Information from "A Natural History of Kings County "
published by The Blomidon Naturalists Society
Acadia University
ISBN 0-921476-03-5    Revised August 1993
pages 43 and 44

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"Today, signs of Acadian occupation in Kings County can be found by careful observers. Cellars and collapsed chimneys are usually the only remaining features of Acadian sites, but most cellars have been destroyed or filled by cultivation. Acadian houses were low, one room buildings. They were built of logs, has thatched roofs and clay chimneys. The cellars were about 1 m deep with stone walls.

Acadians brought plants from France and cultivated them along with certain native ones. Some of the more common trees now found about old homesites are Lombardy Poplar, Black Cherry, French Willow and English Oak. At least seven types of apple trees were introduced by Acadians. Among the commonly grown flowers, shrubs and herbs were Motherwort, Sweet Brier and Bouncing Bet. The shrub, Daphne, was also introduced. It persists today and has not spread far from the Acadian settlements. Look for it growing wild south of Grand-Pré, in the White Rock area and in Pereau. They also introduced the Red Fly Honeysuckle. It is common in Kings County, occurring at New Minas, Grand-Pré, and at the site of a tidal mill on Elderkin Brook in Kentville. Hyssop, a herb brought here by the Acadians, is found today in Nova Scotia only in an outwash pasture of Curry Brook near Wallbrook. Other plants common today in Kings county that were first introduced by the Acadians include Wormwood, Chicory, Slender Vetch, Caraway, Hops and Tansy. Initially, these plants were used for medicinal and culinary purposes.

The Pereau settlement, named after the governor, Francis-Marie Perrot, extended as far north as Blomidon, and had an estimated population of 50 persons. Fishing was likely the major occupation since the land around the river shows no signs of dyking. Possible dwelling sites have been found west of the cemetery in Upper Pereau, and cornerstones of what is believed to be an early Acadian house are present along the Border Brook Trail in Blomindon Park.

The Acadian population along Habitant Creek numbered about 75, but no remains of Acadian cellars or dykes have been found. A large population also prospered along the Canard River where seven sites, including a blacksmith shop, have been found. There were also orchards and cellars at Upper Dyke but these have now been destroyed by farming. There may have been an Acadian windmill on the higher ground along Church Street.

The New Minas area was settled in 1720 by settlers from Grand Pre. The tidal marsh was extremely rich and soon the settlement was large enough to have a priest and a church. Most site remains are cellars found north of the railway tracks between Jones Road and Cornwallis Avenue. It is believed there was a tidal mill at the outlet of Elderkin Brook, at the eastern end of Kentville. Although this would be an ideal site for such a mill, the only evidence of its existence is the presence of plants typical of those grown by the Acadians. The Gaspereau Valley was also important for its mills. Virtually all the streams flowing into the Gasperau River from the Southern Upland had Acadian mills on them.

Grand Pre may not have been the largest Acadian settlement in Minas, but it was the best known. At the western edge of Grand Pre there were about 28 cellars, and on Long Island there were at least seven more. It was generally thought that all surface evidence of Acadian sites had been obliterated by two centuries of agriculture activities throughout the Grand Pre area. However, in the mid 1950's, systematic aerial photographic surveys were conducted in the Grand Pre area by the federal National Parks and Historic Sites. Black and white film and infrared sensitive film were used, and these revealed old field boundaries, early dyke walls and outlines of foundations not detectable at ground level."

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