Historic Black Communities, Settlements and Neighborhoods

New Brunswick

Beaver Harbour, Elm Hill, Parr Town (east side of what became St. John), Willow Grove, areas within York-Sunbury counties such as Fredericton, Keswick, and Maugerville, Kingsclear Parrish, Bear Island, and Mactaquac Heights.

Note: In New Brunswick (as in other provinces) some of the only evidence of historic Black communities are their cemeteries and these have not always been protected - suffering desecration or neglect.  Case in point, the Kingsclear Cemetery was submerged when the Mactaquac Dam was constructed in the 1960s leaving the graves of Black New Brunswickers submerged. See the documentary, Speakers of the Dead (NFB), by Jen Holness and Sudz Sutherland for an Ontario story of intentional desecration of a segregated cemetery.

Nova Scotia

Some of the 52 historic settlements include Africville, North Preston, East Preston, Cherry Brook, Beechville, Upper Hammonds Plains, Lucasville, Birchtown, Shelburne,Yarmouth, Acaciaville, Conway, Jordantown, Weymouth Falls, Three Mile Plains, Gibson Woods, Aldershot, Cambridge, Amherst (Sand Hill), Springhill, Upper Big Tracadie, Lincolnville, and Sunnyville. Uniacke Square and Mulgrave Park (neighborhoods in Halifax). Whitney Pier (neighborhood in Sydney)

Note: BLK explores the journey to clear land titles in historically Black communities in NS. African Nova Scotian history dates back to the Acadian period, 1604-1755. 

Prince Edward Island

The Bog

Newfoundland and Labrador

No Black settlements but there is longstanding history of Black people in Newfoundland prior to the 20th and 21st centuries including free sailors/laborers, indentured workers, enslaved people (ie. in Ferryland and St. John) - some participating in the codfishing industry which in turn supplied cheap “Jamaica grade” salt cod to feed enslaved people throughout the Americas.