Stewiacke
Town
Town of Stewiacke Public Works Building and Cenotaph
Town of Stewiacke Public Works Building and Cenotaph
Flag of Stewiacke
Flag
Coat of arms of Stewiacke
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
Halfway between the North Pole and the Equator
Motto(s): 
Respect, Prosperity, Growth
Stewiacke is located in Nova Scotia
Stewiacke
Stewiacke
Location of Stewiacke, Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 45°8′32″N 63°20′54″W / 45.14222°N 63.34833°W / 45.14222; -63.34833
CountryCanada
ProvinceNova Scotia
MunicipalityColchester County
IncorporatedAugust 30, 1906
Government
 • MayorGeorge Lloy
 • Governing BodyStewiacke Town Council
 • MLALarry Harrison
 • MPStephen Ellis (C)
Area
 (2016)[1]
 • Total17.62 km2 (6.80 sq mi)
Elevation
100 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Total1,557
 • Density88.4/km2 (229/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−4 (AST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−3 (ADT)
Postal code
B0N 2J0
Area code902
Telephone Exchange639, 671
Median Earnings*$55,339
NTS Map11E3 Shubenacadie
GNBC CodeCBKOM[3]
Websitestewiacke.net
  • Median household income, $55,339
Places in Nova Scotia

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

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).[4] Controversy in the past over that claim stems from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere and so the halfway mark lies approximately 16 km north of the 45th parallel.[5]

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".[6] 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.[7] Several buildings and rail cars were destroyed and many people were injured, including some severely, although no fatalities resulted.[7][8]

In 2023, the Boston Christmas Tree came from Stewiacke.[9]

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%
20211,557+13.4%
[10] [11][12]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Stewiacke had a population of 1,557 living in 713 of its 739 total private dwellings, a change of 13.4% from its 2016 population of 1,373. With a land area of 17.62 km2 (6.80 sq mi), it had a population density of 88.4/km2 (228.9/sq mi) in 2021.[13]

Parks and trails

  • Dennis Park
  • Stewiacke River Park
  • Stewiacke Recreation Grounds
  • Barking Lot - Off Leash Dog Park
  • John Crawford Trail
  • Stewiacke River Country Trail
  • Fish Shack Trail
  • Caddell Rapids Lookoff Provincial Park

Notable residents

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. ↑ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Nova Scotia)". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Stewiacke". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  4. ↑ "The Burnside News - Burnside entrepreneur to develop Stewiacke industrial park". BurnsideNews.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  5. ↑ Bogan, Larry (2000). "Midway from the Equator to the North Pole - Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Harvard.edu. 94: 48. Bibcode:2000JRASC..94...48B. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  6. ↑ "Museum, Government of Nova Scotia - 511 Windsor Lowlands". Museum.gov.ns.ca. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  7. 1 2 "Youth sentenced to six months for derailing train". CBC.ca. 2002-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  8. ↑ "Teen faces victims of N.S. train wreck". CBC.ca. 2002-08-30. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  9. ↑ "Christmas tree, annual gift for Boston from Nova Scotia, selected". WCVB. November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  10. ↑ Census 1956-1961
  11. ↑ I:\ecstats\Agency\BRIAN\census2 NS Department of Finance Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Statistics Canada, 2011
  13. ↑ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Nova Scotia". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Dowell, Hanson T. (The Honourable, QC) — 94". The Chronicle Herald. Halifax, Nova Scotia. September 25, 2000. p. 37.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stewiacke.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.