Did You Know?

St. Martha’s Hospital in Antigonish has been the birthplace of many Strait area residents. Expectant mothers hope that labour pains do not coincide with a closed Causeway. Storms and high winds often delayed car and train ferries. On February 11, 1938 Robert Francis Martell was born in the drawing room of Pullman car “Woodstock” on train No. 8, which was held up when a severe storm made it impossible for the Scotia II to cross the Strait for 35 hours. On Robert’s first birthday, he was given a lifetime train pass.

Russell Latimer, Marine Researcher, noted that the largest ship ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the largest ship to dock in a Western Hemisphere seaport arrived at Gulf Oil in Point Tupper on February 18, 1972 with a cargo of crude oil. She was the ULCC tanker, “Universe Japan”, the world’s largest merchant ship of the time, with an overall length of 1,132 feet. Point Tupper was one of the few world seaports that could accommodate a vessel of such extensive size and draught. Since that time, the largest crude tanker to call at Statia was the 1225 foot VLCC “Hellespont Capital” on August 9, 1998.

Do you know the names of the train ferries that crossed the Strait from Mulgrave to Point Tupper? They were the S.S. Norwegian, S.S. Rimouski, S.S. Goliath, S.S. Mayflower, S.S. Mulgrave and S.S. Merrimack. Some of these were relief ferries. On April 25, 1902, the Scotia I ferry service began and in 1915 the Scotia II ferry went into service that continued for 40 years until the Causeway opened in 1955.

Do you know the names of the car ferries that crossed the Strait of Canso from Mulgrave to Port Hawkesbury (Point Tupper in winter)? They were the Edith C. Walker, Pointe de Canseau, Breton, Sir Charles Tupper, George H. Murray, and the John Cabot. All ferries listed were owned by The Department of Highways except the first that was owned by a local company and captained by P.J. Walker. There were also at least ten private ferries operating in the area from Port Hastings to Red Head.

The Canso Causeway and Canal will be 50 years old in 2005. Others celebrating 50th anniversaries this year are the congregation of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Port Hawkesbury, Disneyland in California, the hit song This Land is Your Land recorded by Jerry Gray and the Travellers in 1955 and Trick or Treat boxes for Unicef (in Canada). The first Guinness World Records Book was the 1955 edition.

Due to the efforts of the Four Counties Industrial Development Association, the first industry to permanently establish in the Strait area after the Canso Causeway opened was the mill. Construction began in November 1959 and the official opening of Nova Scotia Pulp Limited’s bleached sulphite pulp mill was January 2, 1962. The first load of pulp was shipped on February 22, 1962. The first newsprint was shipped on December 7, 1971 from Nova Scotia Forest Industries (now Stora Enso).

The Strait of Canso Board of Engineers was officially announced on January 21, 1948. Dr. Phillip Pratley of Montreal was nominated by the province, Dr. Arthur Surveyer of Montreal and Dr. D.S. Ellis of Queen‚s University were chosen by the federal government. In March of 1949 the government announced the proposed construction of a low level bridge as recommended by the Board of Engineers. Problems arose, the bridge was rejected in September 1950 and a causeway was announced in October 1951.

Merrill D. Rawding was the provincial Minister of Highways and Public Works from 1947 to 1953. He was present in August 1949 when Premier Angus L. Macdonald opened the causeway across Barrington Passage to Cape Sable Island. Some said the decision in 1951 to build a causeway at the Strait of Canso rather than a bridge or tunnel was partly due to the success of the shorter and shallower rock fill of the Cape Sable Island Causeway.

Did you know that the five towns and villages presently located near the Canso Causeway all had other names when they were originally settled? McNair’s Cove became Mulgrave in 1859. Porcupine Cove had several names before it became Auld’s Cove in 1876. Plaister Cove changed to Port Hastings in 1869 and Ship Harbour to Port Hawkesbury in 1860. An early designation for Point Tupper was Ship Harbour Point.

August 13, 1980
Saw the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Canso Causeway, with a re-enactment highlighting the ribbon cutting, one hundred pipers and the march across, closing the causeway for forty-five minutes to all traffic with the exception of emergency vehicles. The Port Hastings Historical Society sponsored the 25th and 40th Anniversary celebrations. The Canso Causeway Anniversary Society is organizing celebrations for the 50th.

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