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

B
BACCARO, BACCARO POINT (S)—This place is named from the Basque word Baccalaos, meaning cod fish. The name Baccalaos was at one time given to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, later to Nova Scotia only. This place and a small Isle in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, are the only remains of a general name "Baccalearum Regis" which was at one time (1542) applied to Canada.
BADDECK (V.)—Strictly speaking, Bedek or Ebedek, an old Micmac Indian name changed by the early French to Bedeque. Dr. Rand gives the spelling as Epdek or Eptek and the meaning as-the warm place-but he applies this meaning to Bedeque, P. E. I. For Victoria County "Baddeck" he gives the word "Abadak," meaning a portion of food put aside for some one. Dr. Patterson says it is Indian, meaning, place with an island near; this would fit Baddeck, as Kitson Island is directly in front of the village.
BAILLIE BROOK (P.)—Takes its name from one of its earliest settlers, John Baillie, a native of Sutherlandshire, Scotland, who took up lands and settled near the brook.
BAIN ROAD (Y.)—Named after an early settler, Mr. Alexander Bain.
BAIRD COVE (C. B.)—On the south shore of Morien Bay, so named owing to James Baird having opened a coal mine nearby in the year 1867.
BAKER ISLAND (L.)—So named after a settler named James Baker.
BALACHE POINT (I.)—In the Strait of Canso named after a Jersey family of early settlers, sometimes called, incorrectly, McMillan's Point and Plaster Cove.
BALEINE (R.)—Probably named by the French at an earlier date after Baleine in France. At one time known as Puerto Nova (New Port). Captain Leigh in 1597 says he was in Puerto Nova.
It has been said that the name was suggested by a whale-shaped island at the entrance the French word for whale being "baleine."
Lord Ochiltree built a fort here in 1629 and made an effort ​to colonize the place, but was forced by the French under Captain Daniel to abandon it.
BALL CREEK (C. B.)—Named after an English family of this name, who came to Sydney in its early days and settled near where the present bridge crosses the creek.
BALMORAL (C. B.), BALMORAL (R), BALMORAL MILLS (COL)—Named after the place in Scotland made famous by being a residential choice of Royalty.
BARN RIVER (D.)—Named so owing to an early settler John Hill having built a barn at the river.
BARNES CREEK, BARNES POINT (Y.)—Named so after an early settler John Barnes, who settled in Plymouth, Yarmouth County, 1731.
BARNEY RIVER (P.)—There is a river and village of this name named after Barnabas, or Barney McGee, who was the first settler in Merigomish. He moved to Barney River in the year 1776.
BARRACK POINT (C. B.)—Part of Sydney, so named owing to the existence of Military Barracks there. This point was fortified in 1794 and was then called "Fort Ogilvie."
BARRA HEAD (V.)—Near St. Ann's. The Indian name of this place was "Bootlotek" (See Barra Strait).
BARRA STRAIT (C. B.)—(See Grand Narrows). This place was settled about 1802 and named after Barra, Scotland. The original "Barra" is so named in honor of the Saint "Kilbar," or "Bar of the cell."
BARRACHOIS HARBOR (COL.)—(See Barrasois). This place was at one time known as Joseph Harbor, as named by Col. Joseph Frederick Wallet Desbarres, after himself.
BARRASOIS or BARACHOIS—A descriptive name found in many places throughout Nova Scotia. The word is from Acadian French "Barre a cheoir," and means lagoon or pond. It is generally applied to ponds separated from larger bodies of water by necks of land or sand bars.
In Pichon's History (1760) he refers to the name "Barachois" thus "They give the name in this country to small ponds near the sea from which they are separated only by a kind of causeway. There is no possibility of travelling even the distance of a league along the coast of Cape Breton without meeting with some of these pieces of water."
​BARRIE BEACH (H.)—The old name of this place was Stoney Beach.
BARRINGTON (S)—Called by the French "La Passage" and by the Indians "Ministiguish," or "Ministegek" meaning "he has gone for it." It was settled in 1760-63 by eighty families from Nantucket and Cape Cod.
The town, township and passage received their present name after the 2nd Viscount Barrington (1717-1793). He was secretary of war 1755-61 and again 1765-78.
Shelburne County is divided into two townships, Shelburne, and Barrington, which was formed in the year 1767.
BARRINGTON COVE (C. B.)—(See Prince of Wales Landing).
BARTON (D.)—So named after Lt.-Col. Joseph Barton an early Loyalist settler. It was formerly known as Specht's Cove
BATESTON (C. B.)—So called after a family of early settlers named Bates.
BATTERY POINT (C. B.)—At Sydney Mines. There was a Battery of guns on this point (which was then known as Pecks Head) in the year 1794. The fort was called Fort Dundas.
BATTERY POINT (L.)—There was a Blockhouse on this point in 1753, hence the name. It was at one time called "Fort Boscawen."
BAXTER HARBOR (K.)—This place had an early settler whose name was Dr. William Baxter, after whom it was named.
BAYER SETTLEMENT (H.)—First settled in the year 1779 by a family named Bayer and named after the family.
BAYFIELD (ANT)—So named in honor of Admiral Henry Wolsay Bayfield, who surveyed and made charts for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and many other parts of Canada, between the years 1814 and 1854.
BAY OF FUNDY—The Portugese called the place "Baia Fundo" meaning deep bay, hence the present name. Others claim that the word "Fundy" is derived from "fond" meaning the end or top of the bay. In 1604 DeMonts called the bay "le grande Bay Francoise," a name it retained until the English renamed it. Sir William Alexander in 1624 called it Argall's Bay after Sir Samuel Argall, an English adventurer who raided it in 1613.
​BAYSWATER (L.)—By an Act of the Legislature passed in 1865 Sandy Beaches, Northwest Cove, Southwest Cove, Coleman's Cove and Aspotogan Harbor, on the western side of St. Margaret's Bay, were all included under the name of Bayswater.
BAY VERTE (C.)—Named by the French "Baie Verte," meaning "green bay." It is said to be so named owing to the salt water grasses, which at times present the appearance of green meadows. The Micmacs called it "Weg-wam-a-gwek," which means "land's end."
BAY VIEW ISLAND (A.)—This island was first called "L'Isle du Couchons," by the French; and "Hog Island,"--which is a direct translation from the French name-by the English.
BEAL ISLAND (Y.)—An Island in Chebogue Harbor which received its name from an early settler Josiah Beal, who came from New England about the year 1761.
BEAR RIVER (D.)—This place was at one time called "St. Anthony" also at one time called "Imbert" after Simon Imbert, a Frenchman who commanded a relief ship for Port Royal in 1612. Corrupted from Imbert to Bear River. The Indian name was "Eelsetkook" meaning "flowing along by high rocks."
The name of this place appears on some modern maps as "Hillsborough." Some say the name was given it because the famous Rogers Rangers killed a bear on its bank, but it is more likely a corruption of Imbert, or Herbert, after Louis Herbert an apothecary who accompanied Champlain in 1604. It is referred to as "Riviere Herbert" in Lescarbot's "History de la Nouvelle France" 1612.
BEAVER COVE (C. B.)—Beavers may have been plentiful here, and hence the name; but in the early years of the 19th century an Irishman named Beaver lived in this vicinity, and the place was very likely named after him.
BEAVER HARBOR (H.)—The Indian name of this harbor was "Kobelawakwemoode" meaning beaver harbor. Indian tradition relates that here Glooscap threw one of the large rocks there at the mystical beaver.
BEAVER LAKE (Q.)—So named owing to the beavers at one time being found in numbers in its vicinity.
BEAVER RIVER (Y.)—So named because beavers were at one time plentiful there. The settlement first took the name of the River, but part of it was later named Maitland.
​BEDFORD (H.)—Named in honor of the Duke of Bedford, who was Secretary of State in 1749. The Indians called this place "Kwebek" meaning the head of the tide. It was known as Fort Sackville before receiving its present name.
BEINN BHREAGH (V.)—Formerly known as Red Head a descriptive name given it owing to the reddish character of the rocks. The property of the late Prof. Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.
The name is the Gaelic for "Beautiful Mountain." The Indian name for this place was "Megwatpatek," meaning the red head.
BELFRY LAKE (C. B.)—Near Gabarouse Lake. Pichon says "Near Gabarus is a pond called "Bellefeuille." It is quite possible that Belfry is a corruption of the French name.
BELLE COTE (I.)—Formerly known as East Side Margaree Harbor, given its present name by an Act of Parliament in the year 1892. The name is French, meaning "Pretty hillside."
BELLENDEN HEAD—See Pettipas.
BELLISLE (A.)—Received its name from Alexander LeBorgne, an early settler, whose title was the "Sieur de Bellisle" and who was left by the Sieur de Morillon de Bourg in 1668 as the Commander-in-Chief of Port Royal.
BELLIVEAU COVE (D.)—So named after a French Acadian family of that name who settled there. There is also a village of the same name in Digby.
BELL COVE (L)—Near Lower Dublin, received its name after an early settler named Bell.
BELL ISLAND (L.)—Named after an early settler, Alexander Bell.
BELLONI (C. B.)—Named after an American, Robert Belloni, who at one time owned and operated a coal mine in this part of Cape Breton.
BELMONT (Hts.)—This place was previously known as Highfield. It was changed to its present name by an Act of Parliament in the year 1873.
BENACADIE (C.B.)—The original of this name is the Micmac Indian word "Ooobunakade" meaning "place of bringing forth." It was a moose resort in the calling or mating season. ​Again it is said to be from the Micmac Indian word "Benakade" meaning "the humble place."
BEN EOIN (C. B.)—This is a Gaelic word meaning "Jona- than's Mountain"-the Scotch often call two of their family by the same Christian name. When it is John, the second is generally known as Jonathan. One of the early settlers was known as Jonathan, the Gaelic of which is Eoin, hence the name of the place.
BERLIN (Q.)—See East and West Berlin.
BERWICK (K.)—It is said that this district was settled as far back as 1760 by English from Connecticut who took the places vacated by the unfortunate Acadians. It was formerly named "Pleasant Valley," and the village was known as "Currie's Corner,' later called "Congdon's Corner" and in 1835 "Davison's Corner," after a man named Davison, an early settler.
The present name was given it in 1857-at a meeting called for that purpose--and is after the English seaport town on the Tweed. At the meeting it was also decided the word would be pronounced Ber-wick, not Ber-ick, as is the English name.
BHEIN VIORACH (I.)—A Gaelic name meaning sharp mountain.
BIG BEACH (C. B.)—The Indian name for this place was "Amamkeak," meaning "the long sand beach."
BIG POND (C. B.)—A descriptive name. The Micmac Indians called Big Pond and its neighborhood "Edoobukuk." The maps as recent as 1868 give this name. Big Pond itself, Dr. Rand says, the Indians called "Naookteboojooik," meaning "it stands alone." The name of this place also appears as "Anse du Charbon" which is the French for Coal Cove.
BIG THRUMCAP (H.)-See Thrumcap.
BIG TUSKET ISLAND (Y.)—(See Tusket.) This Island is sometimes known as Magray Island, owing to its first settler who came there from Marble Head in 1774, being named John Magray.
BILLTOWN (K.)—About the year 1770 this place was settled; one of the settlers was William C. Bill, after whom the place was named.
BIRCHTOWN (S.)—A descriptive name, as the birchwood was plentiful there. This place is opposite Shelburne town. It ​was laid out about the year 1783 as a town for the negroes. They numbered about four thousand at the time and built quite a large town there. The greater number of them were removed to Sierra Leone in 1790 or 1791.
BIRD ISLANDS (V.)—A resort for many kinds of sea birds. The name of these islands appears on the very old maps as "Ciboux Islands" and being near the entrance to St. Ann's, gives rise to the belief that the name "Cibou" was given to St. Ann's and not to Sydney, as stated by some authorities. (See Sydney.)
The Indian name for these islands was "Kloopskeaakade." On some plans the outer Bird Island is called Hiboux, evidently a mistake for Ciboux; the inner island appears as Hertford Island.
BISHOPVILLE (K.)—Named after John Bishop or some of his descendants. He and four sons came and settled at or near Horton in 1760. They came from Connecticut.
BLACKAVON (Ant.)—This was a portion of the settlement known as Black River, and was given its present name by an Act of Parliament in 1891.
BLACKETT LAKE (C. B.)—At one time known as Portage Lake, later Barn Lake, owing to one of the first settlers, Ingoville's, barn being near. Still later known as Forks Lake. Received its present name after a family of residents.
BLACK RIVER (Ant.)—One time part of Beauly. Divided and named Black River by an Act of Parliament in the year 1887.
BLACK ROCKS (L.)—A descriptive name. This place was first settled by families named Tanner and Allen.
BLANCHARD (P.)—Settled by William Cummings from Inverness, Scotland, in the year 1802. The road was cut out by Colonel Blanchard of Tiuro, hence the name.
BLANDFORD (L.)—Named and settled by several Irish families: Murphys, Carrolls. Keatings and Rileys, some time previous to 1767.
BLOCKHOUSE HILL (L.)—This hill is near the town of Lunenburg. It was in the early days called Windmill Hill, from the fact that there was a corn mill on it. It was fortified by a blockhouse as early as 1753. The last blockhouse was destroyed by fire in 1874.
BLOMIDON (K.)—The Micmac Indians called this place "Glooscap's week." i. e., Glooscap's home.
​The Indian name as given by Dr. Rand was "Owkogegechk," meaning "dogwood grove." The name "Blomidon" is said by most authorities to have been given the place by the Portuguese. The Indian name for the cape was "Plekteok" meaning a handspike. Navigators in old times used to call the cape "Blow-me-down."
BLONDE ROCK (Y.)—Received its name from the fact that a ship named the "Blonde" was wrecked on the rock on the 10th of May 1782.
BLOODY CREEK (A.)—About twelve miles from Annapolis. So named because the Indians killed an officer and some men, and took about sixty prisoners, at this place. They were from the fort at Annapolis and were sent to deal with some insurgent Acadians when the Indians fell upon them.
At one time called "Bloody Run," also "Moccasin Hollow."
BLOOMFIELD (D.)—At one time called "West Settlement" and again "Thomas' Road"; was settled about the year 1800 by Gains Pritchard.
BLOOMINGTON (A.)—The earliest, or at least, early settlers were Jesse Viditi and John Hoofman. The present name was suggested by Elias Grimes of Torbrook, and was adopted by the residents.
BLUE MOUNTAINS (P.)—So named by Wm. Ross, who settled there in 1818. Wm. Urquhart, from Scotland, was the first settler, in the year 1815.
BLUE MOUNTAINS (Y.)—This place the Indians called "Kookujook" meaning "the giant's home," from "Kookwes" a giant.
BLUE ROCKS (L.)—A descriptive name. The place was first settled by German families-named Knickle and Heinrich.
BLYSTEINER LAKE (L.)—So named after a family of early settlers.
BOAR'S BACK (K.)—A ridge near Parrsborough, named by the Indians "Ou wokun," or "Awokun" meaning a portage or a short cut.
BOISDALE (C. B.)—Named after a place of this name in South Uist, Scotland, where the first settlers, McIntyres and Campbells came from in 1823. There were some Irish settlers named ​Lockman, Bray, Beaver, etc., at this place, but they left shortly after the Scotch arrived. This name is found spelled "Borsdell" in some records of 1840.
The Indian name was "Migtcetcwegatic."
BOLMAN HILL (L.)—So named after a Doctor Bolman who lived near by.
BONNAR HEAD (C. B.)—Named after a family named Bonnar, of Scottish descent, who had their home on the point for many years, and some of the family are still there.
BOOT ISLAND, Near Horton (A.)—Indian name "Kadebunegek" meaning "clam diggings," or place where clams are dug.
BOTTLE BROOK (L.)—Near Hebb Mills, a favorite drinking brook for man and horse, which indirectly gives the reason for its name.
BOUCHE HARBOR (Ant.)—French name meaning mouth or entrance. It was so named by the early French because the expanse of the harbor cannot be seen until the mouth or entrance is passed through.
BOULARDERIE (C. B.)—The first Frenchman who obtained a grant to settle and develop the fine island at the entrance to the Bras d'Or Lakes was Louis Simon de St. Aubin de Poupet, Chevalier de la Boularderie. His name was given to the island. He distinguished himself at the defence of Annapolis in 1707. He was taken prisoner at Louisburg in 1745. It was once called by the French "Ile de Verderonne. Captain Bayfield gives the name of this island as "Boulactria."
BOUTILIER (H.)—Cove, Lake, and Point are all named after a George Boutilier (1756-1831) an early settler of this district.
BOWSER STATION (H.)—Named in 1900 after a man named Angus Bowser, who ran a small hotel there and was the first Postmaster.
The first settler was a French Huguenot named Nicholas Boutilier (about the year 1825).
It is only ten miles from Halifax, and the old Boutilier farm was a great hunting ground in bygone days. In the year 1860, King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, and his following visited here on a fishing trip and camped over night. (See Timberlea.)
BOYLSTON (G.)—This place was settled and laid out into lots in the year 1786, by the Loyalist settlers, who were settled on the Hallowel Grant of Milford Haven.
​BRAS D'OR (C. B.)—This beautiful name is said to be (and we should like to believe it) from the French meaning "The Golden Arm." The Micmac Indian name was "Petoobook," meaning "a long dish full of salt water." On the maps of 1872 and earlier, the Lake is named "Le Lac de Labrador," and this is more likely the true derivation of the present name. The literal meaning of Labrador is "Laborer."
The Indians called the entrance to the little Bras d'Or "Banoskek," meaning "a deep cutting."
The present Little Bras d'Or settlement was known as French Village, owing to the settlers all being French and French Acadians.
The Big or Great Bras d'Or Lake was named by the Indians "Moglakadik" meaning "place of brant geese."
In a paper prepared by the late Dr. Patterson for the Nova Scotia Historical Society he says he believed the name Bras d'Or came from the Breton form of Bras 'd'eau arm of water or of the sea.
BRENTWOOD (Col.)—The former name Graham Siding was replaced by the present name by an Act of Parliament in 1903.
BREWSTER PLAINS (K.)—This place is named after one of its early settlers, Mr. Samuel Brewster.
BRIAN LAKE (H.)—The second of the Tangier Lakes, named by the Indians "Milpagech."
BRICK KILNS (C.)—Near Parrsboro named by the Indians "Kooltanegoochk," meaning "the neck cord" or "strung together."
BRIDGES CREEK (Y.)—The place received its name from an early settler, George Bridges, who was a British Navy man and settled there in the year 1765.
BRIDGEPORT (C. B.)—Named in honor of a Mr. Bridge, a member of the London firm of jewellers, Messrs. Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the original members of the General Mining Association. This Association's history is closely woven in the early political and economic history of the Province. The Indians called the place "Melasuk" meaning "abundance" or "a place of beauty."
BRIDGETOWN (A.)—This place was first known as Hicks' Ferry. The present name was given it in the year 1824 because of the bridge connecting Granville with Annapolis, which caused it to grow into a town of considerable importance.
​BRIDGEWATER (L.)—Appropriately named owing to location near the Bridge over the La Have River. It was settled about the year 1810. It was incorporated as a Town in the year 1899.
BRIGHTON (D.)—Received this name in 1861. Was formerly known as "Head of St. Mary's Bay."
BRILEY BROOK (Ant.)—One of the early settlers Ensign John Brailey, Brearly or Briley owned a portion of land in Antigonish in the present town. The brook ran through his place and received his name. He is said to be the founder of the present town of Antigonish.
BRINE (H.)—A lake named after a family of early settlers named Brine, not Brian.
BRISTOL (Q.)—This place formerly known as "Dean's Point," was named after a Captain Dean, who with others established a whale fishery at Green Harbor. The present name is modern, and after the English seaport city of this name. (The former name for Bristol in England was Bristowe).
BROAD COVE (I)—A descriptive name. This place was formerly known as "Hunter's Bay."
BROAD COVE MINES (I.)—This place was formerly known as Loch Leven and was changed to its present name by an Act of Parliament passed in 1895.
BROAD RIVER LAKE (Q.)—A descriptive name. The Indians named this lake "Wobe-akade," meaning "white place," from woba meaning white, and akade meaning place. It is sometimes translated as Swan-land.
BROOKDALE (R.)—The old name for this place was Black River Rear. It was in 1907 given its present name by an Act of Parliament.
BROOKFIELD (Col.)—Was first settled and named about the year 1786. The first settlers were William Hamilton and Daniel Moore, later joined by William Downing, William Carter and James Boomer. The Indian name for this place was "Sibumeadook."
BROOKFIELD (Q.)—A descriptive name. First settled by William Burke. Burke was a remarkable pioneer, and is said to be the first white man to explore the interior of Queens County. The Indian name of this place was "Bankwenopskw," meaning "We hunt him among the rocks." (See Greenfield.)
BROOKLAND (Ant.)—Formerly known as a portion of
​Hallowell Grant, given its present name by an Act of Parliament in 1892.
BROOKLYN (Hts.)—The Indians called the place "Nelegankunek" meaning "broken snowshoes."
BROOKLYN (Q.)—The Indian name for this place was "Katkooch," and also "Katkoolch," meaning "a hill on the opposite side." The place was formerly known as "Herring Cove:"
BROOKLYN (Y.)—First settled by Stephen Durkie and was at one time known as "Squirrel Town."
BRORA (P.)—Named after a village in Sutherlandshire Scotland.
BROUGHAM (Q.)—Settled and named in 1822. Evidently named after Lord Brougham, who was Lord Chancellor in England about this date.
BROWN'S POINT (P.)—Named after an early settler John Brown.
BRUE HILL (Hts.)—Named after an early French Acadian settler named La Brun.
BRULE (COL.)—This is so named from the French, meaning Burnt Land. The Harbor was named by the Indians "Segwak" meaning a "barren place."
BUCKFIELD (Q.)—See Greenfield.
BUDD BROOK (D.)—So named after an early settler Elisha Budd, who settled there about the year 1789.
BULLS GUT (II.)—The Indians named the place "Emkoketcajitwakade," meaning the abode or place of toads.
BUNKER ISLAND (Y.)—Named in memory of Hezekiah Bunker, a very early settler of Yarmouth.
BUNKER LAKE (Y.)—Probably so called after Mr. Paul Bunker, an early settler of Yarmouth.
BURNCOAT (Hts.)—First settled by Thomas and Robert Faulkner about 1795. A story goes that it received its name in this way: They left a coat on the marsh and went off and set fire to the hay; the fire spreading, burnt up the coat.
BURTON SETTLEMENT (D.)—First settled by Timothy Burton and named after him.