Bear Brook, Pictou County
Bear Brook, Nova Scotia (West Pictou)
Bear Brook Geography
- Official Name: Bear Brook
- Geographic Feature Type Category: Hydrographic Feature
- Geographic Feature Type: Brook
- Affiliated Communities: Alma, Mount William, Westville Road,
- Latitude / Longitude: 45.575046, -62.742112
Bear Brook Maps
Bear Brook, Nova Scotia (East Pictou)
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Bear Brook Geography
- Official Name: Bear Brook
- Geographic Feature Type Category: Hydrographic Feature
- Geographic Feature Type: Brook
- Affiliated Communities: Barneys River Station, Marshy Hope
Maps
About Bear Brook
There are two brooks in Pictou County known as Bear Brook.
- one is located near the Mount William area and flows towards Alma into the Middle River of Pictou. Fox Brook and Waters Brook both flow into this tributary.
Before the main seam of coal was discovered in the Westville area about 1865, a previous small shaft was operated on the old Middle River Road, on the Westville side of the brook.
The Nova Scotia Coal and Steel Company also built a rail line from the mine in Westville down over Bear Brook and to the I.C.R. near Riverton. This line was eventually torn up in 1887, (the old roadbed was used for many years as a rifle range).
In 2012 the Pictou County Rivers Association completed a restoration project on this brook that involved the placement of armour stone, trees, and grass. - the second is located on the west side of the Browns Mountain Range, and flows south west towards Barneys River Station into Barneys River.
This brook also influenced the name of a geologic stratigraphy, the Bear Brook Formation, which consists of andesite and rhyolite glows, tuffs, tuffaceous sandstones and conglomerates. The following geological paper contains more information on the geology of this area. A geocache is hidden at Bear Brook near the Marshy Hope area.
Pictou County once contained more brooks with this name. Mill Brook was originally called Bear Brook after Thomas and John Fraser trapped a large bear there on their first visit. It was however later renamed to Mill Brook in 1808 because of a mill built there.
Sources
Nova Scotia Place Names – T. Brown / History of Westville – A. Roy / Pictou County Rivers Association / novascotia.ca
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