Inverness County, Nova Scotia

Inverness County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Its territory is almost contiguous with the Municipality of Inverness County but excludes the town of Port Hawkesbury and Miꞌkmaq reserves.

Inverness County Comté d'Inverness  (French) Siorramachd Inbhir Nis  (Scottish Gaelic)
County
Cabot Trail seen from the Skyline Trail
Seal
Location of Inverness County, Nova Scotia
Coordinates: 46.2°N 61.1°W
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
Towns	Port Hawkesbury
Established	1835
Incorporated	April 17, 1879
Electoral Districts       Federal	Cape Breton—Canso / Sydney—Victoria
Provincial	Inverness
Government
• Type	Inverness County Municipal Council
• Warden	Betty Ann MacQuarrie[1]
Area [2]
• Land	3,831.17 km^2 (1,479.22 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[2][3]
• Total	17,235
• Density	4.5/km^2 (12/sq mi)
• Change 2001-06	4.5%
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code(s)	902
Dwellings	9,876
Median Income*	$45,687 CDN
Website	www.invernesscounty.ca
Median household income, 2005 (all households)

History

Established as the County of Juste au Corps in 1835, Inverness County was given its present name in 1837. It was named after Sir Cameron Inverness of Scotland, the land from which many of the early settlers came.[4] Agriculture and fishing dominated the economy with exports of butter and cattle to Newfoundland and Halifax for most of the nineteenth century.[5] The construction of the Inverness and Richmond Railway in 1901, and the subsequent opening of coal mines at Port Hood, Mabou, and Inverness, created the "only home market" local farmers had ever had.[6]

The boundaries of Inverness County had been previously defined when Cape Breton Island was divided by statute into three districts in 1823. In 1996, the county was amalgamated into a single municipality with the exception of Port Hawkesbury.

Inverness County was established within the boundaries of the Northwestern District of Cape Breton Island.

Demographics

As a census division in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Inverness County recorded a population of 17,235 living in 7,351 of its 9,876 total private dwellings, a change of -4% from its 2011 population of 17,947. With a land area of 3,831.17 km² (1,479.22 sq mi), it had a population density of 4.5/km² (11.7/sq mi) in 2016.[7]

Forming the majority of the Inverness County census division, the Municipality of the County of Inverness recorded a population of 13,190 living in 5,740 of its 8,052 total private dwellings in the 2016 Census of Population, a change of -4.3% from its 2011 population of 13,781. With a land area of 3,815.59 km² (1,473.21 sq mi), it had a population density of 3.5/km² (9.0/sq mi) in 2016.[8]

Population trend[9][10] Census Population Change (%) 2016 17,235 4.0% 2011 17,947 5.7% 2006 19,036 4.5% 2001 19,937 4.7% 1996 20,918 3.2% 1991 21,620 1.5% 1986 21,946 1.8% 1981 22,337 N/A 1941 20,573 1931 21,055 1921 23,808 1911 25,571 1901 24,353 1891 25,779 1881 25,651 1871 23,415 N/A

Native language (2011)[2] Language Population Pct (%) English only 14,360 81.31% French only 2,315 13.11% Non-official languages 825 4.67% Multiple responses 165 0.93%

Ethnic groups (2006)[11] Ethnic Origin Population Pct (%) Scottish 9,365 49.9% Canadian 6,460 34.5% French 4,620 24.6% English 3,880 20.7% Irish 3,680 19.6% Acadian 1,180 6.3% North American Indian 910 4.9% German 580 3.1% Dutch (Netherlands) 555 3.0%

Communities

Towns

• Port Hawkesbury

Reserves

• Whycocomagh 2.

County municipality and county subdivisions

• Municipality of the County of Inverness
  • Inverness, Subd. A
  • Inverness, Subd. B
  • Inverness, Subd. C

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:[12]

Highways Hwy 105 (TCH)

Trunk Routes Trunk 4 Trunk 19 Cabot Trail

Collector Routes: Route 219 Route 223 Route 252 Route 395

External Routes: None

Attractions

Parks:

• Cape Breton Highlands National Park
• Long Point Provincial Park

GOLF - in issue 1-2020 of Golf Digest magazine's rating of the top 100 golf courses in the world, CABOT CLIFFS was rated number 11 and CABOT LINKS was rated 35th

See also

• List of municipalities in Nova Scotia
• Black Lake listings within Nova Scotia.

References

1. "Betty Anne MacQuarrie first woman to lead Inverness County council". Cape Breton Post. November 8, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
2. 2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Inverness County, Nova Scotia
3. Statistics Canada Population and dwelling counts, for Canada and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data
4. Nova Scotia Statutes (PDF). Nova Scotia Legislature. 1837. p. 26. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
5. Robert A. MacKinnon, "The Historical Geography of Agriculture in Nova Scotia, 1851-1951", Ph.D. dissertation, University of British Columbia, 1991.
6. Canada, House of Commons, Official Report of Evidence taken During Session of 1921 Respecting the Future Fuel Supply of Canada (Ottawa, 1921), 643-644.
7. "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census divisions, 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Nova Scotia)". Statistics Canada. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
8. "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Nova Scotia)". Statistics Canada. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
9. Censuses 1871-1941
10. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census
11. 2006 Statistics Canada Census Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada: Inverness County, Nova Scotia
12. Atlantic Canada Back Road Atlas ISBN 978-1-55368-618-7 Pages 26-27, 40-41, 56-57

External links

• Photographs of historic monuments in Inverness County