The first recorded killer gale in this area was that of August 1725. The exact date fluctuates from the 24 to the 27 but old documents indicate that Le Chameau, a French ship, went down with 316 people in the Atlantic gale of August 25, 1725.
“August Gales” were first recorded at Sable Island in 1873, and 10 years later, to the day, August 24, 1883, another great gale struck. Then, in what is an eerie coincidence, 10en years later, August 21, 1893, another vicious gale besieged the region.
In August 1904, the area was ravaged once again, this time destroying the initial structure of the first church in Petit de Grat.
In August of both 1926 and 1927, severe storms ravaged the Atlantic coastline of Canada, Newfoundland and the United States. The 1927 Nova Scotia hurricane (also known as the 1927 Great August Gale or the Great Gale of August 24) was a powerful Category 3 hurricane that struck Nova Scotia hard.
A cherished tradition of the Acadian community is that of mi-carême, a word whose literal translation is mid-lent.
This feast was carried to New France by early French immigrants. Traditionally midcareer consisted of dressing in disguise and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours whose role it was to provide food and beverages (often of an alcoholic nature) and to attempt to guess the identities of their masked visitors.
In Louisiana, a beneficiary of the deportation of the Acadians, the ritual of midcareer has evolved into the internationally known festival of Mardi Gras.
In 1884 the Knutsford went down off George’s Bank with all hands; they were mostly Acadians. The list reads: Peter Sampson (Pierre Samson), West Arichat; Henry Bonner (Honore Bonin), West Arichat; Paul Brown (Paul Beausejour), West Arichat; Victor Dago (Victor Dugas), West Arichat; John B. Miller (Jean-Baptiste Meunier), West Arichat; Simon Porrier (Simon Poirier), West Arichat; Edward Young (Edouard LeJeune), West Arichat; James Phelan, Arichat; Honore Samson, L’Ardoise; Alfred Longuepee, L’Ardoise; and Alfred Marchand, Arichat.
Although there were many Acadians later on, the early fishermen from Arichat who migrated to Gloucester were mostly Irish.
In the days before rail and bus service, divided highways and sophisticated vehicles, getting around on Cape Breton was a feat requiring perseverance and ingenuity.
In the face of untended roads, haphazard bridges, hairpin turns and heart-stopping elevations, the most determined travelers were sorely tested.
Inland travel depended on a stage coach, livery, and hotel service that ran from Port Hawkesbury to Sydney in relays. Popular hotels in Port Hawkesbury at this time were Farquhar House, owned and operated by Farquhar MacInnis, one of the early mayors of the town, who later built and operated the Lorraine Hotel on Granville Street in Port Hawkesbury.
The first stop on the trek to Sydney was likely the MacPherson House at Grand Anse where Fraquhar MacPherson ran both the livery stable and the hotel. Here a new team of horses was procured while passengers were afforded the opportunity of rest and refreshment. Other stops along the route such as St. Peter’s, Hay Cove, Big Pond, and East Bay provided similar breaks for horses, drivers, and passengers alike.