Bridgewater is a town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada, at the navigable limit of the LaHave River. With a 2021 population of 8,790, Bridgewater is the largest town in the South Shore region.
Priding itself as "The Main Street of the South Shore," Bridgewater has long been established as the primary commercial and professional service centre in the southern half of the province. The community boasts a diverse local economy, as well as larger national and international employers.
History
The original inhabitants of the Bridgewater area are the Mi'kmaq people who have lived in the area for thousands of years based on artifacts that have been discovered in the town. Prior to European settlement, the Mi'kmaq used the area where the town now stands as an inland encampment on the edge of the LaHave River.
In 1604 French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons visited the area, and in the mid-1600s there was a small French settlement downriver of the current site at LaHave. The first bridge was built around 1825, and by 1850 the village had a population of 300. Lots were first surveyed in 1874.
Around this time industries were developed using water power from the river, including lumber manufacture, a carding mill, a foundry, a gristmill and a tannery. As the town expanded, it made it more and more difficult for the area's Mi'kmaq inhabitants to maintain their historic way of life.
From 1889 the town was connected by rail to Middleton, and eventually to the rest of the province and Canada via mergers with the Halifax and Southwestern Railway. Passenger service ended in 1976. The railway station, a local landmark, was burned in 1986 and is now the site of fast food outlets. Freight service ended in the early 1990s.
In January 1899 a fire devastated the downtown core. One month later, the town was incorporated.
A lumber mill started by Edward Doran Davison on the site of the present-day South Shore Shopping Centre was in operation during the first two decades of the 1900s.
A major employer in the 1900s was the Acadia Gas Engines company, the largest marine inboard motor manufacturer in Canada. Their two-stroke engines, manufactured entirely in Bridgewater and nicknamed make and break engines, were exported worldwide. Employing over 100 at the King Street plant, the company declined and closed in the 1970s.
In 1971 Michelin opened a tire factory, eventually employing more than 1,000.
The western bank of the LaHave River was the area first settled, and continued to be the commercial and civic heart of the town well into the 20th century. However, since the 1970s, population and economic growth has been stronger on the eastern bank, with the development of shopping malls, new housing, and a regional hospital.
Geography
Bridgewater spans the width of the LaHave River Valley and is dominated by hills that lead down to the river. Elevations range from 5 m above sea level at the river, to nearly 110 m at the southwestern border. Like much of Southern Nova Scotia, the surrounding area is characterized by rolling drumlins formed during the last glacial period, some of which reach 150 m above sea level. The LaHave River is traversed by two bridges in the centre of the town, as well as a 103 highway overpass and foot bridge towards the northern limits.
Climate
Like most of eastern Canada, Bridgewater experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb). The South Shore's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean does serve to moderate the climate, and the region is usually milder than most of Canada during the winter months. Nevertheless, winters are generally cold, damp, and snowy, along with frequent rain. Summers, while less extreme than inland central Canada, are warm to hot and sometimes humid, accented by occasional storms and showers. Autumn and spring are often wildly unpredictable, and snowfall in October and May is not unheard of.
Because it lies inland from the ocean, Bridgewater is usually warmer than coastal Nova Scotia during the summer, reporting far fewer foggy days.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bridgewater had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
In 2016, the average age was 46.8 years, over three years above the provincial average. 54% of the population was female, nearly 3% above the provincial average. 5.2% of residents declared themselves as immigrants, with most having arrived in Canada before 1981. Mother tongue was primarily English, with 1.4% reporting French, and 2.7% other. 7.8% were bilingual in French and English.