Londonderry, Nova Scotia

Coordinates: 45°28′30.7″N 63°36′08.7″W / 45.475194°N 63.602417°W / 45.475194; -63.602417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

45°28′30.7″N 63°36′08.7″W / 45.475194°N 63.602417°W / 45.475194; -63.602417

Londonderry, Nova Scotia is located in Nova Scotia
Londonderry, Nova Scotia
Location of Londonderry in Nova Scotia

Londonderry is an

Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, formerly called Acadia Mines. A bustling iron ore mining and steel
making town of some 5,000 in the late 19th century, the population today stands at around 200.

History

Londonderry, Nova Scotia

Londonderry saw the pouring of some of the first steel made in Canada, and the first Canadian installation of the Bessemer process for making steel. Mining began in 1849 and eventually three mines - East Mines, Old Mountain Mine, and West Mines - were operated. Over 2 million tons of ore were produced.

The iron ore seams that encouraged development, originally thought to be enormous, proved to be small, shallow, and very expensive to mine. That, coupled with poor management decisions and failed experiments with rotary type ovens as well as low world steel prices, spelled the demise of the iron and steel industry in Londonderry. The fatal blow to the community came with a destructive fire in 1920 which destroyed a large portion of the town.[1] The mine operations were foreclosed in 1924 and the town never recovered thereafter.[2] The once vast ruins of the former steel mill were torn down and sold as scrap during the scrap metal drives of World War II.

General information

The CN main line runs through Londonderry Station, about two kilometers east of the village of Londonderry.

Lakeshores at

Halifax
.

Many residents of Londonderry are employed in the nearby

Debert Industrial Park and at the Ski Wentworth ski resort, nestled in the Cobequid Mountains, about 20 minutes north of Londonderry along Trunk 4
. Londonderry currently has one church: the Londonderry Station Community Church (also known as the Thirsty Church Project) The St. Ambrose Catholic Church( closed in 2022). and Acadia Mines United Church was closed in 2010.

Settlement

Fort Cumberland
and was originally from Ireland.

Early settlers

Those who settled Londonderry Township included the following individuals:[3]

Notable residents

  • Laurie Davidson Cox (1883–1968), leading American landscape architect.
  • Frank Parker Day, writer, taught school there
  • Robert McElhinney (ca 1747–1831), Irish-born political figure who represented Londonderry Township in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
  • Archibald McLelan (1824–1890), Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
  • James Meissner
    (1896–1936), World War I flying, recipient of two Distinguished Service Crosses.
  • Thomas Fletcher Morrison (1808–1886), sailor, farmer and political figure in Nova Scotia
  • Doris Petrie (1918–2000), Canadian film and television actress

Parks

  • Londonderry Play Place
  • Londonderry Provincial Park
  • Wentworth Provincial Park

See also

References

  1. ^ Newspaper clipping[permanent dead link], May 31, 1920, Nova Scotia Archives and Record Management
  2. ^ Foreclosure notice, April 25, 1924, Nova Scotia Archives and Record Management
  3. ^ "Northern Ireland to Nova Scotia, 1761".

External links