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245 MAIN ST
Parrsboro,
Nova Scotia
B0M 1S0
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Nova Scotia Tourism Region : Bay of Fundy & Annapolis Valley
Description From Owner:
- Mi'kmaw called the place Awokun, 'a portage or shortcut.'
- There were scattered settlements of Acadians along this shore of the Minas Basin as early as 1670, and by 1730 Jean Bourg and François Arsenault operated a ferry service across the basin from Partridge Island.
- This was a strategic link between the French settlements at the head of Chignecto Bay and those at Minas.
- With the influx of New England Planters and Loyalists following the 1755 Expulsion of the Acadians, settlement here shifted slowly east to what was then called Mill Village.
- In 1784, Gov. John Parr (1725-91) visited the area and two years later, when a township was established, it was named Parrsborough. Parr was a Loyalist and vice-admiral and was governor from 1782-91.
- That spelling is still used locally for the Parrsborough Shore. In 1889 when incorporated as a town, the name Mill Village was replaced by the name Parrsboro.
- In 1985 the largest fossil find ever in North America was unearthed on the N shore of the Minas Basin near here, including the world's smallest dinosaur tracks at nearby Wasson's Bluff.
- In 1981 the famous and much-travelled ship the Kipawo was brought here for use by a popular theatre troupe called The Ship's Company.
Address of this page:
http://ns.ruralroutes.com/Parrsboro
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Parrsboro's Unique Theatre
In 1924 the passenger and freight carrier Kipawo was launched at Saint John, NB, and put into service as the 33rd vessel in 200 years to carry people and material between Kingsport, Parrsboro and Wolfville, the first two letters of each port, forming her unusual name.
During the 1940s, the 'Kip', as she was affectionately known, was sent to Conception Bay to tend anti-submarine nets, installed because German U-boats were exacting a heavy toll on iron-ore carriers.
After the war she operated as a ferry between Portugal Cove and Bell Island, Newfoundland.
A subsequent owner used her as a tour boat in Terra Nova National Park. While sheltering from a storm in Bonavista Harbour, she broke loose and ran aground, where she remained for several years.
In 1981 the Kipawo Heritage Society of Wolfville brought her back to the Minas Basin, one of only three remaining Second World War Royal Canadian Navy vessels.
She's now owned by the Town of Parrsboro, and sits high and dry at the waterfront, used by a popular theatre troupe called The Ship's Company.
Fundy Geological Museum
at 162 Two Islands Rd. in Parrsboro is near the Bay of Fundy, where the world's highest tides erode the cliffs, exposing 325-million-yearold fossils.
There are models of the landscape where dinosaurs once roamed and displays of the area's rich mineral deposits. Gift shop.
North America's Largest Fossil Find
In 1985 the largest fossil find ever in North America was unearthed on the N shore of the Minas Basin near Parrsboro.
More than 100,000 fossil specimens, some more than 200 million years old, were found, including penny-sized dinosaur footprints.
Rock Hound Roundup is an annual fossil festival held here each August. In 1984 collector Eldon George found the world's smallest dinosaur tracks at Wasson's Bluff.
In January 1986, American paleontologists Paul Olsen and Neil Shubin announced they had recovered hundreds of thousands of bones at Wasson Bluff, the largest fossil find in North America dating from the geological period 200 million years ago known as the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.
Parrsboro Rock & Mineral Shop & Museum
at 349 Whitehall Rd. Parrsboro offers displays of rare fossils of prehistoric dinosaurs, reptiles and amphibians and the world's smallest dinosaur footprint.
Indigenous gemstones and minerals are also shown and are for sale.
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