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LOCATION:

Bayside, located on the shores of Blind Bay at the head of Shag Harbour, is just nineteen kilometers from Halifax along Route #333.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

There is a story that Blind Bay got its name because, at times, the fog rolling up Shag Harbour is so thick it blinds the fishermen in the bay. Bayside, of course, it so named because it is on a bay.

HISTORY:

The Mi'kmaq used to camp nearby in an area called Barkhouse Hill. The hill probably got its name from the Barkhouse family, one of the earlier settlers. But just the same, here the Mi'kmaq used a process involving the bark of trees to prevent their fishing nets from rotting in salt water. They boiled together bark and fish guts until the bark drew the fish oil out of the guts. Then the nets were soaked in the oily solution that acted as a barrier against the seawater.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS:

A descendant of the Fader family, Fendly Fader is credited as the inventor of bleach. Despite an absence of electricity he used a water wheel to power the machinery he used to make his product. Sometime in 1939, a Halifax newspaper ran an advertisement offering $5.00 to anyone whom could come up with a name for the product. The winning entry was "Sunny Monday," Monday was the traditional laundry day for most housewives who would hope for the sun to dry their washing.

In the 1930s, there were a number of successful enterprises established in the area. Captain Noah Zink (Zinck) owned a shipyard near the bay. One of his ships, a schooner named Oakleaf, was constructed entirely out of oak trees growing in the region.

The local three-story hotel, the Bayview, and a lumber mill caught fire in 1935. Wind swept the flames through the village and wiped it out. Some residents, surrounded by flames, had to be evacuated by boat to Shoal Bay on the opposite shore.

GENEALOGY:

The first settlers received their grant on February 4, 1764. Daniel George and Peter Marlow were the first to arrive. Families named Barkhouse, Ernst, Zinck, Fader, Whiston, Longard, Courtney, Balcolm and McGrath followed them.

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