The rainy weather forced a change in plans so instead of driving the Cabot Trail Betty and Terry joined us for a trip out to Fortress Louisburg south of
Sydney.
Fortified in 1713 to protect French Cod fishing interests on Cape Breton Island Louisburg became a bustling center of French military and commerce through the mid 18
th century.
The fortified town included a French government that answered to
Quebec and
France. The rebuilt
Louisburg National Park consist of about 1/5
th of the original fortress and does an excellent job of presenting 18
th century life in the French colony.
During the time we spent there we enjoyed a tour of the fortress as well as seeing military demonstrations, public punishment of a servant girl for stealing,
and a chance to visit with various residents of their life in
Louisburg.The fortress was captured twice by the British colonists from
New England in 1744
And 1758.
After the second surrender the British destroyed the military walls surrounding
Louisburg and later it was abandoned and fell into disrepair.The Canadian government turned the area into a National Park and restored the original construction
in 1961 for future generations to appreciate the early French culture of
Nova Scotia and
Cape Breton Island.
Leaving
Louisburg we traveled east to Glace Bay to tour the
Cape Breton Coal Miners Museum and coal mine that descends out under the bay as it follows the seams of coal.
Coal Mining began on
Cape Breton with the French Soldiers using iron bars to chisel coal out of the cliffs for heating fuel in
Louisburg. After the British took control of
Cape Breton coal became its primary export as the large coal deposits of clean-burning coal were mined and shipped back to
Europe.
Mining in the early 1700’s was a back-breaking job that kept the miners indebted to the company with little hope of improvement.
The workers were paid for the amount of coal they produced and initial hours were 12 hour days six days a week for .80 to $1.50 a day with hardly enough money left for food after paying rent to the
company and buying coal to keep warm on winter.
Working conditions were horrible. To maximize production tunnel height was determined by the thickness of the coal vein. Miners spent 10-12 hours a day working bent over or on their knees in the damp, dark, 4 ½ foot high tunnels. The 30 minute tour we took was uncomfortable for
men who just walked through; the misery of a lifetime of toiling there was almost unimaginable.
Eventually the Canadian government took over the mines of
Cape Breton and eventually closed down all coal production in
Nova Scotia as production and safety costs exceeded the value of the coal produced.
We returned to the North Sydney KOA where we met Russ for dinner at the Cedar House Restaurant just across the bridge from the campground. It had been a long day and we were ready for bed!
The fortified town included a French government that answered to 
During the time we spent there we enjoyed a tour of the fortress as well as seeing military demonstrations, public punishment of a servant girl for stealing, 
and a chance to visit with various residents of their life in 
After the second surrender the British destroyed the military walls surrounding 
Leaving 
Mining in the early 1700’s was a back-breaking job that kept the miners indebted to the company with little hope of improvement. 
The workers were paid for the amount of coal they produced and initial hours were 12 hour days six days a week for .80 to $1.50 a day with hardly enough money left for food after paying rent to the company and buying coal to keep warm on winter.
Working conditions were horrible. To maximize production tunnel height was determined by the thickness of the coal vein. Miners spent 10-12 hours a day working bent over or on their knees in the damp, dark, 4 ½ foot high tunnels. The 30 minute tour we took was uncomfortable for
men who just walked through; the misery of a lifetime of toiling there was almost unimaginable.
