Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Beaver Bank
other_name =
native_name =
nickname =
motto = "People Together with Nature"


imagesize = 400x150px
image_caption = The sign of Beaver Bank as you enter
subdivision_type = Federal
subdivision_type1 = Provincial
subdivision_type2 = Municipal
subdivision_name = flagicon|CanadaCanada
subdivision_name1 = flagicon|Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
subdivision_name2 = HRM
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_type = Parliamentary democracy
leader_title = Prime Minister of flagicon|Canada Canada
leader_title1 = Preimier of flagicon|Nova Scotia Nova Scotia
leader_title2 = Mayor of Halifax
leader_title3 = MLA of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
leader_title4 = Councillor of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
leader_name = Stephen Harper(Progressive Conservative)
leader_name1 = Rodney MacDonald (Progressive Conservative)
leader_name2 = Peter Kelly
leader_name3 = Percy Paris (NDP)
leader_name4 = Krista Snow
established_title = Founded in
established_date = 1776
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unit_pref = Metric (Celsius, centimetres, millimetres)
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population_as_of = 2008
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population_total = 18,100 (est.)
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timezone = AST
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = ADT
utc_offset_DST = -4
latd=44 |latm=48 |lats=07 |latNS=N
longd=63 |longm=41 |longs=17 |longEW=W
elevation_footnotes =
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postal_code_type = Postal Code
postal_code = B4E, B4C, B4G
area_code = 902
website = [http://www.beaverbank.ca www.beaverbank.ca]
footnotes =

Beaver Bank is a community northeast of Lower Sackville on the Beaver Bank Road (Route 354) within the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is about 35 kilometres from the City of Halifax. Beaver Bank has an estimated population of 18,100.

History

The community of Beaver Bank dates back to 1776 when Loyalists from Boston John Henry Barnstead (1764-1861) and his mother, Mary Brown Parcel Barnstead, arrived there. After the War of 1812 George and Robert Barrett, shopkeepers from Oxford, England. In 1816, the Fultz family were granted a thousand acres (4 km²) of land. A museum bears their name in nearby Lower Sackville.

Beaver Bank Station

When the Canadian Railway reached Sackville in the mid-1850s under direction of Joseph Howe, the first Chief Commissioner of the Nova Scotia Railway Company, the next step was to construct a station and freight shed. The Beaver Bank Station served the Sackville/Beaver Bank area until 1956, creating business opportunities for lumbermen by shipping to Halifax.Daniel Hallisey, of County Cork, Ireland, was one of the builders of the original railway. He became the first Station Master. In 1856 he built a house/hotel next to the station, which many say served more as a tavern than anything. The house offered the new assets of a telegraph and post office, which ran for 99 years. Sir Robert Borden was often present at this house for entertainment.

Today, the Beaver Bank Station building remains at the corner of the Beaver Bank Road and Windgate Drive (formerly known as the Windsor Junction Crossroad), and has been converted into a pub called the Black Crow.

Grove Family

The Grove Family offers a rich contribution to Beaver Bank history. Originally from England, the siblings moved to Nova Scotia after living in Philadelphia for several years. The four Grove sisters quickly established a reputation in Halifax due to their prestigious finishing school in the Downtown area. They were described once as: "Those four English sisters whose ability and character influenced for good so large a number of young ladies of that generation."

Woodlands, the Grove residence, was built in Beaver Bank in 1847. The two Grove brothers lived on the property, profitting from saw-milling, brick-making, farming and box-making. In 1880 their sisters returned, and established the Grove School for Young Ladies in its place, which ran until destroyed by fire in 1943.

One or all of the Grove sisters is/are the writer(s) of what is thought to be the first piece of children's literature written in Nova Scotia, possibly even Canada, titled "Little Grace or Scenes in Nova Scotia" .

The sisters also are the main influence behind the construction of the first Anglican Church in Beaver Bank, in 1886: The Church of the Good Shepard, which still remains today.

Beaver Bank "Radar"

The RCAF Station Beaverbank was a long-range Pinetree Line early warning radar station operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, located in Beaver Bank.

RCAF Station Beaverbank was approximately 40 km (25 mi) north of Halifax-Dartmouth. The station sat on 430 acres (1.7 km²) with about a half a mile (800 m) separation between the domestic and the operations site; both sites being divided by the county line between Halifax County (domestic site) and Hants County (operations site).

The "22 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron" was the operational unit posted to the station, its colours having been created in 1953 and the unit made operational a year later in the fall of 1954. The radar unit itself was manually operated and reported to the Fredericton NORAD Sector at RCAF Station St. Margarets until September 1962 when this was changed to the Bangor NORAD Sector at Topsham AFB.

The 22 AC&W became SAGE-operational on January 1, 1964 however this capability did not last long as the station was closed and the squadron disbanded four months later on April 1, 1964 following a NORAD realignment and increasing focus being placed on the DEW Line. After the closure of the base, it had been used briefly as a cement factory.

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Station Beaverbank occupied a unique location in proximity to Canada's largest Atlantic seaport and its biggest naval base, making it an important early warning radar during the manual environment of the 1950s. Since manned bomber raids by the Soviet Union in the area were considered quite likely, it was felt that RCAF Station Beaverbank fulfilled a critical role in the early days of Canada's and North America's air defence. The station was originally financed by the United States Air Force, although operational responsibility rested with the RCAF, until 1962 when the RCAF assumed financial responsibility as well. In the mid 1970s the base was converted for a short time to a cement plant. This was only used for a few years before the base was abandoned completely.

Early entertainment

Residents of Beaver Bank in the 1950s had close access to the First Sackville Drive-In Theatre, and the Sackville Downs Raceway (now Downsview area, Sackville Drive).

pelling

Beaver Bank is often misspelled as "Beaverbank" as it was misprinted on provincial signs for much of the 1980s and 1990s. After the community rallied together in protest for many years, the province re-issued the signs with the correct spelling.

Television

Beaver Bank was home to the first season of "Trailer Park Boys" which was filmed in Woodbine Trailer Park. It is also the home of internet film team Late Night Film Productions.

Facilities/businesses

Convenience stores

*Yohannas Variety Convenience Store - located on cross-section between Beaver Bank Road and Woodbine Drive (recently renamed Welkin Drive).
*Beaver Bank Super Store - located near Beaver Bank Pizza.
*Hartlens Esso - located in Northern Beaverbank, approximately three miles past Kinsac.

Restaurants

*Beaver Bank Pizza - located on the cross-section between Beaver Bank Road and Woodbine Avenue.
*Foosing Chinese Restaurant - located near the Beaver Bank Super Store.
*The Black Crow Pub - located at the railway tracks; the corner of Beaver Bank Road and Windgate Drive.

Golf

*Lost Creek Golf Club: an 18-hole championship golf course within a residential community - located in Lost Creek Subdivision.
*Emerson Ridge Driving Range - Located across from the Beaver Bank Brown Hall and Yohanna Variety Store on the Beaver Bank Road.

Facilities

*Beaver Bank Brown Hall - Located across from Emerson Driving Range and beside Yohanna Variety Store. Available to rent for activities.
*Beaver Bank Community Centre - Located on the Beaver Bank Road beside the Beaver Bank Kinsac Volunteer Fire Department; in front of Beaver Bank Kinsac Elementary School. Also available to rent for activities.

Emergency facilities

*Beaver Bank Volunteer Fire Department - Located beside the Beaver Bank Community Center; on the Beaver Bank Road.
*Beaver Bank Dispatch - Located on the Beaver Bank Road; beside Beaver Bank Kinsac Volunteer Fire Department.

Camps/day care facilities

*Harold T. Barrett Fun Forest Camp - Used for 2nd Beaver Bank Scouting and Girl Guides; available for rent. - Located on the Beaver Bank Road, past Kinsac. Beaver Bank Lake south of camp.
*First Memories Daycare - Located on the Beaver Bank Road beside Woodbine Mobile Home Park.

Residential areas

Mobile home parks

*Woodbine Trailer Park - Located on the Beaver Bank Road. Population of 2,512 (est.). Roughly 628 Trailers/Mobile Homes.
*Millwood(?) Mobile Home Park - Located on Millwood Drive just as you turn in from the intersection of Beaver Bank Road, Stokil Drive and Millwood Drive.

ubdivisions

*Greenforest Subdivision - Located beside Barrett Lake and on the Beaver Bank Road.
*Barrett Subdivision - Located near Harold T. Barrett Junior High School on the Beaver Bank Road.
*Monarch/Rivendale Subdivision - Located near Beaver Bank Monarch Drive Elementary School and Majestic Avenue.
*Lost Creek Subdivision - Located between Beaver Bank Road and Kinsac Road.

chools

Elementary schools

*Beaver Bank - Kinsac Elementary School - Grades Primary, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six.
*Beaver Bank Monarch - Drive Elementary School - Grades Primary, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six.

Junior high schools

*Harold T. Barrett Junior High School - Grades Seven and Eight.
*Leslie Thomas Junior High School - Grades Seven and Eight.

High schools

*Lockview High School - In Fall River - Grades Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve.
*Sackville High School - In Lower Sackville - Grades Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve.
*Millwood High School - In Lower Sackville - Grades Ten, Eleven, and Twelve

References

*Harvey, Robert P., Images of Our Past: Historic Sackville

External links

* [http://www.destination-ns.com/common/places.asp?PlaceID=1106 Beaver Bank on Destination Nova Scotia]
* [http://halifax.ca/civicaddress/documents/Beaver_Bank_Kinsac.pdf HRM Civic Address Map]
* [http://bkes.ednet.ns.ca/ Beaver Bank - Kinsac Elementary School]
* [http://bbmd.ednet.ns.ca/ Beaver Bank - Monarch Drive Elementary School]
* [http://htbarrett.ednet.ns.ca/ Harold T. Barrett Junior High School]