Port Morien: Pages from the Past

Margaret Conrad is the Nancy Rowell Jackman Chair of Women’s Studies
at Mount Saint Vincent University, and the editor of Intimate Relations:
Family and Community in Planter Nova Scotia, 1759–1800.

Written by a seventh-generation “Morienite,” this book chronicles
significant developments in the history of the Cape Breton community of
Port Morien. The town is perched on the northern cliffs of Morien Bay
and was once blessed with abundant resources of fish and coal. While the
community has seen prosperous times, particularly during the coal-mining
boom of the second half of the 19th century, its great wealth is its
long recorded history, told in loving detail here.

MacDonald has culled information from primary and secondary sources,
both written and oral, to describe the town’s origins; its mining,
shipping, and fishing industries; and its community life as expressed in
prominent businesses, churches, and educational institutions. Quotations
from accounts by visitors to the community and well-chosen illustrations
enliven the text, which is unfortunately marred by some minor but
annoying errors and stylistic problems that slipped by the editor.