Portapique () is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province 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 ...

, located in

Colchester County Colchester County ( Scottish-Gaelic: Siorramachd Colchester) is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. With a population of 51,476 the county is the fourth largest in Nova Scotia. Colchester County is located in north central Nova Sc ...

. It has about 100 residents in winter and increases to 250 residents in summer. Situated near the mouth of the Portapique River, which flows into the

Minas Basin The Minas Basin () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides. Geography The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits ...

, its economy is based mainly on farming and some forestry. It was the site of an

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

settlement called ''Porcepic'' or ''Vil Port-au-pique'' named after porcupines in the area. After the

Expulsion of the Acadians The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...

in 1755, the community was resettled in the late 1760s and early 1770s by

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

families from the Londonderry Township settlement in nearby

Great Village Great Village is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located along the north shore of Cobequid Bay in Colchester County. The community includes the localities of Highland Village and Scrabble Hill. Settlement ...

, joined by a later wave of Northern Irish settlers in the 1820s. In the 1840s, the small mixed farms of Portapique developed an important

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

fishery, exporting thousand of barrels of pickled shad to the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

fish markets. A unique regional boat suited to the tidal rivers of the area was developed around Portapique by boat builders such as William G. Hall. The commercial shad fishery collapsed in the 1920s, although a seasonal recreational fishery has remained popular. In April 2020, Portapique was one of the locations of the

2020 Nova Scotia attacks On April 18 and 19, 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman committed Spree killer, multiple shootings and Arson, set fires at 16 locations in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people, and injuring ...

, the deadliest spree killing in Canadian history. 13 of the shooting's victims were in Portapique.

References

Communities in Colchester County Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia Populated places established in the 1760s {{ColchesterNS-geo-stub