Masstown (2021 population: 156), formerly Cobequid, is a farming community located approximately 17km (11miles) from Truro, Nova Scotia.
Masstown | |
Other Name: | Cobequid |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Canada |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Nova Scotia |
Masstown has its beginnings with French settlers, known as Acadians. They first settled in this area near the Cobequid Bay in . The Acadian culture consisted primarily of farming; remains of marshland dykes, that cover the entire coast of the community, indicate their advanced farming systems. Once an old Acadian settlement, Masstown was the site of the first Acadian church in Nova Scotia, and a cairn is erected at the nearby United Church to commemorate this former landmark. The subsequent Catholic Church inspired the community's name: "Mass" town.
Masstown is located 15 minutes west of Truro on Nova Scotia Trunk 2 or Exit 12 off Nova Scotia Highway 104. The small farming community has a local market and now a Tim Hortons and Greco. The local market, the Masstown Market is a tourist attraction for the community as well as the fish market and restaurants and diners nearby. Masstown Market is a popular halfway stop for people travelling between Moncton and Halifax.
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Masstown had a population of 156 living in 62 of its 65 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 164. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.[1]