Clark's Harbour

Clark's Harbour, NS, incorporated as a town in 1919, population 820 (2011c), 860 (2006c). The Town of Clark's Harbour is situated on Cape Sable Island in Shelburne County, about 95 km southeast of Yarmouth. Lying adjacent to rich fishing grounds, it has always been an important fishing and fish-processing community. Both the inshore (lobster) and offshore (scallops, cod) fisheries are practised. It is the birthplace of the famed Cape Island boat, a style a style developed in the early 20th century with distinctive high bows and a long, broad, open workspace, low to the sea. Cape Islanders of various sizes (typically 12-15 m) are found everywhere on the Atlantic coast of the province. The residents, with family names like Swim, Nickerson and Smith, are chiefly descendants of the planters from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The first settler, Michael Swim, arrived in the early 1800s. Largely Baptist in faith, the town's population remains roughly the same number, as many youth migrate to urban areas.