Louisbourg is a village on the south-east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia .Canada.
Understand : Louisbourg’s harbour had been used by European mariners since at least the 1590s (as English Port, Havre a l’Anglois); the Fortress of Louisbourg was built by France in 1713, captured by England in 1758 and demolished in 1760. A small fishing village across the harbour from the abandoned fortress accommodated Loyalist settlers in the 1780s. In 1894, the Sydney and Louisburg Railway brought winter coal exports to Louisbourg Harbour’s ice-free port. The Town of Louisbourg was incorporated in 1901 and merged into a single tier regional municipality in 1995; the efforts to restore the historic fortress as a pioneer village museum date to the 1960s.
Access : Coordinates: 45.919861, -59.972806 / The railway no longer runs here Highway 22 is the main road in and out of town.
- Highlights :
- Fortress of Louisbourg, 259 Park Service Rd. Louisbourg. This is a reconstruction of the 18th-century fortified French town whose presence plagued the British colonies of New England. Its busy harbour was once one of France’s most signifiant economic and military assets in North America. If you enjoy the colonial restoration at Williamsburg in the United States, don’t miss Louisbourg. 1 May-30 Jun, 9:30AM-5PM. 1 Jul-31 Aug, 9AM-5PM. 1 Sep-15 Oct, 9:30AM-5PM. Closed 1 Nov-3 Apr.
- Louisbourg Playhouse, 11 Aberdeen St (Aberdeen & Commercial St). Local entertainment venue with nightly shows (theatre, music, comedy) throughout the summer.
- S&L Railway Museum, Louisburg Station, 7330 Main St (Route 22). 9AM-5PM daily (mid-May to mid-Oct), 8AM-8PM in July and August. Small museum includes an 1895 Sydney & Louisbourg Railway station and engine house, visitor information, quilt displays, vintage passenger and freight cars. Coal used to be hauled here by rail, then transferred to ships. By donation..
- Louisbourg Lighthouse.
Go next : Sydney (Nova Scotia)
