# Place-Names of the Province of Nova Scotia/L

L
LAHAVE (L.)—Founded by De Razilly in 1636.
French" La Have," i e., "The Harbor." "Fond du port de la Have," i. e., "Head of the Harbor." Again, the word "Heve" seems to have a local meaning, as the following would go to show. Littre says: "Heve," a name in lower Normandy for cliffs hollowed out below where fishermen search for crabs.
The Indian name for LaHave River was "Pijenoorskak," meaning "having long joints."
This river is known as the "Rhine of Nova Scotia." The name being suggested by its beauty and the fact of its settlement by people of German descent.
LAHAVE ISLAND (L)—Granted in the year 1785, and settled by Joseph Pernette, Henry Volger, Matthew Park, Joseph Whitford and Baker.
LAHAVE LAKE (L.)—A lake on the LaHave River (see). The Indians knew it as "Sooleawagitk," meaning "Silver lies in the water."
LAKE AINSLIE (I.)—Named in honor of Lieutenant-Governor Ainsley, (1816-1820). He was Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton Island.
Ainsley Township, one of the four subdivisions of the northwestern part of Cape Breton Island, was formed in 1828.
Previous to 1816 the lake was known as Marguerite, which gives the name to the beautiful river which flows from it.
LAKEDALE (G.)—Formerly known as Grant's Lake, changed by an Act of Parliament in the year 1894 to its present name.
LAKE EGMONT (H.)—No doubt named in honor of the Earl of Egmont, who received a very large grant of land at Shubenacadie in 1769. (See Egmont.)
LAKELAND—The district between Windsor and Halifax which was known to the Indians as "Enskoomadedetic," meaning a place where conversation can be carried on at a long range, both being hidden.
LAKE LAWSON (L.)—The lake was named "Lawson, in honor of Thomas Lawson by Captain Ross, in gratitude for what Lawson had done to assist Ross and some others of the first ​settlers who were shipwrecked in the "Archduke Charles" about the year 1816.
LAKES O'LAW (I.)—After a lake in Scotland. This place is found named "Mario" on an old map. Whether this name was applied to the lakes or the district is not clear.
The lakes are now called "Harvard Lakes." There is a settlement near called "Emerald," so that the Irish must have had some representative among the early settlers.
LAKE ROSSIGNOL (Q.)—Was called after an early French adventurer and trader named Rossignol whose property and ship were confiscated near Liverpool by De Monts and his party, who founded Port Royal. (See Liverpool).
Rossignol, who was the first white man to visit the place, wandered off into the wilderness, and is said to have died on a small island near the north end of the lake which bears his name.
LAKE TUPPER (Q.)—This place was likely named after a fine old family of Queens County. Nathan Tupper was an early Parliamentary representative of the county.
LAKE WALLACE (Sable Island)—This small lake on Sable Island was named in honor of Michael Wallace who was an acting Lieutenant-Governor of the Province about the year 1818.
LAKE WENTWORTH (D.)—This place was first settled by Frederick A Robichaud in 1836. It is sometimes called "Robichauds Lake." Named in honor of Governor (1793-1807) Sir John Wentworth. (See Wentworth).
LANARK (A.)—Named after the inland county of Scotland of this name.
LANSDOWNE (P.)—Named in 1884 in honor of Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, the fifth Marquis of Landsdowne who was Governor General of Canada (1883-1888).
LANTZ SIDING (Hts.)—Received its name about 1898 from a gentleman named Lantz, who operated a brick and tile manufacturing plant at this place.
L'ARCHEVEQUE (R.)—Village and Cove, a French word meaning Archbishop.
L'ARDOISE (R.)—So named by the French, meaning "The Bay of Slate," because of the slate cliffs along the shore. The Indian name for this place was "Moglakachk", meaning "the place of brant or geese."
​LARRYS COVE (H.)—See Ocean Glen.
LARRYS RIVER (G.)—Settled about 1767 and named after an early Irish settler, Larry Keating.
LAWRENCETOWN (A.)—In 1754, 20,000 acres of land was granted to twenty gentlemen who named their new domain in honor of Governor Lawrence, who was Governor of Nova Scotia at the time.
LAWRENCETOWN (H.)—One of the four Townships of Halifax County, once covered by the name "Musquodoboit." Named after Colonel Lawrence who was Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1754 and Governor in 1756.
Old Indian names of this district were "Wampack," "Chezzetcook," and "Taboolsimkek," the last meaning "two small branches flowing through sand."
The first grant to twenty families is dated 10th of June, 1754.
Just below Lawrencetown there is a place named by the Indians "Nesogwakade" meaning "the place of eel traps."
LAWLOR'S ISLAND (H.)—This island was formerly called "Bloss Island" after Captain Bloss who was a settler about the year 1750; he was a half-pay captain of a man-of-war.
LAZYTOWN (C. B.)—The old town of Sydney Mines was given this name by the visiting farmers. The coal miners in former days went to the pits at a very early hour; their wives, after preparing the early meal for their husbands went back to their beds and when the farmers came to town to market their produce they found the window blinds drawn and the families sleeping. This is how the name originated.
LEAMINGTON (C.)—First known as "Maccan Mountain." In 1886 a meeting of the residents named it Leamington, no doubt after the Warwickshire town of that name.
It was first settled about 1825 by William Bostock, Peter Nelson, David Gilroy and another named Cooke-no doubt Loyalists.
LE BLANC (D.)—Named after settlers of that name. Formerly and now sometimes called Major's Point.
LEITCHE'S CREEK (C. B.)—Named after a family of early settlers who were named "Leech." It will be noticed that the spelling of the word has recently been changed to the present form. The old maps show it as "Leech's Creek."
LENNOX (Ant.)—There is a town of this name in Berkshire ​County, Massachusetts. It may have received its name from this town, but it is more likely to have been named in honor of Charles Lennox, the Duke of Richmond and Lennox, who was at one time English Secretary of State.
LENNOX (R.)—One of the four townships of Richmond, named no doubt, in honor of some personage. The County was called after Charles Lennox the Duke of Richmond and Lennox He was one time English Secretary of State (Born 1735-Died 1806).
LENNOX PASSAGE (R.)—See Lennox.
LEQUILLE RIVER (A.)—The river bearing this name today is not the one to which the name was applied by Champlain in 1604 (L'Esquille, French for a small fish of that name with which the water abounded). It is a misnomer. The river was formerly known as "Mill Brook" because on it was erected the first mill in America. It was once called "Allain's River," after a man named Louis Allain, who owned land at its head. At another time it bore the name of "Jenny River."
LEVY SETTLEMENT (L.)—This place was first settled by a man named Captain John Evans, who was accompanied by Lieutenants Enwright, Harris and Beatty. The place was formerly known as "Sherwood." The change to its present name is regrettable.
LIBERTY ROW SETTLEMENT (D.)—Named so after an early settler, Logree Liberty, who was a Guinea Negro.
LILY LAKE (Q.)—There are a great many small lakes in the Province bearing this name. This particular one is said to have been named by John McPherson, the local poet, who was known as the "Harp of Acadia." Large white lilies grow on the lake.
LINDEN (G.)—Formerly called Goose River.
LINGAN (C. B.)—A curious English corruption of the French name L'Indienne Bay (Indian Bay).
In the year 1745 the French had a mine here, and called the place "Cape Coal." They also erected a fort. The mine and fort were destroyed by fire in 1752. The Indian name was "Milesek."
LINWOOD (Ant.)—So named by an Act of Parliament passed in the year 1884.
LITTLE CANSO (G.)—The Indian name was "Kamsogooch," meaning "little place opposite cliffs."
​LISCOMB HARBOR (G.)—So named as far back as 1717. The Indian name for this place was "Megadawik" meaning "splendid eeling place."
The Malisceet Indians called it "Magaguadavic."
The harbor and village are said to be named after Liscomb House, Tudor Mansion, Buckinghamshire.
LITTLE ARICHAT (R.)—The Indian name was "Neliksaakugeech," which means "a small fissure."
LITTLE CARIBOU ISLAND (P.)—See Caribou Harbor. This place was called by the Micmac Indians "Tedootkesik," meaning "the place of running to the bushes," owing to the Micmac Indians having taken refuge in the woods from an attack by their enemy the Mohawks, who were said to have all been drowned at this place.
LITTLE HARBOR (P.)—The old Indian Micmac name was "Mumbegweek," meaning "Little Harbor."
LITTLE HARBOR (H.)—The Indians named this place "Segunakigunuk" meaning "torn in shreds" or "scraps of sails."
LITTLE HOPE (Q.)—The great number of disastrous wrecks on this little islet suggested its name.
LITTLE NARROWS (V.)—The Indian name for this place was "Tawilketc," meaning "the little opening" or "outlet."
LITTLE RIVER (Ant.)—The Indian name for this river was "Aksegaguntcetc."
LITTLE RIVER (H.)—A branch of Sheet Harbor. The Indian name was "Kesooskowostoogwek," meaning "flowing through hemlock boughs." The other branch of Sheet Harbor was named "Ukchipkoodapakook" meaning "the largest pool."
LIVERPOOL (Q.)—One of the two township divisions of Queens County. A Mr. John Dogget was paid 40 pounds in the year 1761 for his outlay in settling Liverpool. It was at one time named Rossignol. It is obviously named after the English Liverpool. Liverpool the original is named after a legendary bird something like the crane, called the "Liver," and the word "pool."
The name "Rossignol" was given to the place by De Monts after the master of a ship he had seized there. A number of Plymouth Rock families settled there in 1759.
​Liverpool's Indian name was "Ogumkwigeok," meaning "the place of departure." It was also once known as "Port Senior." Near here is a place which was called by the Indians "Nesogwade" or "place of eel pots."
LIVERPOOL LAKES—The first Liverpool Lake was named by the Indians "Banook," meaning "the first lake met as you ascend a river. (See Ponhook).
The second lake of the Liverpool chain of lakes was named by the Indians "Kedooskek," meaning "surrounded by tall grass."
The third Liverpool lake was named by the Indians "Poosuk," the Indian name for the Juniper tree, or "a fragment."
The fourth lake of the Liverpool chain of lakes was named by the Indians "Koojumkoojik," which means "attempting to escape."
The fifth lake of the Liverpool chain of lakes was named by the Indians "Imooekek," meaning "leading straight on."
The sixth lake of the Liverpool chain of lakes was named by the Indians "Tobeadookook," meaning "lined with alders."
LIVERPOOL RIVER (Q.)—(See Liverpool), At one time this river was named Mersey after the English river of that name.
LIVINGSTONE COVE (Ant.)—This place received its name after its first settler, a Malcolm Livingstone, who settled there about the year 1800.
LLOYD COVE (C. B.)—Named after the famous Marine Insurance Clearing House "Lloyds."
It was at this cove on the 4th of September, 1711 Admiral Walker's fleet of forty-two sail anchored. He had a large cross erected on the shore, claiming the whole of Cape Breton for the English. A carpenter and two of his crew landed, and were killed and scalped by the Indians.
This cove is the landing place of an Atlantic cable from Ireland via Heart's Content, Newfoundland.
LOBSTER BAY (Y.)—In 1633, Jean de Laite calls this Bay "La Baie Courante."
LOCHABER (Ant.)—Named after the place of that name in Invernesshire, Scotland. It was at one time called College Lake.
LOCH BAN (I.)—In English "White Lake" Scottish "Loch" meaning "lake" and Gaelic "Ban" meaning "white."
LOCH BROOM (P.)—So named because of its resemblance from its harbor approaches, to Loch Broom in Inverness-shire, Scotland. First settled by Alexander Cameron in or about 1773.
​Cameron was a relative of "Cameren of Lochiel," of Culloden fame. It is said that at this place the first church was erected in Pictou County.
LOCH KATRINE (Ant.)—Named after the Lake, or Loch of that name, which is twenty-five miles from Glasgow and was made famous by Sir Walter Scott.
LOCH LEVEN (I.)—See Broad Cove Mines.
LOCH LOMOND (C. B.)—Named in remembrance of the place of the same name in Scotland, by the Scottish settlers, who settled here in 1827.
LOCKARD POINT (Col.)—This point is on the north side of the Shubenacadie River and was named after a Captain Lockard. Some of the early settlers moved by vessel from Cumberland to Colchester County in 1772. They landed at this point, and it was called after the master of the vessel.
Among the settlers were the "Ashmores," now known as "Creelmans."
LOCKE ISLAND (S.)—Named after Jonathan Locke, a pioneer settler (See Lockport). At one time called Ragged or Rugged Island.
LOCKPORT (S.)—Was first settled by three families from New England: Joseph Hardy, Josiah Churchill and Jonathan Locke, and was named after Locke.
The Indian name was "Sebunisk."
LOCKHARTVILLE (K.)—Named after Nathan Lockhart, an estimable first settler of this district, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The Lockhart family were of Scotch-Irish origin.
LOGAN'S TANNERY (P.)—See new name Lyon Brook.
LONDONDERRY (Col.)—Settled by Alexander McNutt's Ulster Colonists who arrived and settled in the year 1761. They arrived in a vessel named the "Hopewell" on the 9th of October 1761 at Cornwallis Island. They later came to Cobequid Township, and the place was appropriately named Londonderry, after the Irish County from which they came.
The grant of Londonderry Township, one of the four Townships of Colchester County, was for 75,000 acres, and was for sixty-nine settlers. It was dated March 1775 and signed by Governor Legge. (See Truro).
​LONG ISLAND (C. B.)—An island in the Little Bras d'Or Lake first granted to the Rev. Hibbert Binney. It was at that time (1820) called "Parturient Island," likely intended to mean "fruitful" or perhaps to convey the idea of a child, or offspring of the larger island.
LONG ISLAND (K.)—Near Horton. The Indians named this place "Mesadek," meaning "separated."
LONG LAKE (Col.)—Near Truro. The Indian name for this lake is "Pilbok," meaning "long and narrow."
LOON LAKE (C. B.)—Said to be so named by the late Lt.-Governor David McKeen, who was a land surveyor, and when camped near the lake his sleep was disturbed by the lonesome call of the loons.
LOREMBEC (C. B.)—The original name of this place was "Laurenbec." The name "Lorembec" appears on the maps of 1751, 1764 and 1790.
LORNEVILLE (C.), LORNE (Col.)—Named in honor of the Marquis of Lorne (Duke of Argyll), who was Governor-General of Canada in the years 1878-1883.
LORRAINE (C. B.)—Near Louisburg, settled by Germans from Alsace-Lorraine in 1753.
The name is found in the earlier days with various spellings, viz: Loram, Loran, Lorambec, Laurent and Laurent le bec.
LOUISBURG (C. B.)—Until 1713 this place was known as English Harbor (Havre a l'Anglois). It was founded in 1713, named in honor of King Louis XIV of France. Was named by St. Ovide, Port St. Louis tentatively and a little later Louisburg. Captured by the British in 1745 and ceded back to France in 1748; and again captured by the British in 1758. The Dunkirk of America was what Louisburg was considered and called in the early days.
The Indians named it "Eloibolg" a corruption of the French name.
As early as 1720 the foundations of a town, two and one-half miles in circumference were laid down on a neck of land on the south side of the harbor.
LOUISDALE (R.)—The earliest name of this place was Seal Cove; it was afterwards named "Barrasois St. Louis." In 1905 at the suggestion of Mr. J. Nelson Scott, the Postmaster, it was changed by an Act of Parliament to its present name, which retains part of the old name with a local descriptive addition.
​LOUSE HARBOR AND ISLAND (G.)—The changing from an old to a new name is not always for the best, but here is a case where any change would be an improvement.
LOVETT GROVE (Y.)—So named after an early settler Mr. Israel Lovett.
LOVET ROAD (A.)—This place near Round Hill was called "Lablalot" by the Indians.
LOWER DUBLIN (L.)—Settled in 1762 by some Irish families and named in honor of one of the principal towns of their native land.
LOWER HORTON (A.)—See Horton.
LOW POINT (C. B.)—An important lighting and signalling station on the south-eastern extremity of Sydney Harbor. The ground is flat and low, there being no high cliffs at the point, but extremely high cliffs south and west of it. This accounts for the name. All early and some modern maps and charts call it "Flat Point," which was its earlier name.
The Indians named this place "Mooinakuntcetc," meaning "the little Black Berry Picking Place."
LOYAL HILL (Hts.)—So named by an early American Loyalist settler, Mr. John Grant, in honor of its first settlers' loyalty to the English King.
LUCASVILLE (H.)—Settled by Americans named James Lucas, Oliver and Dishna. It was first known as Lucas Settlement. A church was built in 1819, and since that date the place has been known as Lucasville.
LUNENBURG—This place was at one time named "Malagash" and also "Mirliguesche." "Meligech" is no doubt the Indian word for "milk," and it is generally conceded that this is the origin of the name "Malagash.' The name is first mentioned in 1630.
"Mirliguesche" is said to mean "milky surf" or "milky bay," referring to its white appearance in a storm. The Indians also called this place "Asceedik," meaning "clam land," or "place of clams."
Desbrisay quoted Rand as saying that the Indian spelling was "Malligglak," meaning "mal-bad" and the termination meaning "inherent" and "inanimate." and that the name was applied to the whole coast along by Lunenburg.
In 1630 Sir William Alexander granted to Sir Claude de St. Etienne, Lord of La Tour, and his son Charles, a large stretch of lands along the coast which included Mirliguesche.
​It was settled in 1751-1753 by a party of Germans from Prussian Hanover, whose King, George II, was also King of England. It was named in May 1753, after "Luneberg" in Hanover.
The Township, one of the two township divisions of the County was formed in 1753. The Town was incorporated in 1888. The County contains 1116 square miles.
LYNDALE (C.)—A settlement east of Williamsdale, was named as above by an Act of Parliament in the year 1879.
LYNN (Col.)—Named after a city in Massachusetts, which was called after the English seaport town, Lynn Regis, or "King's Lynn."
LYONS BROOK (P.)—Named after the Rev. James Lyons, one of the Philadelphia emigrants, who arrived in the Brig "Hope" in 1767.
By an Act of Parliament passed in 1903 it was enacted that Logans Tannery, Scotch Hill and Lyons Brook be thereafter known as Lyons Brook.
LYON COVE (K.)—Named after an estimable and early settler of Kings County, or some of his descendants.