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Grand Pre 
| Minas |
| Minas had 3 different meanings: 1) all the
settlements along the shores of the
Minas Basin, 2) all the settlements between Cape Blomidon and the mouth of the Avon (excluding Cobequid and Pisiquid), 3) the Grand Pre nucleus and the banks of the Cornwallis River. The eastern end of the Annapolis-Cornwallis valley is drained by 4 rivers between North & South Mtns.: Pereau Creek, Habitant Creek, Canard River, Cornwallis River (Riviere St. Antoine in the 1600s, Riviere des Habitants in the 1700s). [Clark, p. 214] Further south in a 500 ft. gore until within 5 miles of its mouth is the Gaspereau. The population in this area in 1714 was 530 [Gaspereau River - 37, Grand Pre - 287, Cornwallis River - 94, Canard River - 76, Habitant Creek (&/or Pereau Creek) - 36; from Morris]. Sometimes Habitant and Pereau were called (together and separately) Riviere des Vieilles Habitants. The first settlers in the area came to Habitant and Canard, then to Grand Pre. Many willows were planted in their days there. Miles of dykes eventually protected the pastures. It would become the most populated area of Acadia. [Herbin, 95] |
| Founding of Grand Pre | |||
| Though it was founded after Port Royal and Beaubassin,
Grand Pre was very successful due to: 1) being pretty much ignored by New
England raiders and French officials, 2) weak seigneurial control, and
3) good marshlands. It seems to have been established in 1682 when
2 well-to-do Port Royal inhabitants moved there. Pierre Terriau settled
on the Riviere St. Antoine (today's Cornwallis River) and was soon followed
by others, including Claude and Antoine Landry and Rene LeBlanc.
Pierre Melanson’s family (son of d’Aulnay’s tutor, married to Marie Marguerite
Mius d’Entremont) and one other (a hired hand?) were also early settlers
at Grand Pre. [Clark, p. 148] Melanson
was the seigneurial agent, a leader in the area, and captain of the
militia. By 1686, there was another family at Grand Pre and 7 families at the St. Antoine (total - 57 people ... 10 families, 83 acres tilled, 90 cattle, 21 sheep, 67 pigs, and 20 guns). The census lists only 5 farms. People moved there from Beaubassin and Port Royal. Gargas (in 1687/88) said there were about 30 families there “where all the young people from Port Royal [are] settled.” Visitors remarked of the area’s isolation from interference. The population quickly increased from 57 (1686) to 580 (1707). New England traders made their way into the
basin. By 1701, there were 33 families (188 people) at Pisiquid.
There were also 3 families at Cobequid, where Mathieu Martin was given
a seigneurie in 1689. By 1707, Cobequid had 17 families (82 people).
Pisiquid was growing, but not as well. The area developed both farmland
and took care of their livestock.
The following is an account of a 1720 visit
to Minas is given.
In 1720, Mascarene referred to Grand Pre as
a meadow of 4 leagues, damned in from the tide, producing very good wheat
and peas. The settlement was composed of scattered houses, on high
ground between 2 creeks (on kind of a peninsula). This was the center
of Minas until the exile in 1755. Grand Pre had about 200 houses.
Two settlements (Melanson and Gaspereau) were along the Gaspereau. [Clark,
p. 215]
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p. 78, NSHS, #23 (1936)
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| Grand Pre NHS | Parks Canada maintains this site on the Grand Pre National Historic Site. It has a lot of information about the Site (fees, hours, tour, etc.), as well as some background material. |
| Grand Preby Valleyweb | Valleyweb maintains a number of sites in the area. This site contains a few pictures, a bit of Acadian history, and links to related areas. |
| Grand Pre Historic Setlement | This site is on the architecture at the Grand Pre Historic Site. It seems that they are planning to construct some buildings similar to those found in l'Acadie. |
| The Church | This is a nice photograph of the Church at the Grand Pre NHS at Images of Nova Scotia. |
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