Boom, Bust, Boom? The Ups and Downs of the Straight of Canso by Ron Samson


Photo: Transport Canada


The Straight separates the Nova


Scotia peninsula from Cape Breton Island and is approximately 27 kilo- metres long and averages between 1 and 3 kilometres wide. The depth of the Straight is over 200 feet. There are two major port commu-


nities located at Port Hakwsbury on Cape Breton Island and Mulgrave in Guysborough County, N.S. The Canso Causway, opened in


1955, provides passage for rail and vehicular traffic movement. Prior passage was accomplished by year- round ferry which could carry rail and vehicles.


Early history Records in 1750 make mention of a ‘Paint Island’ named after Nicholas


11


Paint who fathered Henry Paint. Following his education Henry did


a stint in the volunteer Canadian Mi- litia during the Finian raids b etween 1866 and 1870 before becoming an insurance agent in Halifax. In 1882, as a Conservative, he


was elected to the Canadian House of Commons where he promoted a large number of public and infra- structure works for Cape Breton. These initiatives included a number of firsts such as the first marine rail- way and first steamers from Boston. He proposed wharves, ware-


houses and lighthouses, and he was pivotal in negotiating favourable trading terms with Norway and the West Indies for the Dominion of Canada.


Boom times early 1900’s Prior to the 1900’s Scots began


to settle on Cape Breton and pros- perity began to grow from wooden shipbuilding, the abundant fisheries and forests supported by commer- cial marine carriers. Leading up to the 1900’s the use


of lumber died out favouring coal, iron and steam. On the west coast of Cape Breton


Island, the Inverness coal field was opening up rapidly with the con- struction of new railway line to the Straight of Canso which would con- nect to the Intercontinental Railway. The post 1900 railway-building boom favoured the fortunes of Do- minion Iron and Steel.


April 2014


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