Port-Lajoye
– A lifeline beautifully starlit

In the summer of 1720, Pointe à la Framboise and Pointe à la Flamme masterfully guard the entrance channel to the port which will take the name of LaJoye because the site provoked among the first islanders of Isle St. Jean a feeling of great happiness. After four months of exhausting navigation more than 250 … Read more

Tracadie
– An ideal place in many ways

The first settlers of Tracadie, a Mi’kmaq name meaning “ideal place to settle,” arrive in 1728. Working cooperatively as a group, they build an Acadian log cabin of the size needed to adequately house four distinct families, that is to say the Boudrot, the Bourg (Michel and Charles, two families) and the Belliveau. They settle … Read more

Savage Harbour
– French name change in respect of First Nations

We know that the Mi’kmaq people gradually settled on Isle St. Jean about 3,000 years ago. They were nomads and lived their daily life by hunting and fishing most of the year. In addition, they ate all kinds of dried fruits, vegetables and wild berries which they pounded and then dried into round patties. However, … Read more

East Point
– Cod’s country

According to the first census of Isle St. Jean in 1728, East Point (formerly Pointe-de-l´Est) had twelve inhabitants divided into four families, namely the Churin, the Durocher, the Giraud and the Rochefort. Mathieu Churin was the first to settle there in 1719. Joseph Durocher and Nicolas Giraud arrived in 1720, and Rochefort in 1728. All … Read more

Rustico
– A historic place that has had many names

Before the arrival of the Europeans on Isle St. Jean, the Mi’kmaqs were familiar with Rustico Bay in the middle of the Northern Coast. They even gave it the name Tabooetooetun, meaning “place with two arms”. In fact, the bay is made up of a north arm and a south arm. This geographic observation is … Read more

St. Peter’s Harbour
– A must-see historic site in America

According to the first census of Isle St. Jean by the French government in Louisbourg in 1728, François Douville (fisherman) was the first to permanently reside in St. Peter’s Harbour. Although written history of the place does not reveal the circumstances of his arrival, it can be inferred from his stated occupation that it was … Read more

Brudenell Point
– The entrepreneurship of Jean-Pierre Roma

It all started in June 1732 with the arrival at Brudenell Point of three French merchant vessels coming directly from France without any soldiers. One of the ships brought fishermen and navigators to Isle St. Jean, a second transported 80 “indentured servants” meaning workers who contractually subscribed for three years of work, and a third … Read more

Malpeque
– Archeological Discovery at Pointe-aux-Vieux

Malpeque is the French derivative of the mi’kmaq word “magpeg”, meaning “the bay which swells” according to the tides. The Mi’kmaqs of historic Lennox Island on the northwest zone of Magpeg say they have lived on this beautiful and generous bay for thousands of years. Recent archaeological excavations in Pitawelkek reveal that various activities took … Read more

Mount Stewart
– Ascending the river of the Northeast

The history of the river of the Northeast (today Hillsborough River) is largely the history of the genesis of the Acadian people of Prince Edward Island. In 1720, the first two Acadian families on the island permanently established themselves at each extremity of the waterway, one at its mouth, Port LaJoye, and the other at … Read more