The Town

The fledgling community on the western shores of Cape Breton was born from hard work, determination and a bond that tied the Scots together- survival. They arrived from their homes disposed of, determined and weary after English ill-treatment and persecution after the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746. Some Scots arrived via Pictou, and others by way of St. John’s Island while other settlers trekked from Parrsboro. To be sure it was an adventure of a lifetime that pitted skill and brawn together to eek a living from a wildland that they were not familiar with.

The Sithean was the Gaelic name given to this magical place by the first settler-Angus Mac Isaac that was to become their home. Snuggled along the Gulf of St. Lawrence the agrarian community took a life of its own as the transplanted Scots cleared the fields, sawed timber for their homes, tended to their flocks and raised their families. The Scots had learned a difficult lesson at the hands of William, Duke of Cumberland, commander of the English army in Scotland. In the latter part of the 18th century the Highland Clearances burned the crofter’s houses and under gunpoint were herded to the jetties It was this treatment that saw the mass migration to our island between 1801-1803. It is this backdrop at the hands of the English that ignited the tight bonds between families, neighbours and friends. The primarily Scots settlers who arrived in Nova Scotia were a sorry lot and in a desperate state. The then Lieutenant-Governor John Parr, granted them provisions for a year since the colony needed men to settle, clear and farm the land.

The immigrants were welcomed and the colonist government did whatever it could to keep the settlers in the growing colony. As the communities established themselves other nationalities came to the shores of western Cape Breton. As the 18th and 19th centuries took a foothold, waves of disposed of workers arrived on the shores of Nova Scotia. Coal mining was a lucrative job and the community of Inverness became a mosaic of nationalities, cultures and languages. In its hay day, Inverness boasted international status with Scots, Irish, Belgians, Russians, English, Poles, French, Dutch, Italians, Hungarians, Chinese and others.

The first man to hit bottom in western Cape Breton was Angus Mac Isaac, a determined and hard-working man from the Isle of Canna in Scotland. He arrived in Nova Scotia with his wife Catherine and five sons in 1791 and took a different route. They arrived in Pictou aboard the Brig Alexander, travelled to Cape d’Or and remained there for nine years. He left there and settled in Antigonish for three years. However, he was unsettled and wanted a spot that reminded him of his home in Scotland so they set forth by boat and came across a special and mythical as well as peaceful land he called the Sithean. The year was 1803 and Angus had arrived on the beach of what is now called Inverness.

In 1811 all the land in Broad Cove was settled and owned by 4 families. Angus Mac Isaac was granted 600 acres from the shoreline to 2 miles inland so his grant took up from Broad Cove Banks to Loch Leven-the Corner. His brother Allan who had arrived from St. Johns Island- P.E.I. obtained a grant of 400 acres adjacent to his brother Angus, from Loch Leven-the Corner to the south of present-day Forest St. Note- Allan was the first person buried in the Shean Cemetery overlooking the Inverness Beach. The present-day cairn was erected in 1991 and officially unveiled on July 27, 1991 by Mamie Gillis and Edward Alex Aucoin.

This cemetery is blessed ground and holds the remains of our first settler, Angus Mac Isaac, his wife Catherine, Allan Mac Isaac, his wife Mary Mac Isaac, James Mac Isaac ad others. Roderick Mac Lean who had arrived in 1810 from the Isle of Rum in Scotland acquired 400 acres adjacent to Allan MacIsaac’s on Forest St. to MacLeod Street and Number Two. This grant was to become the spot of present-day Inverness. Donald Mac Isaac acquired land on the other side of the Big River where Inverside is located today.

The immigrants were welcomed and the colonist government did whatever it could to keep the settlers in the growing colony. As the communities established themselves other nationalities came to the shores of western Cape Breton. As the 18th and 19th centuries took a foothold, waves of disposed of workers arrived on the shores of Nova Scotia. Coal mining was a lucrative job and the community of Inverness became a mosaic of nationalities, cultures and languages. In its hay day, Inverness boasted international status with Scots, Irish, Belgians, Russians, English, Poles, French, Dutch, Italians, Hungarians, Chinese and others.

As the community grew it took on several names such as Sithean, the Shean, Broad Cove and finally Inverness. It was thought that a booming mining town should have its own identity so the general manager of the Inverness Railway and Coal Company, J.L. Brass convened a meeting with the population of the town to decide on an appropriate name. Since the majority of citizens were from Scotland and especially Inverness shire it was passed that the community be called Inverness after their homeland. On April 6, 1904, the town of Inverness was incorporated with much fanfare, parades and celebrations. The first mayor was Dan R. Mac Lean, the great-grandson of one of the first settlers Roderick Mac Lean-1811.

Inverness had a new infrastructure with a thriving mine owned by William Penn Hussey and managed by his son, J. Fred Hussey, businesses, restaurants, hotels, new company houses and new churches and schools being built. It was the dawn of a new age for the incorporated town and as we say- the rest is history.

The following quotes are from residents of Inverness during the mining era. The discussions below recount daily life, living in the company houses and more in the early 20th century…

The Company House

“You had a single, the basic house was half a double house and the basic share of that was four rooms, two up and two down and the bedroom had to be shared by both boys and girls and they all seemed to survive very well. The typical house had running water and electricity. We had no water meters, no electric meters, no gas meters. The rent you paid included the electricity but the electricity was fairly limited to 15 amp service.” - Mr. S, born 1920

Childhood

“My memories of my childhood were very pleasant. We didn’t have toys that children these days have. We had to find our own games and ways of entertaining ourselves. I can remember my father Christmas bought me a doll, I thought that was just wonderful. All we got was one doll. These days everybody gets 10 or 15 different things for Christmas.” Mrs. R., born 1914

Cuisine

“We were poor but we had enough to eat. My mother used to make bread. And there was this woman who used to bring and sell homemade butter and fresh eggs from the farm every week with her little one-horse buggy. There was a farm and once in a while, they used to kill to cut the meat down into thin pieces and layer it with meat, bay leaves and all kinds of spices, salt and pepper and then another layer of meat. So many layers until it came so high and then they used to put a heavy stone to weigh down the meat.” - Mrs. F, born 1915