As early as 1824 a functioning school existed in
Arichat. By 1834, the school faced insurmountable financial difficulties, and
as a result, the creditors - primarily John Tyrrell, a prominent Arichat
merchant - foreclosed on the property, but instead of...
Rev. Guillame Marin LeBlanc was the son of Pierre LeBlanc and Barbe Martel. He descended from the Acadians of Grand Pré who were deported to Philadelphia in 1755 but eventually returned and settled in Arichat.
In 1880 LeBlanc had opposed...
In 1897 Bertram Bourinot began the Richmond County Record, a periodical that lasted for almost 80 years. Marshall Bourinot worked with his father and continued the paper into the 1970s. The following are excerpts from the Richmond County Record...
Let’s go back to Arichat in 1935.
We have arrived at what is known as “the Head of the
Harbour.” Once again, we encounter a vacant area that extended from Joe
Martell’s to Remi LeBlanc’s, however,...
The following excerpt is taken from Cape Breton Book of the Night edited by Ronald Caplan. This story was taped, transcribed, and translated into English by Jocelyne Marchand.
“I was born in Petit de Grat in 1911. The old women...
Year two at the Arichat seminary/school saw an increase in registration.
The seminarians, some 15 or so, boarded at the old “Hubert Big House.” Forty students enrolled in the common school and academy. Though...
The first missionary to visit Arichat was Father Bailly de Messein, a native of France serving in the diocese of Quebec.
Fr. Bailly was replaced by Father Bourg who directed the parishioners to build...
Ephrem Boudreau was born in River Bourgeois in 1905. After his classical studies, he spent three years at agricultural school. Here he earned bachelors’ degrees in arts and one in agricultural science.
He wrote...
On Arichat’s main street in 1935 was a lane most people referred to as “Godfrey’s Lane” due to the fact that the the LeBlanc home and the G.J. LeBlanc general store were located at the bottom of the lane...
The name D’Escousse has evolved from several variations such as de Coux, Decoux (Thomas Pichon), and Descout, a seaman who frequented the area. The 1752 census used this name. The word “escousse” means stopping off point.