In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

McNutt's geography



Here's an 1883 map that shows how McNutt's sits in the open arms of outer Shelburne Harbour. 

In 1883 southwestern Nova Scotia was a region of almost non-existent roads and poor communication, and the coastal waters were the best way to travel from place to place. When this map was made, McNutt's Island had a small community of fishermen and their families and of course Cape Roseway Lighthouse. Each family kept a vegetable garden, pigs, chickens and oxen, and there were pastures and fields.  The sheep had the freedom of the island as they do today; each family owned a portion of the flock. 

In 1883 it was unremarkable to row back and forth from McNutt's Island to Gunning Cove or Carleton Village or Roseway, along the western side of Shelburne harbour, or into Shelburne itself, or around to the next harbour or some other town along the coast. In an odd way, McNutt's was not as physically isolated in 1883 as it is today.  
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