Elmsdale (2011 population: 3,034) is an unincorporated Canadian village and community located on the boundary of Hants County and Halifax County in Nova Scotia.
Geography
Specifically, the community is divided by the Shubenacadie River, in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
History
Elmsdale owes its early growth to the construction of the Shubenacadie Canal and the Nova Scotia Railway. Demand for workers on these projects brought many new families into the area. One of the earliest was William Read who was granted of land in 1785 at the confluence of the Nine Mile River and the Shubenacadie River.
In 1852 Alexander Fraser built the first house in what is now in the village proper, about from the railway crossing. In the next six years more houses were constructed near the crossing, including a hotel and a boarding house for railway workers.
The Elmsdale Presbyterian Church was completed in 1862. Its pastor, Rev. John Cameron and family came from Nine Mile River to live in the large residence he had built on the crest of a gentle slope overlooking the village. This house is still in existence and is currently The Briarwood Bed and Breakfast.
Below is an account of the History of Elmsdale written in 1917 by Hanson T. Dowell, a resident at that time.
