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Stewiacke

Coordinates: 45°8′32″N 63°20′54″W / 45.14222°N 63.34833°W / 45.14222; -63.34833
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Stewiacke
Town
Town of Stewiacke Public Works Building and Cenotaph
Town of Stewiacke Public Works Building and Cenotaph
Flag of Stewiacke
Coat of arms of Stewiacke
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
 • 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

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

Geography

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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]

Parks and trails

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  • 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

History

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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]

On June 30, 2021, Stewiacke was hit by an EF1 tornado.

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

Demographics

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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]

Notable residents

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See also

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  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. 94. Harvard.edu: 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. ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
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