Blockhouse

On the hillsides to the west of the Town of Mahone Bay lies the community of Blockhouse.

The village was named for a literal blockhouse that was constructed on a hillside around 1753 by British forces to serve as an outlying observation and communications post.

The Mi'kmaq, who had a community in the vicinity for quite some time prior to the arrival of European settlers, referred to the Blockhouse area as Tenapsketegenoogwomk — which means "a house built of rock."

In time, as the community was settled by Europeans, it became primarily a farming centre.

Blockhouse was also a stopping point along the Nova Scotia Central Railway line that connected Lunenburg, Bridgewater and Mahone Bay with Middleton in the Annapolis Valley, beginning in 1889.

Blockhouse Elementary School was constructed and opened in 1962 and it served the communities for three decades before it was closed.

The building briefly remained idle, before serving as the home for the region's francophone school, École de la Rive-Sud.