Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Yarmouth
Town
Downtown Yarmouth
Flag of Yarmouth Flag Official seal of Yarmouth Seal
Nickname:  The Gateway to Nova Scotia
Motto:  Progress
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
County	Yarmouth
Founded	June 9, 1761
Incorporated	August 6, 1890
Electoral Districts      Federal	West Nova
Provincial	Yarmouth
Government
• Type	Town Council
• Mayor	Phil Mooney
• Deputy Mayor	Byron Boudreau
• Councillors	List of Members Esther Dares Ken Langille Daniel MacIsaac Neil MacKenzie Martin Pink
• MLA	Richard Hurlburt (PC)
• MP	Greg Kerr (C)
Area
• Land	10.56 km2 (4.08 sq mi)
Elevation	0−43 m (0−141 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Total	7,162
• Density	678.3/km2 (1,757/sq mi)
• Change (2001-06)	5.3%
• Census Ranking	507th of 5,008
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Postal code(s)	B5A
Area codes	902 307, 740, 742, 746, 748, 749 881
Dwellings	3,323
Median Income*	$31,584 CDN
NTS Map	020O16
GNBC Code	CBPIB
Website	townofyarmouth.ca
Median household income, 2005 (all households)

Yarmouth (2006 pop.: 7,162) is a Canadian town and major fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. It is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.

History

The townsite may possibly have been visited by Leif Erikson. A runic stone was found at the nearby village of Overton in 1812. It is interpreted by some to be carved by Erikson, while others feel the markings are natural scratches gradually enhanced over the years. The stone is preserved at the Yarmouth County Museum & Archives.

The region was visited in 1604 by Samuel de Champlain, who named it Cap Fourchu, and it became a French fishing settlement. In 1759 settlers came to the townsite from Yarmouth, Massachusetts, and named it Yarmouth after their former home. The town was founded in 1761, when a larger group of settlers came from Sandwich, Massachusetts. They were then followed by Acadians originally from the Grand Pré district who returned from exile in 1767. Substantial numbers of United Empire Loyalists arrived in 1785.

Yarmouth's waterfront circa 1910 showing the railway and steamship connections which emerged in the late 19th century.

Initially called Cape Forchu, Yarmouth was first laid out in 1759 and incorporated in 1890. Through the 19th century it was a major shipbuilding centre, at one point making more ships per capita than any other port in the world. Yarmouth was considered the richest small town in the world from 1830 to 1880. Yarmouth ships were found in every major port in the world including ships noted for courageous crews such as the ship Research in 1861 and ships noted for great size such as the ship County of Yarmouth in 1884, one of the largest wooden ships ever built in Canada.

As wooden shipbuilding declined in the late 1800s, Yarmouth's shipowners re-invested into factories, steamships and railways such as the Western Counties Railway which evolved into the Dominion Atlantic Railway. While steamships had led to the decline of Yarmouth's mighty wooden shipbuilding industry, they also made the port a vital connection between the new Nova Scotia rail lines and steamers for Boston and New York,a role which continued with Yarmouth's ferry connections until recent times. The harbour has remained a major fishing port in Nova Scotia.

In 1939, examiners at Yarmouth's Merchant Marine Institution made seafaring history by issuing master's papers to Molly Kool, the first female ship captain in the Western World.

World War II history

Originally opened in 1940 as three separate training sites (the East Camp, the West Camp and the Air Base) under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, but known collectively as RCAF Station Yarmouth. The East Camp was home to a detachment of the Royal Air Force's No. 34 Operational Training Unit (from RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge), who trained Bomber crews, as well as the Royal Navy's No. 1 Naval Air Gunners School from 1 January 1943 – 30 March 1945. The West Camp was home to the RCAF's Anti-Submarine Bomber Reconnaissance and several Eastern Air Command Bomber Reconnaissance Squadrons. The Air Base was home to the 9th Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery, various RCAF and RAF Bomber Squadrons and an Army Co-operation Reconnaissance Flight. Its primary function was as an administrative and logistical support base to the RAF and RCAF squadrons in the area, in addition to providing a Weather Information Section, an Armament Section and a firing range. Several smaller installations associated with the air station were located in the area: a bombing range at Port Maitland, a fuel depot at Digby, and radar detachments at Plymouth, Tusket and Bear Point, Port Mouton and Rockville. In 1944, a detachment of the US Navy briefly came to Yarmouth to test the effectiveness of a blimp service. After a crash, the RCAF decided against this venture. RCAF Station Yarmouth closed in 1945. The airfield was sold to the Department of Transport in 1946 and became the Yarmouth Airport. The Infantry base (known as Camp 60) on Parade Street also trained 20000 men during the war, primarily basic training and artillery training.

A Hudson bomber from Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron 113 in Yarmouth became the first aircraft of RCAF's Eastern Air Command to sink a submarine, sinking U-754 about 100 miles south of Yarmouth on July 31, 1942.

Tourism

Tourism has been a major industry in Yarmouth since the 1880s when Loran Ellis Baker founded the Yarmouth Steamship Company. Steamship and railway promotion based in Yarmouth created the first tourism marketing in Nova Scotia. Baker's steamships operated between Yarmouth and Boston until 1900, when the company was purchased by the Dominion Atlantic Railway. The DAR and Halifax and Southwestern Railway offered connections for passengers arriving in Yarmouth with steamship services operating to New York City and Boston. This service continued until the 1950s. Canadian National Railways instituted a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine in the 1950s and this was continued by CN Marine and Marine Atlantic until 1997. Access to Yarmouth is primarily by Highway 101 (North Shore) and Highway 103 (South Shore).

In the 1970s an American tourist cruise company, Prince of Fundy Cruises, began operating a conventional cruise-ferry between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth. This operation continued as Scotia Prince Cruises until April 2005. In 2006, the ferry service between Yarmouth and Portland was resumed by The Cat on weekends, whereas on weekdays The Cat sailed between Yarmouth Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor Maine daily. In December 2009, Bay Ferries announced that The Cat ferry service would end because it would not receive additional funding from the provincial government.

Yarmouth is home to the Yarmouth County Museum & Archives which preserves the history of the town and surrounding county as well as many historic houses and the Killam Brothers building on the waterfront. Firefighters Museum and Sweeney Fisheries Museum are also located in Yarmouth.

The town is only located a few kilometers away from the well-known Cape Forchu Lighthouse which is located on the headland of Cape Forchu. The lighthouse is stationed at the end of the peninsula that guards Yarmouth Harbour.

A popular but unproven belief in Yarmouth holds that the American composer Meredith Wilson wrote his well-known song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" while staying in Yarmouth's Grand Hotel. (A "Grand Hotel" is mentioned in the song, but Grand Hotel was a popular name used by many hotels in numerous towns and cities. A park is also mentioned near the Grand Hotel which could be in reference to Frost Park across the street)

In 2004, a record mako shark was caught off the coast of Yarmouth during the Yarmouth Shark Scramble. It weighed 1,082 pounds and set a new Canadian record. It is considered one of the largest mako sharks ever caught.

Demographics

Fishing Boats in Yarmouth, NS.

Population trend

Census	Population	Change (%)
2006	7,162	5.3%
2001	7,561	0.1%
1996	7,568	2.7%
1991	7,781	4.1%
1981	7,475	N/A

Mother tongue language (2006)

Language	Population	Pct (%)
English	6,045	87.23%
French	700	10.10%
Other languages	145	2.09%
English and French	40	0.58%

Religious make-up (2001)

Religion	Population	Pct (%)
Catholic	3,220	44.70%
Protestant	2,705	36.48%
No religious affiliation	1,295	17.02%
Christian n.i.e.	100	1.35%
Other religions	85	1.15%

Income (2006)

Income type	By CAD
Per capita income	$17,771
Median Household Income	$31,584
Median Family Income	$38,500

The median age in the town is 42.3 years old which is only 0.5 years higher than the provincial average. The unemployment rate in Yarmouth is 12.7% which is higher than the provincial average of 9.1%. The average value of an owned dwelling is $144,677 which is lower than the provincial average of $158,000.

The percentage of people with no certificate, diploma or degree is 36.34%. The percentage of people with a high school certificate is 21.13%. The percentage of people with apprenticeship, trade certificate or diploma is 10.96%. The percentage of people with a community college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma is 18.43%. The percentage of people with a university certificate, diploma or degree is 13.33%

Climate

Climate data for Yarmouth, NS
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source: Environment Canada

• Yarmouth averages 191 days of fog each year.

Education

Downtown Yarmouth at dawn.

The town of Yarmouth is home to a high school an adult high school, a junior high school and three elementary schools. It is also home to a Nova Scotia Community College campus and the Dalhousie University School of Nursing that can be taken at the local hospital.

School	Grades	Website
Meadowfields Community School	K-6	meadowfields.ednet.ns.ca
South Centennial Elementary School	K-6	sharepoint.tcrsb.ca/sces
Yarmouth Central School	K-6	yarmcentral.ednet.ns.ca
Yarmouth Junior High School	7-9	yjhs.ednet.ns.ca
Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School	10-12	ycmhs.com
Yarmouth Adult High School	adults only
NSCC Burridge Campus	community college	burridge.nscc.ca

Media

Call sign	Frequency	City of License	Owner	Format
CBHY (rebroadcaster)	092.1 FM	Yarmouth	CBC	CBC Radio One
CJLS	0094.7 FM / 95.5 FM	Yarmouth	Ray Zinck & Chris Perry	adult contemporary
CBAX (rebroadcaster)	00106.1 FM	Yarmouth	Radio-Canada	Espace musique (French)
CBAF (rebroadcaster)	0107.3 FM	Yarmouth	Radio-Canada	Première Chaîne (French)

See also

• Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth

External links

• Town of Yarmouth - official website