Kentville is a town in Kings County, Nova Scotia. It is one of the main towns in the Annapolis Valley, and it is the county seat of Kings County. As of 2006, the town of Kentville had a population of 5816 people and the Kentville area had a population of 25,969, although it is closely integrated with adjacent communities of Coldbrook and New Minas making a combined population of 14,613 to form the most populous and fastest-growing community in the Annapolis Valley.^{[citation needed]}.

History

Kentville owed its location to the Cornwallis River which downstream from Kentville becomes a large tidal river. Kentville was the limit of navigation of sailing ships and more importantly was the most accessible crossing place on the river. The ford and later the bridge at Kentville made the settlement an important crossroads for settlements in the Annapolis Valley.

Acadian settlement

The area was first settled by Acadians, who built many dykes along the river to keep the high Bay of Fundy tides out of their farmland. These dykes created the ideal fertile soil that the Annapolis Valley is known for. The Acadians were expelled from the area in 1755 by the British authorities because they would not swear allegiance to the British King. The area was then settled by New England Planters. Settlement was expedited by the United Empire Loyalists during the American Revolution.

English settlement

The town was originally known as Horton's Corner, but was named Kentville in 1826 after Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (brother of King George III and father of Queen Victoria), who visited the area in 1794. The village was at first relatively small and dwarfed by larger valley towns with better harbours such as Canning and Wolfville. The crossroads location did attract early shopkeepers and several stagecoach inns. Kentville developed a reputation for rowdy drinking and horseraces in the early 19th century, earning the nickname "the Devil's half acre."

The former Cornwallis Inn, centretown, Kentville.

Growth

When the Windsor and Annapolis railway (later named Dominion Atlantic Railway) established its headquarters in Kentville in 1868 and began shipping Annapolis Valley apples to British markets, the community began to thrive. The railway not only employed a large number of people, up to a third of the town's population, but also attracted other industries such as mills, dairies, a large foundry, and a carriage works which even entered autombobile production. The railway also attracted large institutional developments such as a large regional TB hospital, the Kentville Sanitorium, a federal agricultural research station and an army training base at Camp Aldershot. The town became a major travel centre highlighted by the large Cornwallis Inn built at the town's centre by the railway.

Post war challenges

Kentville faced serious challenges after World War Two. The dominant apple industry suffered severe declines due to the loss of its Brtish export market. The near-by military training base at Camp Aldershot was significantly downsized. Most signigicantly the town's major employer, the Dominion Atlantic Railway suffered serious declines with the collapse of the apple idustry and the growth of highway travel. Further decline followed in the 1970s as the town lost its retail core to the growth of shopping malls and later "big box" stores in near-by New Minas. The town was also eclipsed in restaurant, upscale retail and cultural institutions by the near-by university town of Wolfville. Kentville lost many heritage buildings in the postwar period and is one of the only towns in Nova Scotia without a single designated heritage building. Major losses included the large railway station, one of the most historic in Canada which was demolished in 1990. In July 2007 the town demolished the last railway structure in town, the roundhouse, despite protests and calls for it to be restored and developed as a retail and cultural centre.

Industries

During the early part of the 20th century Kentville emerged as the business centre of Kings County and desite the post-war loss of commerce to other valley communities, it remains the professional centre of the Annapolis Valley. Kentville is home to numerous professional services such as lawyers offices, doctors, and investment firms. On the outskirts of the town is the Valley Regional Hospital, built in 1991. The town is also home to the Annapolis Valley Regional Industrial Park which employs numerous people in the area through a variety of different businesses.

Agriculture, especially fruit crops such as apples, remain a prominent industry in the Kentville area, and throughout the eastern part of the valley. Kentville is home to one of the largest agricultural research facilities in Nova Scotia founded in 1911, known to the locals as The Research Centre. The site now employs over 200 people and sits on 473 acres of the land at the east end of the town.

Kentville shares its northern boundary along the Cornwallis River with Camp Aldershot, a military training base founded in 1904. At its peak during World War II, the camp housed approximately 7000 soldiers. Kentville native Donald Ripley wrote a book chronicling the state of Camp Aldershot entitled "On The Home Front"[1] Today the camp functions as an army reserve training centre and is the headquarters of The West Nova Scotia Regiment.

Community events

The Apple Blossom Festival, founded in 1933 is held each May to celebrate the blossoming of local apple orchards. It is centred primarily in Kentville, with events occurring in several other communities in the Annapolis Valley. The biggest event is the Grand Street Parade, lasting about 2 hours, and comprised of floats from local businesses, and organizations and community groups. The annual fireworks display is sponsored by one of the region's largest employers, the Michelin tire company, which has a large plant in Waterville, a village to the west of Kentville. [2].

Famous residents

(From in or near Kentville, including the former Township of Cornwallis)

• Composer [Robert Aitken (composer)|Robert Aitken]]
• Former NHLer Jerry Byers
• Actor Peter Donat
• Inventor of kerosene Abraham Gesner
• Comedian Jay Malone
• Linguist Silas Tertius Rand
• Zoologist Austin L. Rand

Education

Education in the area is serviced by Kings County Academy in Kentville, serving grades primary through eight, the local high school is Northeast Kings Education Centre, located 20-25 minutes away in Canning. There are also several post secondary institutions, the Kingstec campus of the Nova Scotia Community College is located on the north fringe of town and Acadia University[3], is located in nearby Wolfville.

Recreation

Kentville also boasts a number of high quality recreational facilities. The Kentville Arena (now the Kentville Centennial Arena) is thought to have hosted the first ever summer ice hockey school. The town also houses a large indoor soccer arena and numerous other outdoor baseball and soccer fields, and playgrounds for local children. Kentville Memorial Park (considered to be one of the best baseball parks in Canada east of Montreal) is home to the Kentville Wildcats, a senior baseball team, who have won several NSSBL championships and one Canadian championship.

Sister city

The town of Kentville has a sister city named Camrose in Alberta.

References

• The Devil's Half Acre: A Look at Kentville's Past Mable Nichols, Kentville Centennial Committee, 1968.
• Historic Kentville Louis V. Comeau, Nimbus, 2003.

External links

• Town of Kentville Official Site
• Photographs of the Kentville War Memorial monument
• Photographs of the Kentville Veterans Memorial Park
• Photographs of the Kentville Veterans Memorial Bench and Sundial
• Kings County Museum
• Annapolis Valley Tourism.com

Coordinates: 45°04′39″N, 64°29′45″W

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