Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Encyclopedia : G : GL : GLA : Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Glace Bay is a town situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Glace Bay is approximately 10 kilometres from Sydney, Cape Breton's main commercial center, and is centered on Glace Bay harbour across the bay from Donkin. The town's population is 21,466. It has three suburbs, Reserve, Dominion, and Tower Road. These three suburbs have the familiar Glace Bay phone numbers 849 and 842. All postal codes in Glace Bay start with B1A. Postal codes in Reserve are B1E and in Dominion are B1G.

Incorporated as a town in 1901, it is now part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Contents

1 History
2 Economy
3 Present day
4 Flora and fauna
5 Climate and Geography
6 Attractions

History

The French first mined coal at this location to supply their fortress at nearby Louisbourg. They named the location Baie de Glace (literally, Ice Bay) because of the ice which filled the bay each year. The town once had a population of 28,000 in the 1950s and 1960s and was offered the possibility of becoming a city, but opted to remain a town to retain the title of biggest town in Canada.

Economy

Glace Bay was once a prosperous coal mining town. In 1860 the Glace Bay Mining Company was formed and it operated two mines. The first large mine, the Hub Shaft of Glace Bay, opened in 1861. Large-scale mining commenced in 1893, exclusive mining rights were granted to the Dominion Coal Company. Glace Bay was incorporated as a town nine years later. At its high point the company operated eleven mines in all, and was responsible for 40% of Canada's coal production, but as coal mining became less important, these mines were closed until, in 1984 Mine Number 26 shut down. Many residents of Glace Bay started to work at the two other coal mines in the area - Prince Colliery in Point Aconi and Phalen Mine in Lingan. However, coal mining continued its decline and Phalen Mine closed in 1999.

Fishing was also an important industry throughout the 20th century. However, by the 1990s fish stocks were so depleted that the fishery was closed. Some fish processing still occurs here.

High unemployment in the town has forced many residents to leave to find work elsewhere, although the tides are beginning to change as Glace Bay's economy becomes stronger.

Present day

The population of Glace Bay is now a little less than 20,000. The people of Glace Bay are very proud of their mining heritage and efforts continue to be made to revive the town's economy. In 2001, the addition of the call center Stream International to Glace Bay has encouraged the local economy. This has offered new life to Glace Bay, and already the infrastructure, roads, and businesses are beginning to look better.

Parks Canada maintains a national historic site in Glace Bay honouring the role of Guglielmo Marconi in the development of radio communications. In 1902, the first official wireless message was sent from this site across the Atlantic Ocean to England. A spark gap transmitter with 75 kilowatts of power fed 4 tall antennas on the 5 acre site overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Currently there is much hope, economically. The Stream International call centre has opened and currently employs 1200 people from the surrounding area. Australian-led consortium Xstrata Donkin Coal Development Alliance has also won the rights to develop the abandoned Donkin mine site, a project that is expected to add 300 jobs to the Glace Bay and Donkin areas within the next two years.

Glace Bay, Sydney, and five other towns were combined in 1995 to form the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

There are many community groups and organizations in Glace Bay dedicated to helping the community.

Flora and fauna

Glace Bay has a large amount of forests and swamp surrounding the town and within the town limits. Mammals present in Glace Bay include squirrels, rabbits, mice, coyotes and feral dogs, cats, and horses. Bird species include various species of waterfowl such as ducks and occasionally Canada geese. Crows, gulls, and pigeons are also common within the town limits. Smaller birds such as robins, woodpeckers, black capped chickadees, and sparrows are also present. Frogs, salamanders, and snakes are also common in Glace Bay.

Glace Bay and the surrounding areas are heavily forested. Common deciduous trees in Glace Bay include poplars, maples, and birches. Oaks, elms, and beech trees are also present but they are less common. Common conifers include spruce and balsam fir with some pine and tamarack present as well.

The introduced Asian plants of Japanese and Giant Knotweed are common throughtout the town and surrounding woodlands and are colloquially (sp?) as "elephant ears". Children would commonly play "hide and seek" in them in the past.

Climate and Geography

Glace Bay has an average temperate marine climate. The average annual yearly temperature is approximately 9.1 degrees Celsius, although in recent years it is around 10.2 due to climate change. Average precipatation is around 1200mm per year. The warmest months of the year are July and August, both with a daily average of 21 degrees (26 in the day and 16 at night). The coldest months are January (-5.7) and February (-6.5). Glace Bay is usually frost-free for about 5 months of the year from about May 20th until October 20th. Summer weather starts in late June and tends to persist until mid to late September, but spring is delayed and there is ice in the harbour usually until mid to late April. Snow is usually not seen until mid November and usually not seen after the 1st of May. The normal yearly temperature range is usually between -20 degrees and 30 degrees. The highest temperature ever recorded in Glace Bay is 35.5 degrees on August 10th, 2001 and the lowest ever was -27.3 degrees on February 8th, 1994. (Source [link])

The geography of Glace Bay is heavily forested and hilly. Some of the low lying areas at the bottom of hills consist of marshes and bogs. There are rocky cliffs around the ocean along most of the coast and erosion continues to be a problem in some areas. Part of North Street has fallen into the ocean due to erosion and because of this the street had to be split into Upper and Lower North Street.

Attractions

The town of Glace Bay has several draws:

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