Bridgeville, Nova Scotia
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- Official Community Name: Bridgeville
- Geographic Feature Type Category: Populated Place
- Geographic Feature Type: Community
- Latitude / Longitude:45.434078, -62.608246
- NTS Map Number: 011E07
- 1879 Pictou County Atlas: Section 16
- Nova Scotia Land Grant Map Number: Crown Land Grant Map 088
- Nova Scotia 1:10k Topographic Map Number: 1045400062500 (Sunnybrae)
- Other Maps
Bridgeville is a small rural community located along Route 348 in the East River Valley south-east of Grants Lake. It was probably named because of one of the principal bridges that crossed the East River was built here. Settlement in this area began about 1785.
A Presbyterian Church was built in 1892, and much later an Anglican Church was also built (but then later moved to Windsor Junction in 1938). The first school house opened in 18744, and a postal way office was established in 1857.
Bridgeville was once the scene of substantial iron mining operations.
Between 1828 and 1904, about 188,000 tons of iron ore were produced from the area. Many of the mine shafts are believed to still exist in the area, although most are hard to find due to over growth. There are also many areas on the hills with overgrown dump piles, sometimes exposed by brooks.
In 1872 Sir William Dawson (for whom the mineral dawsonite is named) undertook extensive explorations in the area. In 1904, several hundred pounds of ore were shipped to the Louisiana World Exposition, and won a Gold Medal. More information and historic details about the geology and minerals of this area can be found at http://nsminerals.atspace.com/Bridgeville.html
A sample of Goethite from one of the Bridgeville mines (shown in the photo on the left) is displayed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
The population of Bridgeville in 1956 was 182.
Using the crowd sourced Find a Grave app, you can search the Bridgeville Cemetery for names, details and photos
[Source: Nova Scotia Place Names – T. Brown / Places of Nova Scotia – C. Bruce Fergusson / History of the County of Pictou – George Patterson / wikipedia.org ]
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