Kingsport, one of Nova Scotia’s charming seaside communities, is located in Kings County, a few kilometers east of Canning in one of the province’s oldest settled areas. It is northeast of the mouth of the Habitant River on the west side of Minas Basin. Its earliest name was Indian Point and as indicated by the name, was believed to be a summer settlement of the Mi'kmaq. The name was changed to Oak Point by the first permanent residents, New England Planters, to reflect the number of oak trees that grew along the bank of the south side of the lower road leading to the wharf. The name was eventually (and permanently) changed to Kingsport, as shipyards and a shipping pier made it the leading port in Kings County.

There are conflicting accounts of Kingsport's founding history by settlers. One source states that Indian Point was granted to Benjamin Newcomb in 1761. Another states that Isaac Bigelow was given a grant of land in Oak Point by Lord Cornwallis in 1761. Bigelow had sailed from Connecticut with other New Englanders to settle in and farm in Nova Scotia. It is difficult to be sure which source is more accurate but most people accept the second statement as there are multiple records indicating that several Bigelows were among the first settlers in the area and the family was involved in the shipbuilding trade in Kingsport for at least five generations. 

Kingsport Wharf

Shipbuilding and the Railway

Shipbuilding emerged as a major industry in Kingsport beginning in 1833 with the launch of the schooner Emerald. "Some of the largest and finest ships ever built in Canada were designed and built by Ebenezer Cox of Kingsport," according to shipping historian Frederick William Wallace. Starting with the schooner Diadem in 1864, Cox became the master shipbuilder for a series of partnerships which built over 30 vessels of increasing size. The shipyard included a large mill and blacksmith shop. Tugboats brought rafts of timber from the Cape Blomidon area. The Kingsport yards reached their peak in 1890 with the launch of the four-masted barque Kings County and the ship, Canada, in 1891. These were two of the largest wooden ships ever built in Canada. Launch days for these vessels were big events in Kingsport; some of them attracting up to 3000 people from across the Annapolis Valley. The collapse of the wooden shipbuilding industry in Atlantic Canada in the late 19th century led to the decline in the Kingsport yard. The last major launch was the barquentine Skoda in 1893. The last vessel built in Kingsport was the schooner, FBG. It was built in 1929 and was the last coastal schooner built in all of Nova Scotia. The Kingsport yard shifted its focus to ship repair for a number of years, using the massive Minas Basin tides as a natural drydock and repairing such vessels as the American Bradford C. French, the largest three-masted schooner ever built.

As wooden ships declined, shipbuilding investors in the Kingsport area pivoted to re-invest in railways. The Cornwallis Valley Railway was built in 1890, connecting Kingsport to Kentville and the mainline of the Dominion Atlantic Railway. Kingsport was the terminus for the eastern end of the line. A wye and engine shed were built to turn and service the locomotives, which were under the care of Ephraim Hiltz. Trains ran six times a day at the peak of the line in 1914. The railway rapidly developed the surrounding apple industry and two large apple warehouses were constructed in the village. The line also exploited the large wharf at Kingsport as a regional shipping point for schooners and ocean steamers. The wharf was steadily extended to over 400 feet by 1911 and received a lighthouse in 1889. Apples and potatoes were the largest exports and coal and fertilizer, the largest imports, as well as various other freight including on one occasion, horses from Sable Island.

The railway also connected at the wharf with the "Parrsboro packets", a series of coastal steamships carrying passengers, vehicles, and freight to the Minas Basin ports of Kingsport, Parrsboro, and Wolfville. The last packet was the MV Kipawo, named for its three ports of call. Kingsport was a local holiday resort where people came during the summer months to spend time at their cottages along the bluffs. The village was home to several grand hotels late in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as a drive in, an ice cream parlour and a dance hall that operated near the wharf area during the summer months.

In earlier years, Kingsport was a busy social hub. During the winter months,the young people skated and played hockey on Webb’s pond, and played ball during the spring and summer. There were regular concerts, motion picture shows, pie socials, annual strawberry festivals, harvest suppers, card parties and Whist Club. A drive-in operated in the 1930s and 40s. A Congregational (later United) and Anglican church served Kingsport along with two-story school which also served as a community hall. 

Source: "Kingsport, Nova Scotia." (2024, August 14). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsport,_Nova_Scotia

 

Photographs from the Dorothy and Joe Taylor Collection featured in Gary W. Ness, Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway (Volumes 1 and 2).

Post-WWII

The Minas Basin ferry service ended during World War II when Kipawo was called away to war service. The apple industry surrounding Kingsport faced a dramatic downturn with the loss of the British market after the war. This led to a steady decline in traffic on the Cornwallis Valley Railway which ended service to Kingsport in 1961. The growth of highways also bled local shoppers to bigger stores elsewhere. The school was closed in 1963. Both of Kingsport's general stores and its gas station closed. The massive wharf steadily fell into ruins and the village lost half its population in a few decades, declining from 500 to 225 by the 1950s.

Recent Years

Kingsport has remained a popular holiday location for cottagers and in the 1970s, emerged as a bedroom community for the growing towns of eastern Kings County. In 1977, the Kingsport Community Association was founded. Social events such as pie socials and card parties were held to help bring the residents together and to raise funds to build a playground, clean up the beach, and provide steps and picnic tables. In 2003, the Kingsport Community Association began reconstruction of the ruins of the wharf. The outer portions were demolished and the inner portion was rebuilt into a boardwalk and boat ramp to encourage recreational boating. The association rebuilt a former general store in 2004 as a community centre and has developed the Pleasant Street Park & Playground as a gathering place for the community.

The new generation in Kingsport today cannot recall the scream of flanges as a railway engine was turned on the wye, the daily arrivals at the government wharf, the whistle of the Kipawo Ferry and the train approaching, or the ringing of the school bell summoning the children to the morning and afternoon sessions at the country schoolhouse. The people of the community can, and do, still hear the ringing of its church bells summoning them to worship, as the two churches are still part of the life of the community. And the beautiful and picturesque Minas Basin can still be seen and enjoyed in this little community which is still a pretty spot beside the sea.

Historic Buildings in Kingsport

St. Thomas’ Anglican Church

St. Thomas Anglican Church was originally a carpenter's shop that was rebuilt on the land donated by the local rector and converted to a church. The Rev. J. F. Axford was rector of Cornwallis parish from 1879 until 1903. He organized the congregation at Kingsport where he had a faithful coadjutor, Mr. Ephraim Hiltz. It was at Mr. Hiltz’s home that the church services were held as early as 1893, until the church was ready. The church was dedicated to St. Thomas (who was thought to have been a carpenter) and consecrated by Bishop Courtenay in 1906. The vestibule was built on in 1930 and a vestry was added in 1933.

Emmanuel United Church

The United Church, earlier known as the Congregational Church, was built in 1889 on land donated by Ebenezer Cox. It continued to function in the Congregational tradition until June 10, 1925, when the United Church came into being. Then the Congregational Church at Kingsport was one of the fifteen Congregational Churches in Nova Scotia, which entered into the union. Today this church is a part of the Canada-wide United Church family. A new vestry was added to the church in 1962.

Kingsport Schoolhouse

Children of the early settlers in Kingsport attended school in a building that was near the creek in Medford. Around 1870, the first school in Kingsport was housed in a building near the shipyard, on the south side of the road. It was a remodelled tool shed that was used as a schoolhouse, a church, and a place for public meetings.

The first schoolhouse in Kingsport was built in 1879-80. Mrs. Isaac Cox bought the first flag and flagpole for the school when she taught in Kingsport in 1891. She came on the first locomotive engine that travelled from Kentville to Kingsport. The engine stopped at the crossing to allow her to get down and walk up-to her boarding house.

The school was a two-room building with an upstairs community hall where school Christmas concerts and other public meetings were held. At one point, the smaller downstairs classroom was repurposed by the Women’s Institute of Kingsport to use for their monthly meetings and other public and social gatherings. Grades primary through nine were moved to the larger hall upstairs and high school students travelled by train to Kentville Academy. In December 1963, many smaller rural schools were closed and the pupils were transported by bus to the new Glooscap Elementary School, which opened in Canning in January 1964. The high school students attended Cornwallis District High School in Canning. The schoolhouse was remodelled and served as a residential dwelling until 2023, when the building was demolished.

General Stores and Post Office

During the early settlement of Kingsport, a store was built by Ebenezer Bigelow but the exact location is unknown.

In the early shipbuilding days, a store owned by a Mr. White was purchased by Mr. J. D. Ells and operated as general store and post office for many years. It was known as “the big red store” and was situated near the shipyard on the south side of the road. It was most recently owned by Mr. Elliot Palmeter of Medford, who used it as a warehouse for packing and storing fruit and vegetables.

In 1917, Mr. Walter Woodburn built a new store across the road from the United Church, successfully operating this general store for many years before trading it with Mr. J. D. Ells for Mr. Ells’ farm. Mr. Ells & Son continued to operate the general store and manage the post office until the time of Mr. Ells' death, when other members of the Ells family took over the business until it was sold to Mr. Lewis Taylor in 1944. It passed through several more owners until it was donated to the Kingsport Community Association by June and George Barkhouse in 2001 for the community to use as a gathering place.

There was a second store in Kingsport, owned and operated by Mr. Byard Ogilvie. After World War 1, Mr. E. C. Dickie purchased the store and operated a grocery business. The building was eventually demolished. In the early 1930s, Mr. Dickie had a new store built across the road from the site of the old one and operated a grocery business and managed the post office there until it was purchased in November 1947 by D. A. Burrell. The post office remained in the store until 1970, when community mailboxes were established.

Sites of Historical Significance

Railway Station and Warehouses

The Mayflower Fruit Company and the Kingsport Fruit Company warehouses were situated near the schoolhouse, on the south side of the village. The railway station and the Mayflower Fruit Company warehouse, on opposite sides of the railway track, burned to the ground in 1968. The Kingsport Fruit Company warehouse, situated at the east end of the village, burned in 1971. Thanks to the supreme effort of the firefighters, the nearby schoolhouse and Mrs. E. C. Dickie’s home were saved from burning.

Blacksmith Shops

With a thriving shipbuilding industry, there was a lot of work for blacksmiths and there were several forges in the village. Mr. James Blenkhorn had a blacksmith shop on his property in the house pictured below. Another was owned by Mr. Frank Loomer, one of the former shipyard owners. There was a large blacksmith shop with two forges on the south side of the road near the shore (later turned into a cooperage), and there were at least two other shops, all connected with the shipyard.

One of the older houses in Kingsport. Remodelled and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Arlo Moen.

Cooper Shop

The corner of Church Street and Pier Road is the site of a former cooperage. Mr. Harry Rafuse and his son, Cecil, were the local coopers. Cecil made the last barrel in this area. There was another cooperage in the shipyard with a sail-loft. The upper part of the building was used for making sails while the cooperage was in the lower part.

Mills

A planing and moulding mill was located west of the wharf near the railway wye and was owned by Mr. William Farnham. For a few years, Potter Mill Company also had a mill near the shipyard where doors and sashes were made. It was torn down in 1917.

Hotels

Kingsport was home to several grand hotels late in the 19th century, now demolished or burned. The Kingsport House was owned and operated by E. C. Borden, the railway station and customs agent, and the Central House, owned and operated by Pryor Corkum. Immediately south of the United Church was the Sunnyside Inn, built around the time of the completion of the railway. It is now a private home, the only one of Kingsport's grand hotels still standing.

The Longspell Inn opened in July 1910 on a glorious day, with a large crowd of people gathering for the occasion. Not in operation for long, it burned down in November, 1913. The inn was some distance to the west of Longspell Point. It is believed that Longspell Point was so named when a couple of optimistic pedestrians started to walk to Blomidon along the shore and found, to their dismay, it was “a long spell”.

Longspell Inn

 

For a full history of Kingsport, read "A Short History of Kingsport," published in 1980 by longtime resident and teacher, Cora Atkinson.