Woodville is a community in Kings County of about 200 people located in the

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. Stat ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The community is situated north of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

and Waterville at the foot of the North Mountain. Centred along Route 221, Woodville has a volunteer fire department, a Baptist church, two auto body shops, a home run automotive mechanic business, and many family-run farms. It is administratively part of the village of Cornwallis Square. A community centre is located in the former school, built in 1942. The former Wesley Knox United Church, built in 1921, was sold in 2006 is now a residence and artist's workshop. Each spring during the

Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival The Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival is an annual agricultural and heritage celebration held in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley usually the last weekend of May. The festival draws tourists to the area to take in a number of festival events ...

, the community comes together to stage a chicken barbecue on Boates' farm the Sunday of the festival, which is known for its chicken recipe that draws visitors from nearby towns. The community was settled in the early 1800s by

New England Planters The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ( ...

who were spreading westward from their initial settlements in the Canning area. It was first known as Kinsmans Corner, after the Kinsman family who ran an early store in the centre of the community but it was renamed "Woodville" in 1864 by residents who voted to name it after Samuel Wood, an early settler, who purchased land there in 1807. Samuel Wood's house is one of the oldest houses in Woodville located on the south side of Rte 221 across from the Boates farm. Woodville became a stop on the

Cornwallis Valley Railway The Cornwallis Valley Railway (CVR) was a historic Canadian railway in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. It was built in 1889 and ran from Kentville to Kingsport serving the Cornwallis Township area of Kings County. For most of its history, i ...

branchline of the

Dominion Atlantic Railway The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley. The Dominion Atlantic Railway was unusually diverse for a ...

in 1914 which greatly stimulated apple production and export. Four large apple warehouses and a station were built in Woodville. The railway operated in Woodville until 1961. The apple industry declined after the Second World War and farmers diversified into other crops, although many large orchards remain in operation around Woodville. Major apple growers in the past included Howard Bligh, W. B. Burgess and Robert Leslie, who became a major leader in apple marketing in Nova Scotia. In later years, the Foote and Boates families became noted apple growers. Margaret Dorothy Atwood (née Killam), the mother of the famous Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, was born in Woodville. Margaret Dorothy's father, Dr. Harold Edwin Killam, served as community doctor for many years.Hazel Foote, ''The Homes of Woodville'', M.A. Jorgenson, Woodville, NS (1997), p. 109

References

Woodville Community Centre WebsiteWesley-Knox United Church of Canada (Woodville)
{{coord, 45, 5, 33.2, N, 64, 39, 15.6, W, display=title Communities in Kings County, Nova Scotia General Service Areas in Nova Scotia