Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
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Mahone Bay (44.44° North 64.38° West) is a town located on the northwest shore of Mahone Bay along the South Shore of Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County. As of 2001 the population was 991.
It is considered to be one of the most attractive towns in Canada and the view across the harbour of its three prominent churches (Anglican, Lutheran, and United) has appeared on many postcards and calendars. The town is filled with upscale shops and restaurants which almost universally are designed to appeal to the tourist trade, and sometimes shut down during the winter months. The town also has a plastics factory.
Known for a history of wooden boat building, it was the main industry of Mahone Bay in its earlier years. The Settler's Museum explains and shows this history in detail, and each year is celebrated with the Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival.
The town was first settled in 1754. The people of Mahone Bay were German, Swiss, and Montbéliardais settlers who founded the town and Township of Lunenburg in 1753 (see Foreign Protestants). Among the settlers were the Hyson, Zwicker, Keddy, Eisenhauer/Eisner, Weinacht/Whynot, Ernst, and Veinot families. All these names can be found in the area today. The old cemetery, known as Bayview Cemetery, has some 18th-century slate gravestones engraved in German.