Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia)

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The Eastern Shore is a region of Nova Scotia Canada. It is the Atlantic coast running northeast from Halifax Harbour to the eastern end of the peninsula at the Strait of Canso.

The Eastern Shore is a scenic, yet sparsely settled area, hosting dozens of small fishing harbours and communities; in recent decades the region has become home to a growing number of cottages and recreational properties, given the amount of unspoiled sand beaches and dramatic coastlines. The shore also hosts the majority of Nova Scotia's small islands.

The western end of the Eastern Shore borders on the Dartmouth side of the urban core of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and which is experiencing urban sprawl. The provincial scenic travelway, the "Marine Drive." runs on Highways 7 ,16 , 207, 211, 316, 322, and 344 through most centres along the shore.

The tourism industry is concentrated near popular beaches and provincial parks such as Lawrencetown, Clam Harbour, and Martinique, as well as the centrally-located service communities of Musquodoboit Harbour, Sheet Harbour, Sherbrooke, Canso, Guysborough and Mulgrave. Popular tourist attractions include the Liscombe Lodge resort and conference centre at Liscomb Mills and the Historic Sherbrooke Village at Sherbrooke.

Politically the Eastern Shore is part of two federal ridings: Cape Breton-Canso at the eastern end, Central Nova, and Sackville—Eastern Shore at the western end. The provincial ridings include Eastern Shore, Guysborough-Sheet Harbour, as well as several ridings in the eastern part of HRM's urban core (south and east of Dartmouth).

In the Halifax Regional Municipality part of the Eastern Shore are represented on Halifax Regional Council as District 1 Eastern Shore - Musquodoboit Valley and District 3 Preston - Lawrencetown - Chezzetcook .

[edit] History

The Eastern Shore is home to a historic gold mining area near Sheet Harbour, as well as Nova Scotia's most historic seaport, the town of Canso which predates Halifax, Lunenburg and Annapolis Royal. The St. Mary's River empties into the Atlantic at Sherbrooke and is one of the province's famed Atlantic Salmon runs, as well as having hosted mills during the early part of Nova Scotia's industrial revolution in the 19th century.

A railway had been proposed during the 1880s to run east from Dartmouth, however the sparse settlement and lack of industrial economic activity saw the railway line swing north up the Musquodoboit River at Musquodoboit Harbour to access the fertile agricultural district of the Musquodoboit Valley. Another railway project was proposed to run between Pictou and the village of Guysborough and on to Canso; this being at a time when Canso was rivalling Halifax during the age of sail for being the most important first port of call in Nova Scotia for westbound trans-Atlantic vessels (Canso being roughly the same distance by rail from the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border as Halifax). A rail line was eventually graded and bridges constructed between Pictou and Guysborough during the 1930s, however tracks were never laid and the project was abandoned, leaving most of the Eastern Shore without rail service.

During the post-war period, the provincial government upgraded local roads, resulting in the present Highway 7 alignment. During the 1980s-1990s, when the rail line was abandoned the controlled-access Highway 107 two-lane freeway was built from Burnside Industrial Park Dartmouth to Musquodoboit Harbour to assist commuters and truck traffic travelling to the east of HRM and to Highway 102 via Highway 118 .

A 1970s regional development project saw the port of Sheet Harbour redeveloped into an important regional deep-water port; the facility is most heavily used during the winter months when the Northumberland Strait port of Pictou is iced in and industrial shippers from Pictou County truck shipments to Sheet Harbour. A large sawmill and industrial greenhouse operation are also located near Sheet Harbour.

Beaver Harbour is home to a trans-Atlantic cable station operated by Teleglobe.