodon skeleton. The Mastodon Ridge Complex features a craft store, toy store, a mini golf and interpretive centre which displays several of the mastodon's bones.

Stewiacke is home to a bar, a pharmacy, a grocery store, a pizzeria, numerous fast food restaurants, two gas stations, a hardware store, an 18-hole golf course and a newly built elementary school that consolidates 2 former local schools.

Stewiacke is also home to a volunteer fire brigade that was the first department in North America to use specialized foam as a fire suppression agent, alongside other achievements involving the implementation of certain fire apparatus.

The town's most notorious event occurred on April 12, 2001, when a local teenager, at home on a school in-service day, tampered with a railway switch on the CN Rail Halifax-Montreal mainline, causing Via Rail Canada's Ocean to derail several minutes later when it passed through the centre of the community.[5] Several buildings and rail cars were destroyed and many people were injured, including some severely, although no fatalities resulted.[5][6]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±%
19561,024—    
19611,042+1.8%
19811,201+15.3%
19861,265+5.3%
19911,306+3.2%
19961,405+7.6%
20011,388−1.2%
20061,421+2.4%
20111,438+1.2%
20161,373−4.5%
[7] [8][9]

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Stewiacke recorded a population of 1,373 living in 629 of its 681 total private dwellings, a change of -4.5% from its 2011 population of 1,438. With a land area of 17.62 km2 (6.80 sq mi), it had a population density of 77.9/km2 (201.8/sq mi) in 2016.[1]

Parks
  • Caddell Rapids Lookoff Provincial Park
  • Dennis Park

See also

References
  1. "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Nova Scotia)". Statistics Canada. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  2. "The Burnside News - Burnside entrepreneur to develop Stewiacke industrial park". BurnsideNews.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  3. "Midway from the Equator to the North Pole - Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada". Harvard.edu. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  4. "Museum, Government of Nova Scotia - 511 Windsor Lowlands". Museum.gov.ns.ca. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  5. "Youth sentenced to six months for derailing train". CBC.ca. 2002-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  6. "Teen faces victims of N.S. train wreck". CBC.ca. 2002-08-30. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  7. Census 1956-1961
  8. I:\ecstats\Agency\BRIAN\census2 NS Department of Finance Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Statistics Canada, 2011
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