Sydney, Nova Scotia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article refers to the place in Nova Scotia. For other meanings, see Sydney (disambiguation), or Sidney.
Sydney (2001 pop.: 24,115) is an urban community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
A former city, Sydney was incorporated in 1904 and dissolved on August 1, 1995 when it was merged into the regional municipality. Sydney is part of the urban core of CBRM and includes the communities of Connorton, Hardwood Hill and Whitney Pier. Together with Sydney Mines, North Sydney, New Waterford and Glace Bay it forms the Industrial Cape Breton region.
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[edit] History
Sydney was founded by Col. Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres in 1785, and named in honour of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (also the Home Secretary in the British cabinet at the time). Lord Sydney appointed Col. DesBarres governor of the new colony of Cape Breton Island. Col. DesBarres landed a group that consisted primarily of poor English citizens and disbanded soldiers. A group of Loyalists from the state of New York, fleeing the aftermath of the American Revolution, were added to the immigrants upon their arrival in the neighbouring colony of Nova Scotia.
The site DesBarres chose for the new settlement was along the Southwest Arm of Sydney Harbour, a drowned valley of the Sydney River, which forms part of Spanish Bay. Between 1784-1820, Sydney was the capital of the British colony of Cape Breton Island.
In the early twentieth century Sydney became home to one of the world's largest steel plants. The Sydney area was part of the industrial heart of Cape Breton Island because of the steel plant in Sydney and coal mines in the adjoining towns ofi Glace Bay and Sydney Mines. The economic boom brought about by industrialization saw the community incorporate in 1903. By the late 1960s the coal and steel industries had fallen on hard times and were taken over by the federal and provincial governments. In recent years both industries have been closed. The residents of the area began to look to a variety of other economic development possibilities. Tourism, music, light manufacturing and I.T. have become the new backbone of the area's economy. During World War II, Sydney was a very important port, being one of the harbours from which convoys left North America for Britain. They tended to be slower convoys and had the prefix SC (for Sydney). For particulars about one convoy, SC 7, see the section in the article, HMS Scarborough. Also there were plans drawn up in case of a loss of the British Isles that the majority of the North Atlantic fleet would fall back to Sydney harbour. Sydney's coal shipping and steel manufacturing were essential ingredients in the Allied victory.
[edit] Post-industrial adjustment
Sydney suffered an economic decline for several decades in the later part of the 20th century as local coal and steel industries underwent significant changes. The closure of the Sydney Steel Corporation's steel mill and the Cape Breton Development Corporation's coal mines in 2000-2001 have resulted in attempts by the municipal, provincial and federal governments to diversify the area economy.
At the start of the 21st century, Sydney faces a significant challenge in the cleanup of the Sydney Tar Ponds, a tidal estuary contaminated with a variety of coal-based wastes from coke ovens that supplied the steel industry. After extensive public consultation and technical study, a $400 million CAD cleanup plan jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments awaits further environmental assessment.
In one part of the Whitney Pier neighbourhood, residents of Frederick St. discovered contamination within several homes and in surrounding soil, including a toxic orange substance oozing into local basements. Testing of the substance lasted over a year and many were outraged by delays, although some residents were subsequently relocated to a safer residential area nearby.
High unemployment and government delays in cleaning up brownfield industrial wastelands have resulted in many educated young people leaving the community for better opportunities. Demographic changes, including an aging population and decrease in the birth rate have begun to affect the area's economic outlook. Some residents with little education have opted to become labourers working in energy projects in Alberta.
[edit] Tourism
Sydney is home to a significant tourism industry based on cruise ships as a result of its extensive port facilities. The port also holds potential as a logistics base for future offshore petroleum and natural gas exploration in the Laurentian Basin, southeast of Cape Breton Island; an area that has been touted as a potential economic catalyst for the industrial Cape Breton area. Light manufacturing and information technology are other sectors the Island's residents are attempting to strengthen in an effort to diversify the Island's economy.
[edit] Education
Cape Breton University is located east of Sydney on the main highway to Glace Bay and the Nova Scotia Community College maintains the Marconi Campus adjacent to the university campus.
[edit] People born in Sydney
- David Dingwall, former cabinet minister
- Danny Gallivan, Hockey Night in Canada sportscaster
- Calvin Ruck, activist and senator
- Harold Russell, actor
- Nathan Cohen, theatre critic, broadcaster
- Greg MacPherson, musician
[edit] External links
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- WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
- Street map from Mapquest
- Topographic map from Topozone
- Aerial photograph from Terraserver
| Image:Flag of Nova Scotia.svg | Nova Scotia |
|---|---|
| Counties | Annapolis - Antigonish - Cape Breton - Colchester - Cumberland - Digby - Guysborough - Halifax - Hants - Inverness - Kings - Lunenburg - Pictou - Queens - Richmond - Shelburne - Victoria - Yarmouth |
| Regional Municipalities | Cape Breton - Halifax - Queens |
| Incorporated Towns | Amherst - Annapolis Royal - Antigonish - Berwick - Bridgetown - Bridgewater - Canso - Clark's Harbour - Digby - Hantsport - Kentville - Lockeport - Lunenburg - Mahone Bay - Middleton - Mulgrave - New Glasgow - Oxford - Parrsboro - Pictou - Port Hawkesbury - Shelburne - Springhill - Stellarton - Stewiacke - Trenton - Truro - Westville - Windsor - Wolfville - Yarmouth |
| Other Communities | Bedford - Bible Hill - Cole Harbour - Dartmouth - Dominion - Eastern Passage - Fall River - Glace Bay - Greenwood - Halifax (former city) - Liverpool - Louisbourg - Lower Sackville - New Minas - New Waterford - North Sydney - Sydney - Sydney Mines - Weymouth |
fr:Sydney (Nouvelle-Écosse) pl:Sydney (Nowa Szkocja) pt:Sydney (Nova Escócia)
