New place names proposed for four Shelburne County locations
A survey has gone out to Shelburne County residents asking for their choice of the new names being proposed to replace the names of four locations in the county containing the word negro.
Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services began public engagement on renaming the four derogatory place names in Shelburne County in June, said communications officer Blaise Theriault.
“We received hundreds of responses, which included proposed names for the locations. The department then researched and vetted the proposed names,” Theriault said.
The list of proposed names for final selection has been available through an online survey. People can visit https://geonova.novascotia. ca/place-names to see the names by clicking on the community engagement tab.
The survey was initially set to close on Dec. 31. The council for the Municipality of Barrington requested that deadline be extended to Feb. 28, 2022, when they met on Dec. 13 to give residents additional time to respond to the survey to select new names, as many residents had not yet received the survey. On the website where the survey is housed, it now lists Feb. 28 as the date by which people can make their selections for the new names.
The four place names being renamed are Cape Negro Harbour, Cape Negro (the community), Cape Negro Island and Cape Negro, which is a point on the island.
Five names are being proposed to chose from for the community of Cape Negro: Peaceful Haven, Cape Perseverance, Cape Freedom, Cape Hope and Herbertville in honour of the largest black family that settled in the Reynoldscroft and Port La Tour area which borders Cape Negro.
“The Herbert family supplied fresh fish and lobster to their families and neighbouring communities, as well as the Black Loyalists in Birchtown,” reads the survey.
Four names are being proposed to chose from for Cape Negro Island: Spirit Island, Freedom Island, New Hope Island and Cromwell Island in honour of Elizabeth and Everett Cromwell who were pioneers who worked hard to educate people on Black history, says the survey.
“They were the founders of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society and they are the reason why the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre exists today," the survey reads. "The Cromwells will always be part of the history in this part of the province.”
Four names are also being proposed to chose from for the point of land on Cape Negro Island: Peaceful Point, Cape Courage, Cape Loyalist Point and Cape Faith.
Loyalist Harbour, Precious Waters, Freedom Harbour and New Hope Harbour are the proposed new names for Cape Negro Harbour.
In addition to online feedback, Shelburne County residents who received a copy of the survey by mail can also respond by mail or drop off to the Municipality of Shelburne office at 136 Hammond Street, Shelburne.
In 2016, GeoNova, which is part of the Information, Communications, and Technology Service Branch of the Department of Internal Services, received two applications to rename the four locations.
At the invitation of the Barrington council, Black Loyalist descendant Chuck Smith made a presentation at the March 22, 2021, council meeting to speak on the issue of the place name changes.
He said he himself wasn’t personally offended by the names, but others have been and so it’s an issue that should be addressed.
“I asked various people in the community about what they thought and not just black people, people in general. The consensus that I got – the overview was – the name needs to be changed,” he had told council.
The word negro, Smith said, “has a bad history that goes back to the civil right movement.” He said it has “so many racial overtones."
"It can mean a lot of negative things,” he said.