Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

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Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Lunenburg (2006 population: 2,317), is a Canadian port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.

Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on a peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality.

History
People and Culture

World Heritage Site

Gallery
Things To Do
See also
External links
References

History

Lunenburg waterfront

Lunenburg was founded in 1753 and was named in honour of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, (George August of Hanover) who was also the ruler of Brunswick-Lunenburg. During the French and Indian War, several small forts which ringed the town were garrisoned by British regulars as well as by provincial troops from Massachusetts. These forts were erected to protect the town from raids by French warships and from attacks by the local Indians.

At one time an important seaport and shipbuilding centre, the town is now home to numerous small businesses, high-tech industries including Composites Atlantic and HB Studios, and trade plants including High Liner Foods, which was at one point the largest fish plant in Canada. This plant now handles little more than manufacturing and most fishing is done offshore.

Lunenburg waterfront (as viewed from a hotel)

People and Culture

Lunenburg's World War I memorial

Lunenburg is the birthplace of the world famous schooner Bluenose and her daughter Bluenose II which remains an important tourist attraction in the town, her home port. Tourism is now Lunenburg's most important industry and many thousands visit the town each year. A number of restaurants, inns, hotels and shops exist to service the tourist trade including the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

The original inhabitants of Lunenburg (mostly Germans from the southern Rhineland, Swiss and French protestants from Montbeliard) came during the same wave of immigration that produced the Pennsylvania Dutch. They were "Foreign Protestants" encouraged by the British to settle in the area. Many of the original families (such as the Zwickers, the Tanners and the Smiths) and their descendants still inhabit and influence the development of the town today.

World Heritage Site

The historic town was designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1995.

This designation ensures protection for much of Lunenburg's unique architecture and civic design, being the best example of planned British colonial settlement in North America.