Baddeck is the shire-town of the Municipality of Victoria County, with an elected village commission having limited authority over water, sewer, side streets and some bylaws. The population was 816 in the 2021 Census of Population.
The area was first occupied by Mi'kmaq people and later settled by United Empire Loyalists and Scottish Gaels in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The area prospered in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a service and shipping center for surrounding mining, trapping, fishing, forestry, and farming actvities.[2] Today the economy depends on services, cultural activities, and tourism.
Toponymy
Baddeck is a Mi'kmaq language place name.[3] The French called it La Bedeque, while Canadian Gaelic speakers called it Badaig.[3] Its original name, Apatakwitk, has been variously reported as meaning "reversing flow",[3] "place with island near" (a likely reference to Kidston Island),[4] "a portion of food set aside for someone", or "a sultry place".[5]
French Jesuits settled at nearby St. Anns in 1629. British settlement came during the 1700s after the territory was ceded by France.
In 1839, a property containing an inn, a tavern, and a post office was built. In 1841, Charles James Campbell opened a store, began a shipbuilding operation, and developed coal mining in the nearby area of Cape Dauphin approximately 35 kilometers away.
In 1851 Victoria County was created from an area split off of Cape Breton County. Baddeck became the shire-town or county seat of the newly formed county: with a jail, court house and municipal offices.
In 1885 the Alexander Graham Bell family had a vacation in Baddeck.[6] He then built a complex of buildings, including a new laboratory,[6] named Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic: beautiful mountain) after Bell's ancestral Scottish highlands.[7] Initially a summer residence, Bell spent an increasing part of the year there, and conducted many experiments, including the AEA Silver Dart's first controlled powered flight in Canada in 1909. From 1885 to 1928 the estate included the Bell Boatyard which made both experimental and traditional boats. The yard was notable for its dual focus on both experimental and traditional boats and for its employment of large numbers of female boatbuilders.[8]
Baddeck experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb). The highest temperature ever recorded in Baddeck was 36.7 °C (98 °F) on 22 August 1935. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −32.2 °C (−26 °F) on 11 February 1883.[10]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Baddeck had a population of 818 living in 368 of its 415 total private dwellings, a change of -1% from its 2016 population of 826. With a land area of 2.11 km2 (0.81 sq mi), it had a population density of 387.7/km2 (1,004.1/sq mi) in 2021.[13]
Attractions
Baddeck is one of several Cape Breton communities that plays host to the Celtic Colours festival each fall. The music festival features hundreds of Celtic musicians from Cape Breton and around the world.[14]
Bras d'Or House, circa 1894, heavily remodelled, now houses apartments and a Chinese restaurant.
St. Mark's Masonic Lodge, 1898, built in the style of a church, featuring elaborate architectural and Masonic details, many of which now covered with vinyl siding.
^Tulloch, Judith (2006). The Bell Family in Baddeck: Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel Bell in Cape Breton. Halifax: Formac Publishing. ISBN978-0-88780-713-8.
.jpg)
