Eastern Passage

  Prior to the European settlers’ arrival, Eastern Passage was a seasonal home to the Mi'kmaq people for thousands of years. They would migrate here from the more forested areas of the Province to fish, gather clams and mussels and also avoid the relentless black flies found inland. Europeans began using the channel and shore line around 1712 forcing Mi'kmaq from the mainland to McNab's Island. 

 Eastern Passage gets its name from its location within Halifax Harbour. Captain James Cook was the first to chart the harbour and the ‘eastern passage’ was simply the description of the channel placed on his chart. The area was later granted to Joseph Gorham, a mercenary enlisted by Governor Cornwallis to remove indigenous people from their lands. He did not settle ‘The Passage’. The land was later re-granted in 1798 to Jacob Horne. Mr. Horne and his family were the first recorded European settlers in the area, later followed by the descendants of the German Protestants whom the English brought to the Lunenburg area to replace the expelled French Catholics.