View source for Louisbourg

{{For|the fortress|Fortress of Louisbourg}}
{{Redir|Louisberg|the hill in Aachen<!-- historically also spelled Louisberg -->|Lousberg}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement
<!--See Template:Infobox Settlement for additional fields that may be available-->
<!--See the Table at Infobox Settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->| name                     = Louisbourg<!-- at least one of the first two fields must be filled in -->
| official_name            = 
| other_name               = 
| native_name              = <!-- if different from the English name -->
| nickname                 = 
| settlement_type          = <!-- e.g. Town, Village, City, etc.-->
| total_type               = <!-- to set a non-standard label for total area and population rows -->
| motto                    = <!-- images and maps  ----------->
| image_skyline            = Louisbourg harbor, NS.jpg
| imagesize                = 300px
| image_caption            = Louisbourg Harbour
| image_flag               = 
| flag_size                = 
| image_seal               = 
| seal_size                = 
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| dot_mapsize              = 
| dot_map_caption          = 
| dot_x                    = 
| dot_y                    = 
| pushpin_map              = Nova Scotia
| pushpin_label_position   = left
| pushpin_map_caption      = '''Location of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia'''
| pushpin_mapsize          = 250
<!-- Location ------------------>| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = Canada
| subdivision_type1        = [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Province]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Nova Scotia]]
| subdivision_type2        = Municipality
| subdivision_name2        = [[Cape Breton Regional Municipality]]
<!-- Smaller parts (e.g. boroughs of a city) and seat of government -->| seat_type                = 
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| leader_title             = 
| leader_name              = <!--add   (no-break space) to leader names to disable automatic links-->
| leader_title1            = 
| leader_name1             = 
| established_title1       = English settlement
| established_date1        = 1769
| established_title2       = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]] Town
| established_date2        = 1901
| extinct_title            = Amalgamated [[Cape Breton Regional Municipality]]
| extinct_date             = August 1, 1995
<!-- Area    --------------------->| area_magnitude           = 
| unit_pref                = <!--Enter: Imperial, to display imperial  before metric-->
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = <!-- ALL fields with measurements are subject to automatic unit conversion-->
| area_land_km2            = 3.3<!--See table @ Template:Infobox Settlement for details on unit conversion-->
| area_water_km2           = 
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| area_water_percent       = <!-- Elevation -------------------------->
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| elevation_min_m          = 
| elevation_min_ft         = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
| population_as_of         = 2021
| population_footnotes     = 
| population_note          = 
| population_total         = 825
| population_density_km2   = 250.1<!--For automatic calculation, any density field may contain: auto -->
| population_density_sq_mi = <!-- General information  --------------->
| timezone                 = [[Atlantic Standard Time Zone|Atlantic (AST)]]
| utc_offset               = -4
| timezone_DST             = ADT
| utc_offset_DST           = -3
| coor_pinpoint            = <!-- can be used to specify exactly where/what the coordinates refer to -->
| coordinates              = {{coord|45|55|N|59|59|W|type:city(1157)_region:CA-NS|display=inline}}
| postal_code_type         = <!-- enter ZIP code, Postcode, Post code, Postal code... -->
| postal_code              = 
| area_code                = [[Area code 902|902]]
| website                  = 
| footnotes                = 
| named_for                = [[Louis XIV]]
}}

'''Louisbourg''' is an unincorporated community and former town in [[Cape Breton Regional Municipality]], [[Nova Scotia]].

==History==
The harbour had been used by European mariners since at least the 1590s, when it was known as English Port and Havre à l'Anglois, the French settlement that dated from 1713. The [[France|French]] military founded the [[Fortress of Louisbourg]] in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, naming it in honour of [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]].<ref name=harris>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Carolyn |date=Aug 2017 |title=The Queen's land |journal=Canada's History |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=34–43 |issn=1920-9894 }}</ref> They did so by transplanting settlers there from the evacuated [[Terre-Neuve (New France)|Terre-Neuve]] colony.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} The fortress was designed as a "major statement" on French commercial and military power in the ongoing rush to colonize North America. The settlement's development therefore took between 10 and 20 percent of France's total colonial budget from {{circa|1720 to 1740}}.<ref>Conrad, Margaret R and James K Hiller. "Renegotiating the Atlantic Region, 1713-63", ''Atlantic Canada: A History'', Oxford, second edition, 2010. pp. 69.</ref> The settlement was burned the first day the British-American colonial forces landed during the [[Siege of Louisbourg (1745)]]. The French were terrorized and abandoned the Grand Battery, which the British American colonial forces occupied the following day. It was returned to France in 1748 but [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|recaptured by the British in 1758]].

After the capture in 1758, its fortifications were demolished in 1760 and the town-site abandoned by British forces in 1768. A small civilian population continued to live there after the military left.<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=A. J. B. |author-link = A. J. B. Johnston|title=Louisbourg: Past, Present, Future|year=2013|publisher=Nimbus|location=Halifax}}</ref>

English settlers subsequently built a small fishing village across the harbour from the abandoned site of the fortress. The village grew slowly with additional [[United Empire Loyalist|Loyalists]] settlers in the 1780s. The harbour grew more accessible with the construction of the second [[Louisbourg Lighthouse]] in 1842 on the site of the original French lighthouse destroyed in 1758. A railway first reached Louisbourg in 1877, but it was poorly built and abandoned after a forest fire. However the arrival of [[Sydney and Louisburg Railway]] in 1894 brought heavy volumes of winter coal exports to Louisbourg Harbour's [[sea ice|ice]]-free waters as a winter coal port. The harbour was used by the Canadian government ship ''Montmagny'' in 1912 to land bodies from the [[Sinking of the RMS Titanic|sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'']]. In 1913 the [[Marconi Company]] established a transatlantic radio transmitting station here.

Incorporated in 1901, the Town of Louisbourg was disincorporated when all municipal units in [[Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia|Cape Breton County]] were merged into a single tier [[regional municipality]] in 1995.<ref name=PMacEwan76>{{cite book |last1=MacEwan |first1=Paul |title=Miners and Steelworkers: Labour in Cape Breton |date=1976 |publisher=A. M. Hakkert Ltd. |location=Toronto, Canada |isbn=0-88866-533-4 |page=8}}</ref>

{{Historical populations
|align=right
|footnote=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www66.statcan.gc.ca/eng/acyb_c1966-eng.aspx?opt=/eng/1966/196602190191_p.+191.pdf|title=Canada Year Book (CYB) Historical Collection|first=Statistics|last=Canada|date=31 March 2008|website=www66.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref><ref>[http://www66.statcan.gc.ca/eng/acyb_c1955-eng.aspx?opt=/eng/1955/195501660140_p. 140.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114051402/http://www66.statcan.gc.ca/eng/acyb_c1955-eng.aspx?opt=%2Feng%2F1955%2F195501660140_p. |date=2016-01-14 }}, Canada Year Book 1955</ref><ref>[http://www66.statcan.gc.ca/eng/acyb_c1967-eng.aspx?opt=/eng/1967/196702210189_p.%20189.pdf], Canada Year Book 1967</ref><ref>[http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=DPL&Code1=120110&Geo2=PR&Code2=12&Data=Count&SearchText=Louisbourg&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1], Census Profile - Designated place</ref> 2006 population adjusted to match 2011 boundaries.
|1941|1012
|1951|1120
|1956|1314
|1961|1417
|1981|1410
|1986|1355
|1991|1373
|1996|1267
|2001|1157
|[[Canada 2006 Census|2006]]|988
|[[Canada 2011 Census|2011]]|946
}}

==Name==
Pronounced "Lewisburg" by its largely [[English language|English-speaking]] population, the present community has been identified by slightly different spellings over the years by both locals and visitors.  The town was originally spelled '''Louisburg''' and several companies, including the [[Sydney and Louisburg Railway]] adopted this spelling.  On 6 April 1966, the [[Nova Scotia House of Assembly]] passed "An Act to Change the Name of the Town of Louisburg" which resulted in the town changing its official name to the original French spelling '''Louisbourg'''.

== Demographics ==
In the [[2021 Canadian census|2021 census]], Louisbourg had a population of 825 living in 377 of its 420 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:825-877}}|877|1}} from its 2016 population of 877. With a land area of {{cvt|3.3|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|825|3.3|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.<ref name=2021census>{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=9810001201 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places | publisher=[[Statistics Canada]] | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=May 9, 2022}}</ref>

==Economy==
Louisbourg's economy is dominated by the seasonal tourism industry and seafood processing. The depletion of groundfish stocks has negatively affected local fish processing operations in recent decades.

In the 1960s, [[Parks Canada]] completed a partial reconstruction of the [[Fortress of Louisbourg]]. Today this [[National Historic Site of Canada]] is the town's dominant economic engine, employing many residents and attracting thousands of tourists every year. The fortress holds large scale [[historical reenactment]]s every few years to mark important historical events and attract visitors to the town. The most recent in July 2008, commemorated the 250th anniversary of the first British siege victory over French forces in July 1758.<ref>[http://www.louisbourg2008.ca Grand Encampment Web Page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927185935/http://www.louisbourg2008.ca/ |date=2007-09-27 }}</ref> The town's more recent history is preserved at the [[Sydney and Louisburg Railway Museum]] located in the restored railway station in the centre of town.<ref>*[http://fortress.uccb.ns.ca/historic/s_l.html "Sydney and Louisburg Railway Historical Society" ''UCCB Societies Page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615122341/http://fortress.uccb.ns.ca/historic/s_l.html |date=2007-06-15 }}</ref>

Annually, the community hosts the Louisbourg Crab Fest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louisbourgcrabfest.ca/|title=Crab Fest web page|access-date=2007-08-15|archive-date=2007-10-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071004214649/http://www.louisbourgcrabfest.ca/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A large golf course and residential resort is planned near the community; designed by [[Nick Faldo]], the resort was expected to open in 2010 but development stalled in the recession.<ref>[http://www.louisbourgresort.com Resort Web Page]</ref>

Louisbourg is home to the Louisbourg Playhouse, a theatre company operating in an Elizabethan theatre that was used as a prop in the live-action 1994 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] film ''[[Squanto: A Warrior's Tale]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louisbourgplayhouse.ca/|title=Louisbourg Playhouse}}</ref>

==Climate==

Louisbourg experiences a marine influenced [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''[[Humid continental climate#Dfb/Dwb: Warm summer subtype|Dfb]]''). The highest temperature ever recorded in Louisbourg was {{convert|34.0|C|0}} on 2 September 2010 and 15 July 2013.<ref name= "September 2010">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1972-07-01%7C2013-11-30&mlyRange=1972-01-01%7C2006-02-01&StationID=6388&Prov=NS&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&Month=9&Day=2&txtStationName=louisbourg&timeframe=2&Year=2010
| title = Daily Data Report for September 2010
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| date=31 October 2011 | access-date = 31 August 2017}}</ref><ref name= "July 2013">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1972-07-01%7C2013-11-30&mlyRange=1972-01-01%7C2006-02-01&StationID=6388&Prov=NS&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&Month=7&Day=15&txtStationName=louisbourg&timeframe=2&Year=2013
| title = Daily Data Report for July 2013
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| date=31 October 2011 | access-date = 31 August 2017}}</ref> The coldest temperature ever recorded was {{convert|-26.0|C|0}} on 18 January 1982.<ref name= "CCN1"/>

{{Weather box
|location = [[Fortress of Louisbourg]], 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1972–present
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 14.0
|Feb record high C = 13.0
|Mar record high C = 26.0
|Apr record high C = 19.0
|May record high C = 29.0
|Jun record high C = 31.7
|Jul record high C = 34.0
|Aug record high C = 32.0
|Sep record high C = 34.0
|Oct record high C = 25.0
|Nov record high C = 20.0
|Dec record high C = 13.5
|year record high C = 34.0
|Jan high C = -1.0
|Feb high C = -1.1
|Mar high C = 1.4
|Apr high C = 5.6
|May high C = 11.0
|Jun high C = 16.4
|Jul high C = 20.3
|Aug high C = 21.4
|Sep high C = 18.3
|Oct high C = 12.5
|Nov high C = 7.0
|Dec high C = 2.3
|year high C = 9.5
|Jan mean C = −4.9
|Feb mean C = −5.2
|Mar mean C = -2.2
|Apr mean C = 2.2
|May mean C = 6.9
|Jun mean C = 11.9
|Jul mean C = 16.2
|Aug mean C = 17.6
|Sep mean C = 14.3
|Oct mean C = 8.9
|Nov mean C = 3.8
|Dec mean C = -1.1
|year mean C = 5.7
|Jan low C = -8.9
|Feb low C = -9.3
|Mar low C = -5.9
|Apr low C = -1.3
|May low C = 2.7
|Jun low C = 7.4
|Jul low C = 12.2
|Aug low C = 13.8
|Sep low C = 10.3
|Oct low C = 5.2
|Nov low C = 0.6
|Dec low C = -4.5
|year low C = 1.9
|Jan record low C = -26.0
|Feb record low C = -25.0
|Mar record low C = -23.0
|Apr record low C = -13.5
|May record low C = -7.0
|Jun record low C = -1.5
|Jul record low C = 4.0
|Aug record low C = 3.5
|Sep record low C = -1.7
|Oct record low C = -4.5
|Nov record low C = -12.0
|Dec record low C = -20.6
|year record low C = -26.0
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 147.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 138.0
|Mar precipitation mm = 143.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 147.5
|May precipitation mm = 127.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 113.1
|Jul precipitation mm = 108.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 107.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 133.0
|Oct precipitation mm = 158.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 168.9
|Dec precipitation mm = 153.1
|year precipitation mm = 1646.3
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 83.4
|Feb rain mm = 77.9
|Mar rain mm = 100.1
|Apr rain mm = 127.9
|May rain mm = 126.9
|Jun rain mm = 113.1
|Jul rain mm = 108.4
|Aug rain mm = 107.8
|Sep rain mm = 133.0
|Oct rain mm = 158.3
|Nov rain mm = 160.7
|Dec rain mm = 106.3
|year rain mm = 1403.6
|Jan snow cm = 58.5
|Feb snow cm = 56.6
|Mar snow cm = 41.2
|Apr snow cm = 17.9
|May snow cm = 0.8
|Jun snow cm = 0.0
|Jul snow cm = 0.0
|Aug snow cm = 0.0
|Sep snow cm = 0.0
|Oct snow cm = 0.0
|Nov snow cm = 8.2
|Dec snow cm = 44.6
|year snow cm = 227.8
|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 15.4
|Feb precipitation days = 13.3
|Mar precipitation days = 13.7
|Apr precipitation days = 15.3
|May precipitation days = 15.2
|Jun precipitation days = 14.0
|Jul precipitation days = 13.9
|Aug precipitation days = 14.3
|Sep precipitation days = 15.2
|Oct precipitation days = 16.8
|Nov precipitation days = 18.9
|Dec precipitation days = 17.8
|year precipitation days = 183.8
|unit rain days = 0.2 mm
|Jan rain days = 8.3
|Feb rain days = 7.2
|Mar rain days = 9.6
|Apr rain days = 13.6
|May rain days = 15.1
|Jun rain days = 14.0
|Jul rain days = 13.9
|Aug rain days = 14.3
|Sep rain days = 15.2
|Oct rain days = 16.8
|Nov rain days = 17.5
|Dec rain days = 11.9
|year rain days = 157.3
|unit snow days = 0.2 cm
|Jan snow days = 9.3
|Feb snow days = 8.0
|Mar snow days = 6.3
|Apr snow days = 3.1
|May snow days = 0.24
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.0
|Nov snow days = 2.2
|Dec snow days = 8.0
|year snow days = 37.1
|Jan sun = 89.9
|Feb sun = 109.0
|Mar sun = 138.4
|Apr sun = 150.7
|May sun = 170.7
|Jun sun = 185.5
|Jul sun = 184.7
|Aug sun = 182.1
|Sep sun = 159.8
|Oct sun = 130.9
|Nov sun = 74.9
|Dec sun = 74.2
|year sun = 1650.7
|Jan percentsun = 31.9
|Feb percentsun = 37.3
|Mar percentsun = 37.5
|Apr percentsun = 37.2
|May percentsun = 36.9
|Jun percentsun = 39.5
|Jul percentsun = 38.8
|Aug percentsun = 41.6
|Sep percentsun = 42.4
|Oct percentsun = 38.6
|Nov percentsun = 26.2
|Dec percentsun = 27.4
|year percentsun = 36.3
|source 1 = [[Environment Canada]]<ref name= "CCN1">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=6388&lang=e&province=NS&provSubmit=go&dCode=0
| title = Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
| work = Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010
| date=31 October 2011 | access-date = 11 May 2015}}</ref><ref name= "CCN2">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = ftp://ftp.tor.ec.gc.ca/Pub/Normals/English/NS/NS_ANNA-YARM_ENG.csv
| title = Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
| work = Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201031083611/ftp://ftp.tor.ec.gc.ca/Pub/Normals/English/NS/NS_ANNA-YARM_ENG.csv
| archive-date = 2020-10-31
| url-status = dead
| access-date = 11 May 2015}}</ref><ref name= "March 2012">{{cite web
| publisher = [[Environment Canada]]
| url = http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1972-07-01%7C2013-11-30&mlyRange=1972-01-01%7C2006-02-01&StationID=6388&Prov=NS&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&Month=3&Day=28&txtStationName=louisbourg&timeframe=2&Year=2012
| title = Daily Data Report for March 2012
| work = Canadian Climate Data
| date=31 October 2011 | access-date = 29 September 2016}}</ref>
|date=August 2010
}}

==In popular culture==
Louisbourg (spelled Louisberg) was mentioned in [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]]'s story ''[[Feathertop]]''. The town is also a major setting for [[Thomas H. Raddall]]'s 1946 novel ''Roger Sudden''. The town "Louisburg" is mentioned in [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s ''[[Evangeline]]''. The 2011 film ''[[Take This Waltz (film)|Take This Waltz]]'' begins with a re-enactment scene from the fortress and features the lighthouse in several shots.

==See also==
* [[Fortress of Louisbourg]]
* [[Royal eponyms in Canada]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*[http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/cap/places/page.asp?ID=375 ''Places Names of Nova Scotia'', Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, p. 375]{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

==Further reading==
{{EB1911 poster|Louisburg}}
*{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=A.J.B.|title=Louisbourg: Past, Present, Future|year=2013|location=Halifax|publisher=Nimbus Publishing|isbn=978-1-771080-52-1}}
* {{Cite book |publisher = At the presses of S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews |location = Boston, Massachusetts |author = Jedidiah Morse |author-link=Jedidiah Morse |title = The American Gazetteer |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/americangazettee00mors#page/n293/mode/2up |chapter=Louisbourg |date = 1797 |ol = 23272543M }}
*{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Louisburg |short=x}}
*{{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Louisburg |short=x}}

{{Cape Breton Regional Municipality}}
{{NSCapeBreton}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|45|55|11.5|N|59|58|22.1|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Communities in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality]]
[[Category:Designated places in Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Former towns in Nova Scotia]]
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia]]