Weymouth

History

The area was settled in the 1760s by New England Planters after the Acadian Expulsion. The town was formally founded by Loyalists in 1783 (the year that the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the American Revolution). Current day Weymouth was once called Weymouth Bridge, and Weymouth North was called Weymouth. Weymouth is supposed to have been named in honour of the previous settlement of the Strickland family from Weymouth, Massachusetts.[citation needed]

Shipping and shipbuilding were the main industry in the mid-19th century. Remnants of docks can be seen on the Northeast side of the Sissiboo today. Goods such as lumber were loaded on ships at these docks and shipped all over the world. Weymouth houses the oldest general store in Eastern Canada. Opened in 1837, the store is now called The Trading Post, but closed in 2009. The village also houses one of the original Merchants Bank of Halifax (later renamed Royal Bank of Canada) in Canada. This building is now part of the aforementioned Weymouth Trading Post. Sam LangfordNearby Weymouth Falls was home to one of the world's greatest boxers, Sam Langford (1886–1956). Although he was never officially crowned World Champion, he held titles from England, Spain and Mexico.[1]

The Dominion Atlantic Railway stopped running through Weymouth in March 1990.

[edit] Disasters
On 4 August 1909, 2 churches, a hotel, and several other buildings were destroyed due to a fire. On 2 October 1929 a fire started in the general store of Captain R.D. Barkhouse and swept through the downtown area destroying 25 buildings including retail shops, factories and private homes. It was estimated that the fire caused approximately $250,000 in structural damage. No serious injuries or deaths occurred because of the fire. On 6 February 1958, a fire destroyed the boat and furniture plants of Weymouth Industries Ltd. In June 1959 six businesses were wiped out due to fire. The Sissiboo river overflowed in March 2003, flooding the town by almost two feet.

[edit] New France
The community of New France, approximately 10 to 15 miles inland from Weymouth, was founded by the Stehelin family who came from France in 1892. This community was notable for its early use of hydroelectric power generation, earning it the nickname "The Electric City". Also notable was the Stehelin family's railroad, constructed using logs as tracks, which they used to bring lumber from inland to the port at Weymouth. There is nothing left today except for the foundations of the city buildings. J.D. Irving, the current owners of the land, has established walking trails and interpretive signs at the New France site, and fixing the foundations so they are safe for visitors to explore.

[edit] Geography
Modern day Weymouth straddles the Sissiboo River. This river swells approximately every six hours as salt water backs up from the high tides of the Bay of Fundy into St. Mary's Bay.

Weymouth is situated on the border between the provincial electoral districts of Clare and Digby-Annapolis.[2]

Weymouth is located 33 kilometres from Digby, 72 kilometres from Yarmouth and 250 kilometres from the capital of Nova Scotia, Halifax.

Smaller villages surrounding Weymouth proper are Weymouth Falls, Weaver Settlement, Ohio, Southville, Riverdale, Danvers, Hassett, Saint Bernard and New Edinburgh.

Two exits (27 and 28) on Highway 101 are the primary access to the town. Trunk 1 runs through the village and was the main thoroughfare from the Annapolis Valley to Yarmouth prior to the construction of Highway 101.