Northport | genealogyhistory

Northport

Linda Letcher wrote 3 extensive volumes on the village of Northport called Northport Then and Now. Most of the following article is taken from these books.

Northport is a community on the Shinimicas River and more specifically at the mouth of that river. The area was traditionally home to many aboriginals – there was a camp on the north side and the river provided a major means of transport. During the 1840’s, there was a reserve on the Shinimicas River near Mount Pleasant Road, probably near where the provincial park is now situated.

At this time, Northport was called Shinimicas River.

The first land grants were to two brothers, Jeremiah and William George Brownell who together secured 2000 acres at the mouth of the Shinimicas River in around 1810. English-born they came to the area after first settling in Jolicure, NB. William George and his wife Anne Davis of NB had 10 children.

Other settlers followed in the 1820’s: John Cooper, Archibald Dickey and James Brander. John Cooper came from Huntley Scotland and had no children. However, Scottish born James Brander was his nephew and was attracted to the area because of him. He and Lily Brander had 14 children. Archibald Dickey had 14 children with his two wives. These families farmed and did whatever else they could – James Brander also made ladders which he sold in PEI.

The land was fertile and rolling – not too rocky – and easy to farm. There was enough lumber to build with and export, abundant fish to add to their diet and an easy place for ships to load lumber and unload supplies.

More settlers from the British Isles followed and Northport grew. In 1897 an Orange Lodge was formed.

By 1900, the village was at its peak. The population was 320, and there was a sidewalk running all the way from the bridge to the school. Initially, transportation across the river was by ferry. The first bridge was constructed in the late 1800’s and was a lift bridge to allow schooners into the river. The second was a swing bridge and very popular with the children who loved to ride on it. After the main wharf was built, there was no need for a lift bridge and in 1934, a new fixed bridge was built.

There was a community hall for gatherings and before 1904, it was used by the Covenanters for religious worship. There was a tanner, James Wilson Brownell, a seamstress, Belle Moore and Gertrude Brander had a millinery shop. Industry was starting: the three co-partners of the Air Motor Washing Machine Company were John Campbell, Hiram Brownell, and James W. Brownell.

Medically the town was looked after. By 1883 Dr. James Gibson Campbell was working in Northport and had also opened a pharmacy. E.P. Atkinson took over from him in 1902 and stayed until 1922. W. M. Patton was the undertaker.

In WWI, 13 enlisted: Burton Allen, Percy and Edgar Anderson; Walter Brander; William Pipes; Fred Bryson; Hance Olsen; Carl Baxter; Marshall, Floyd and Alva Brownell, Elmore Bryson and Wendell Davis. In 1921, the village had 280 people only so this represents a high proportion of the young men. None died while overseas.

By 1920, the village had 230 inhabitants of which 96 were students in the 2-room schoolhouse.

It was a busy town with 7 smokehouses – the herring were so plentiful that boats couldn’t hold all the catch, and they were scooped with large shovels into barrels. There was the Burns Hotel owned and operated by James and Jane Burns. Billy Boy Brander ran the barber shop – another centre of town life.

Farmers were starting to branch out; there were many fox farms in the area. The biggest fox and mink ranch in the 20’s and 30’s was that of Robson Jodrey. Premier Joey Smallwood came to visit his operation.

As the decade goes on, there is a lessening in industry and by the end of the 1920’s an end to growth. The population declined; however, there were still enough people to have a competitive baseball team and a hockey team called the Northport Cubs.

The first car was owned by Harold Jodrey who took the mail route from Northport to Pugwash. In 1936, Dr. Atkinson got a car. They all gassed up at George Allen’s hand pumped gas tank.

Electricity came to Northport in 1948. The telephone switchboard operator was Hazel Brander.

School

The first school was built in the 1860’s on the south side of the village on Brownell property. It was a log cabin with a few windows and one door, and it lasted for about 15 years. In 1880, a new school was built across the road, and the old one became a woodshed. It was fairly typical for its day with hardwood floors, lots of windows, a stove in the centre for heat, a water pump and outdoor toilets. It was 2 room, but during WWII was reduced to one to keep the costs down of hiring another teacher.

On one memorable day, students were allowed out to the yard to watch the Hindenburg fly over. After the 1920’s school enrollment began to decline.

Some of the teachers were George W. Brownell, Joseph Howe Brownell, Ada Brander, Catherine Lloyd, Annie Peacock, Helen Fisher, Mr. Cameron, Lily Black, Hobart Peppard, and Lily Wood.

Church

The Covenanters was the main religion of the first settlers. This religion came from Ireland with the settlers and was reform Presbyterian. Covenanters did not vote, participate in community affairs, or play instruments. Their first meetings were held in William Brownell’s barn. There is more about them and their leaders in the Linden section of this web page as the two congregations were as one. Sandy Angus gave land to the Covenanters to build their church in Linden. It was disbanded by 1880, but the cemetery is still in use.

Land was donated for the Presbyterian church by Henry Angus. In 1904 the Presbyterians bought land from Jacob Brown to build a manse. St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church was opened in 1904 with the Rev. Arthur F. Fisher was its first minister. He served until 1911. He built the pulpit and the ornate hand carved chairs. It became St. Paul’s United Church in 1925; other ministers included Rev. Joseph Howe Brownell, McD. Clarke, D.M. Sinclair, L. W. Parker, Burns, J. C. Mortimer and Rev. Loring. It was the centre of the community, but was decommissioned in 1964.

Post Office

The first to run the post office was Jane Aiken Burns in her hotel until 1900, then George M. Brander in his store until 1910. He sold his store to John O. Black who kept the post office until 1915. It then moved to Ferguson Brownell’s store. From 1919 to 1926 Lorne Chapman had Davey Mitchell run it. From 1926 to 1930 Elmer Bryson had it and then Col. William Letcher. Mail came by Mail Boat until the 1920s when it was brought from Amherst and Pugwash first by horse and carriage and then by car. The mail carriers were Hal Jodrey, Murray Fisher, Fred Ackles, Arnold and Doug Baxter and Frank Pipes.

Stores

In the early days, there were three stores: James Harvey Brownell’s was near the bridge – he sold out in 1911. George Brander’s store was near the end of Shinimicas Road. Ferguson Brownell sold his store by the bridge to Lorne Chapman, then William Letcher and finally Edison Brownell. It closed in the late 1950’s. Other storekeepers were Thomas Houston Brownell (his burned in 1932), John O. Black and William Renwick Brownell.

Blacksmiths

George M. Brander, Jacob Brown and James Harvey Brownell were some of the early blacksmiths. John O. Black had a blacksmith shop on the bottom floor of a building and a boat store on the top. Elmer Brown had a shop. Bickford Patton owned his own shop as did Boyd S. Peacock.

Shipping

Initially, wood was built into rafts, floated out to waiting ships, and taken apart piece by piece as the logs were loaded onto ships through the portholes. Many ships were tied up at one time. Later, a slab wharf was constructed on the inland side of the bridge for the smaller schooners. In 1930, the present wharf was built. With the advent of the motor car, the need for shipping declined rapidly.

Some of the local citizens who were captains of ships were James Harvey Brownell, Jacob Pollard, W. M. Snow, Willard Van Ember, J. Olsen, Samuel Nyland, William Pipes, Robert Van Ember, and Steven Van Ember.

Milling

Saw mills lined the rivers and the streams of Northport. Men who worked in the mills in the summer often logged in the winter. In 1881, the Government sent an inspector to report on the fish population in the rivers of Nova Scotia. His report of the Shinimicas paints a less than idyllic but typical for the day picture - a dirty river, choked with the garbage of the mills.

I visited this day the Shinimicas River with the warden Thomas R. Smith first inspecting the dam of Timothy Brownell’s mill at the tide way. The ladder which was formerly erected here has been carried away and never rebuilt. Rubbish from the upper portion of the river blocks up the pond and jams the stream all about the mill. Salmon are reported almost extinct, but gasperaux in small numbers still come as far as the mill and unable to proceed further are forced to spawn in the brackish waters. Ascending for 2 miles I reach a grist mill with a 10 foot dam belonging to Samuel Somers. Great quantities of shells of buckwheat are thrown in from this establishment and thicken the water everywhere . . . fish dread this material more than they do sawdust. Within 2 miles of this, Messrs. Smith Bros. and Messrs. Mathewson & Dickie have each built their sawmills with 12 or 13 feet dams and Smith and Doyle’s 3 miles above is about 10 feet in height. He goes on to mention the mills of George Gilroy, Robert Morris, John Beherrel, Findlay, and J. Smith. All of these are basically “doing much injury” and choking off any chance that the fish have of spawning.

Around 1900 Clark Burns owned and operated a saw mill just above the bridge. Hibbert Oulton had one as did Thomas Bliss Brownell. Arthur Burns owned and operated sawmills in the village. By the 1920’s the four main mills were those of Clarke Burns, Artie Burns, Dixon and Arthur Pipes and Bliss Brownell’s.

Fishing

This was always an important part of village life. Walter Sherwood Ackles had a factory at the turn of the century. Nearby was a cook house. Lorne B. Chapman sold his store and built fish factories and a lobster packing plant across the bridge on Sand Point. He also owned cook houses and smoke houses on the beach. Josh Allen had a fish factory and packing plant before he moved to Pugwash to open a cannery. Job Monsel Trenholm had a lobster factory on the river side of the bridge near the Clark Burns saw mill.

The smaller fish factories started to close in the 1930’s and by 1940, there were no smokehouses operating in Northport.