Parrsboro

Parrsboro is a small town of 1,200 people (2016) on the shore of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia. The community is known for its seasonal theatre productions, fossil and rock hounding attractions, museums, high tides and heritage buildings.

Understand
As with much of rural Nova Scotia, the primary industry in Parrsboro is tourism. The cliffs along the Minas Basin to the east and west of Parrsboro contain fossils of prehistoric animals and plants. Many fossils are on display in local museums.

History
Before the arrival of European settlers, Parrsboro was a portage point for Mikmaq travellers along the Minas Basin and Cumberland County river systems. The native inhabitants called the region "Awokum," meaning a 'short-cut' or 'passing-over point.'

The first European settlers were the Acadians in 1670 at the western mouth of the Parrsboro Harbour, near Partridge Island. After they were expelled in 1755, they were replaced by New England Planters. The centre of settlement gradually shifted from Partridge Island to the sheltered estuary of the Parrsboro River where a harbour and surrounding mills grew. The settlement, at first named Mill Village, was renamed Parrsboro in honour of Nova Scotia Governor John Parr in 1784.

Parrsboro thrived in the mid 19th century as the hub of a string of shipbuilding communities from Economy to Advocate collectively known as the "Parrsboro Shore". The town became a port of registry in 1850 for over 115 locally built schooners and giant square riggers, culminating in the largest, the ship, Glooscap, in 1891. In its peak years of the 1890s, over 1646 ships arrived and departed annually.

The Springhill and Parrsboro Railway began service to the town from the coal mining town of Springhill on July 1, 1877; Parrsboro became a coal shipping port for the Springhill mines, primarily serving Saint John, New Brunswick. Railway service to Parrsboro was abandoned in 1958, following several years of declining shipments, several months before the 1958 mining disaster.

In 1984, Parrsboro resident Eldon George found the world's smallest dinosaur footprints at Wasson Bluff, a series of cliffs to the east of Parrsboro Harbour. The prints are now on display at the Parrsboro Rock and Mineral Shop and Museum, owned by George.

Get in

 * From the east (Halifax, Truro), take Highway 2 to Main Street
 * From the north (Amherst), take Highway 2 to Main Street
 * From the west, take Highway 209 to Main Street

Get around

 * Main Street runs the length of town, most attractions are right off this road.