Blandford, Nova Scotia

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Blandford is a small community in Nova Scotia, located on the Aspotogan Peninsula along the Lighthouse Route (Route 329). It used to include the nearby communities of New Harbour, Upper Blandford, and Deep Cove.

Blandford was settled in 1767–1769 by English settlers from the west of England and was named after Blandford Forum in England. One early resident was George Casper Zinck, born around 1764, the son of a German-speaking immigrant. He lived in Lunenburg, moved to Rose Bay after the American Raid on Lunenburg in 1782, and finally settled in Blandford in 1784, where he started a family.

There were also Jewish settlers in the area. The Levy family is linked to Nathaniel Levy, who was in Halifax by 1759 and later moved to Chester. Some of his descendants, including those who settled on nearby Tancook Island, eventually moved to Blandford.

Deep Cove was first settled in 1838 by John Meisner and John Seaburg. Meisner built the first gristmill on the north side of Deep Cove, and Meisner’s Point on the Upper Blandford road is named after him.

In the early days, settlers could travel over the winter ice to Tancook and Chester. In 1845, goods were hauled over the ice to Tancook with oxen and horses, and in the following years some trips used frozen routes. The last recorded winter crossing to Tancook was in 1932.

During the Fenian era, Blandford formed a volunteer regiment to defend against possible Fenian raids from the United States. Local men drilled and served, and a medal was awarded for service. The era brought alarms in the mid to late 1860s and 1870, and local folklore even tells of a Fenian attack at Big Cove thwarted with Mi’kmaq help.

A well-known figure in Blandford’s modern history is Cyrus Eaton, a wealthy industrialist from Pugwash who bought land in Blandford in the early 1930s and turned it into a sanctuary for Canada Geese. The area became a wildlife sanctuary in 1959, with hunting banned, and in 2007 it was designated a protected area under the Special Places Protection Act, which restricts access to foot traffic. The reserve preserves diverse habitats and rare plants, including a large Jack Pine barrens, and it is Blandford Nature Reserve, the province’s 16th nature reserve and the first in Lunenburg County.

Eaton hosted many celebrities during his time in Blandford, including Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space. He donated money for the doors of St. Bartholomew’s Church in Blandford, and his ashes are buried in Blandford and Pugwash. After his death in 1979, his Blandford estate was bought by a group of German businessmen.