Canning

History

The area was originally settled by Acadians who were expelled in 1755 during the Acadian Expulsion. After the Acadians, Canning - first called Apple Tree Landing and later Habitant Corner - was settled in 1760 by New England Planters and by the Dutch following World War II. The present name was adopted in honour of British prime minister George Canning.[1]

Though much diminished in importance in recent years, Canning was once a major shipbuilding centre and shipping and rail hub for farmers in Kings County. Canning merchants and farmers founded the Cornwallis Valley Railway which ran from 1889 to 1961, connecting the village to the Dominion Atlantic Railway mainline in Kentville, Nova Scotia. The village suffered three major fires in its history. Harold Lothrop Borden Monument in Canning, NSThe Canadian parliamentarian Sir Frederick William Borden had a home in Canning. A cousin of Sir Robert Borden, Sir Frederick was Minister of Militia prior to the First World War. Canning has a prominent statue to the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War, Harold Lothrop Borden, a son of Sir Frederick.[2] He died in the Battle of Witpoort (See Battle of Witpoort, South Africa).

Canning was also the home the famous country singer Wilf Carter. He was made an honourary citizen of Canning, Nova Scotia in 1978.

The village is home to Glooscap Elementary School, an elementary school with a student population of over 200, and NKEC, a middle school/high school with a student population of around 1020.

A lighthouse that once served the port fell into disuse and abandonment but was restored in the 1990s.[3]