Brier Island is an island in the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

Digby County, Nova Scotia Digby County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. History It was named after the Township of Digby; this was named in honour of Rear Admiral Robert Digby, who dispatched HMS ''Atalanta'' to convey Loyalists from New York City in ...

Geography

The island is the westernmost part of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and the southern end of the North Mountain ridge with

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

lying immediately northeast; both islands constitute part of the

Digby Neck Digby Neck is a Canadian peninsula extending into the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia. Digby Neck is the western extension of the North Mountain range from the Annapolis Valley and is made of two thick lava flows. It is separated from ...

. Brier Island measures approximately long and wide and is made up of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

The island's shoreline measures approximately in length. Brier Island is separated from Long Island by the Grand Passage. Westport is the only village on the island. The population, as of 2016 was 218. There were 98 private dwellings occupied year round. The island is an important stopover point for migrating sea birds. The island's name is believed by some to come from the wild brier roses found there, another possibility is that the original name of the Island was "Bryer's" after a sea captain from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

who was one of the first settlers to spend any time on the island. Another idea is that the name came from Andreas/Andrew Bayerlein whose name was changed to Brier and lived there around 1800. Andreas arrived in America in 1779 a Hessian Soldier from Ansbach, Bayern, Germany to fight in the Revolutionary War. He arrived 1783 in Nova Scotia and married Deborah Horton born Oct 22, 1775 daughter of Levi Horton and Mercy Haskell on December 16, 1794. Baptisms recorded at Church of England in Canada Trinity Anglican Church, Digby all on Nov 23, 1801 included an adult Deborah Brier, an adult Edmund Brier and 3 children of Andrew: Susanna Brier, Andrew Brier and William Brier. (Nova Scotia Church Records 1720-2001 Church of England in Canada Trinity Church, Digby, Cumberland - Baptisms, marriages, burials 1786-1839)

Economy

The local economy is driven by the year-round commercial

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

industry and the seasonal tourism industry, which is largely focused on

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

tours. The island is home to R. E. Robicheau Ltd, a general store with a gas pump, gift shop, and café. On the eastern side of the island is the one hotel, the Brier Island Lodge. There are also several bed and breakfasts, a used book store and gift shops. The island contains the fishing village of Westport which is connected to

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Freeport, name of several space stations in the video game ''Freelancer'' (2003) * Freeport, a fictional town in the video game ''SiN'' (1998) * ''Freeport: The Cit ...

on Long Island by a ferry operated by the provincial government. Brier Island is frequently inundated by

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

and has witnessed 57 recorded

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

s. The island has "a lighthouse per mile" with the Northern and Western lighthouses on the island, as well as the Peter Island lighthouse in Grand Passage; all are automated and are operated by the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

. The wreck of the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

"Aurora" in 1908 provided the lumber for the Westport Community Hall. The Canadian Coast Guard operates CCG Station Westport in the village. The rescue cutter CCGC ''Westport'' provides 24-hour-per-day, 7 days per week response to search and rescue incidents within the eastern

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northea ...

and the southern and eastern

Public library

*Westport Branch Library; Westport

Famous residents

Brier Island was the childhood home of sailor

Joshua Slocum Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 – on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he w ...

who became the first person to circumnavigate the world alone. A monument to Slocum and the bootshop where he worked as a boy can be seen in Westport.

Ecology

The endangered Eastern mountain avens is present on Brier Island.

References