Article

St Peter's

Published Online September 24, 2012

Last Edited March 4, 2015

St Peter's, NS, incorporated as a village in, inc 1940. St Peter's is situated between St Peter's Inlet and St Peter's Bay on the south shore of Cape Breton Island.

St Peter's, NS, incorporated as a village in, inc 1940. St Peter's is situated between St Peter's Inlet and St Peter's Bay on the south shore of Cape Breton Island. Nicolas Denys established a fortified fishing and trading post here in 1650. It was also used to supply Louisbourg with wood. After the fall of the fortress in 1758, Loyalists settled here among the remaining French. Farming and fishing were the major activities until 1869, when St Peter's Canal was opened. St Peter's then became important to sailing ships using the 0.8 km long canal as the safest and most efficient route between the Cape Breton interior and the Atlantic Ocean.

Today, St Peter's is a quiet village with a few tourist attractions, including St Peter's Canal National Historic Site and a historic blacksmith shop. The canal is now used mainly by pleasure craft.