Pugwash, Nova Scotia

Pugwash
Village

Seal
Motto: World Famous for Peace
Pugwash

Location of Pugwash in Nova Scotia

Coordinates: 45°51′00″N 63°39′40″W / 45.850°N 63.661°W / 45.850; -63.661Coordinates: 45°51′00″N 63°39′40″W / 45.850°N 63.661°W / 45.850; -63.661
Country  Canada
Province  Nova Scotia
County Cumberland
Founded Early 1700s
Electoral Districts     
Federal
Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley
Provincial Cumberland North
Government
 • Governing Body Pugwash Village Commission
 • Chair Christie Blackie
 • MLA Terry Farrell (L)
 • MP Bill Casey (L)
Area
 • Total 9.83 km2 (3.80 sq mi)
Elevation 5 m (16 ft)
Population (2006)
 • Total 784
 • Density 79.7/km2 (206/sq mi)
Time zone ATS
Postal Code B0K 1L0
Area code(s) +1-902-243
Website The Village Of Pugwash

Pugwash (2006 population: 784) is a Canadian village in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.

The village is home to fishing, salt mining, and small-scale manufacturing and is situated on the Northumberland Strait at the mouth of the Pugwash River.

Pugwash takes its name from the native Mi'kmaq word, "Pagweak," meaning "Shallow Water",[1][2] in reference to a reef near the mouth of the harbour, making navigation through the shallow waters difficult.

Pugwash sits atop a salt deposit measuring 457.2 m thick and is home to the largest underground salt mine in Atlantic Canada, with shipments from its port, as well as by rail from a facility at Oxford Junction.

History

Pugwash is famous for being the site of an international conference of scholars organized by Bertrand Russell in 1957, and hosted by Pugwash's native son, steel magnate Cyrus Eaton (1883–1979), at the lodge on property owned by the Pugwash Park Commission located just north of the village. This conference brought high-level scientists from both sides of the Cold War divide to state their opposition to nuclear weapons. This meeting was a follow-up to an earlier statement of notables whose signatories had included Albert Einstein and Linus Pauling, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. The name Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs has since been used to refer to the group, although citizens in Pugwash generally term these visitors as the "Great Thinkers."

Visitors entering Pugwash were once greeted by roadside signs announcing that they were entering the "Home of the Thinkers," but the signs have since been replaced by a newer slogan "World Famous for Peace". The switch was made in response to the 1995 awarding of the Nobel Prize to the International Pugwash conferences "for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms".

Pugwash Lighthouse looks out onto the Northumberland Strait.

The Crowley Memorial was erected in 1870 at Pugwash, Nova Scotia by the Legislature of Nova Scotia in honour of Mary E. Crowley, who died October 1869, aged 12 years after rescuing her younger brother and sister from a house fire. This is believed to be the first public monument ever erected to a woman in Canada.[3]

A myth about the village is that the children's cartoon character Captain Pugwash was named after the international organisation that takes its name from the town, but the character, in fact, first appears in 1950, several years before the planning of the first Pugwash conference took place.

Pugwash is also home to many descendants of Highland Scots who immigrated to the region in the 19th century. All street signs in the town are bilingual with both English and Gaelic translations. The village celebrates its Scottish heritage each July 1, with the annual Gathering of the Clans and Fisherman's regatta. The Pugwash area, and indeed the entire north shore of Nova Scotia, is famed for its warm waters and sandy beaches. Some claim the waters in summer here are the warmest waters north of the Carolinas in the United States.

The creation of pewter crafts and souvenirs is another important industry in Pugwash. The village has an elementary school, named after Cyrus Eaton, as well as a regional high school that draws students from around rural Cumberland County. Pugwash has a farmers market that runs on Saturdays during the summer months.

The Pugwash railway station, designed by sir Sanford Fleming and completed in 1892, is a registrered historic site under the Heritage Property Act of Nova Scotia.

Climate

Climate data for Pugwash (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 18.0
(64.4)		 17.0
(62.6)		 19.0
(66.2)		 25.5
(77.9)		 32.2
(90)		 33.5
(92.3)		 36.0
(96.8)		 35.0
(95)		 32.5
(90.5)		 26.5
(79.7)		 23.0
(73.4)		 16.5
(61.7)		 36.0
(96.8)
Average high °C (°F) −2.4
(27.7)		 −1.3
(29.7)		 2.5
(36.5)		 8.4
(47.1)		 15.5
(59.9)		 21.0
(69.8)		 24.7
(76.5)		 24.1
(75.4)		 19.8
(67.6)		 13.3
(55.9)		 7.3
(45.1)		 1.2
(34.2)		 11.2
(52.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2)		 −6
(21)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 4.3
(39.7)		 10.6
(51.1)		 15.9
(60.6)		 19.8
(67.6)		 19.4
(66.9)		 15.3
(59.5)		 9.2
(48.6)		 3.7
(38.7)		 −2.8
(27)		 6.7
(44.1)
Average low °C (°F) −11.8
(10.8)		 −10.6
(12.9)		 −5.9
(21.4)		 0.2
(32.4)		 5.8
(42.4)		 10.8
(51.4)		 14.8
(58.6)		 14.5
(58.1)		 10.8
(51.4)		 5.2
(41.4)		 0.2
(32.4)		 −6.8
(19.8)		 2.3
(36.1)
Record low °C (°F) −33.0
(−27.4)		 −37.0
(−34.6)		 −27.5
(−17.5)		 −13.0
(8.6)		 −5.6
(21.9)		 −1.0
(30.2)		 2.8
(37)		 3.0
(37.4)		 −5.0
(23)		 −6.0
(21.2)		 −20.0
(−4)		 −29.0
(−20.2)		 −37.0
(−34.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 88.1
(3.469)		 64.8
(2.551)		 77.4
(3.047)		 81.9
(3.224)		 95.3
(3.752)		 81.5
(3.209)		 72.7
(2.862)		 78.5
(3.091)		 98.1
(3.862)		 103.8
(4.087)		 99.7
(3.925)		 96.4
(3.795)		 1,038.2
(40.874)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 40.1
(1.579)		 26.4
(1.039)		 41.9
(1.65)		 69.6
(2.74)		 93.9
(3.697)		 81.5
(3.209)		 72.7
(2.862)		 78.5
(3.091)		 98.1
(3.862)		 103.8
(4.087)		 91.2
(3.591)		 57.7
(2.272)		 855.4
(33.677)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 47.9
(18.86)		 38.5
(15.16)		 35.5
(13.98)		 12.3
(4.84)		 1.4
(0.55)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 8.5
(3.35)		 38.8
(15.28)		 182.8
(71.97)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 12.2 10.3 12.7 13.9 14.3 13.0 11.8 11.3 11.9 14.0 15.5 14.0 154.8
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 4.8 4.0 7.5 12.5 14.3 13.0 11.8 11.3 11.9 14.0 14.1 8.2 127.4
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 7.7 6.7 6.3 2.7 0.25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1 6.3 32.0
Source: Environment Canada[4]

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Pugwash include:

Parks

The Northumberland Strait from the Gulf Shore Rd in the Pugwash area.

References

  1. ↑ Cumberland County Facts and Folklore - Laurie Glenn Norris, 2009, Nimbus Publishing, ISBN 978-1-55109-731-2
  2. ↑ Ganong, William Francis, An organization of the scientific investigation of the Indian place-nomenclature of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Ottawa : Printed for the Royal Society of Canada, 1914.) http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6249091_000/pages/ldpd_6249091_000_00000029.html?toggle=image&menu=maximize&top=&left=
  3. ↑ Morgan, Henry James Types of Canadian women and of women who are or have been connected with Canada : (Toronto, 1903)
  4. ↑ "Pugwash, Nova Scotia". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Charles Aubrey Eaton, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed September 9, 2007.
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