Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island

The Municipality of Malpeque Bay is a municipality that holds community status in Prince Edward Island, Canada.[2] It is located in Prince County and Queens County.

Rural Municipality of Malpeque Bay
Community
Rural Municipality of Malpeque Bay is located in Prince Edward Island
Rural Municipality of Malpeque Bay
Rural Municipality of Malpeque Bay
Coordinates: 46°30′N 63°40′W
CountryCanada
ProvincePrince Edward Island
CountyPrince County
Queens County
ParishSt. David's Parish
Grenville Parish
Incorporated1973
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Council
 • MayorPaul Brown
 • CouncillorsBrian McKinnon
Krista Ashley
Wayne Crosby
Ghislaine Duplain
Jason MacLellan
Marla Simmons [1]
 • SeatMalpeque
Population
 • Total1,191
Time zoneUTC-4 (AST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-3 (ADT)
Canadian Postal code
C0B 1M0
Area code902

The municipality derives its name from Malpeque Bay, the second largest bay in the province which forms the municipality's western boundary. The municipality straddles several levels of geographic hierarchy in the province, including the townships of Lot 18 and Lot 20, the parishes of St. David's Parish and Grenville Parish, as well as the counties of Prince County and Queens County.

The municipality's seat is in the community of Malpeque.

History

The area was originally settled by the Mi'kmaq around 2500 BC. The Mi'kmaq called the area "Makpaak", meaning "large bay".[3]

Acadian families arrived from Nova Scotia in 1728 and settled on the west shore of Malpeque Bay, north of present-day Miscouche, naming their settlement "Malpèque" after the Mi'kmaq name. By 1752, the settlement housed a population of more than 200.[4][5] In 1758, the expulsion of the Acadians began after the fall of Louisbourg. According to local tradition, when the Malpèque settlers learned of the British arrival at Port-LaJoye, they stripped their church and buried the chapel bell to hide it from British capture.[6]

In his 1764 survey of the colony, British surveyor Samuel Holland assigned an area on the east shore of the bay as Crown land. Named Prince Royalty for the newly born Prince George (later George IV), nearby Princetown was intended to become the seat of Prince County.[3][7] Princetown's harbour proved unfavourable for large ships, and saw only limited rural development due to being surrounded by Crown land, thus the townsite failed to develop, and the Acadian name remained well known for the area.[8] A more favourable sheltered harbour was located on the south side of the island, which later became Summerside.

Princetown was officially incorporated as a town in 1901, but its status was downgraded to settlement in 1925. The settlement's name officially became Malpeque on 13 March 1947. In 1973, Malpeque was designated a locality within the newly established Community of Malpeque Bay.[9]

Communities

This municipality contains the following communities:

Lot 18

Lot 20

  • Sea View

Demographics
Federal census population history of Malpeque Bay
YearPop.±%
20161,030—    
20211,191+15.6%
Source: Statistics Canada[10]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Malpeque Bay had a population of 1,191 living in 520 of its 991 total private dwellings, a change of 15.6% from its 2016 population of 1,030. With a land area of 98.97 km2 (38.21 sq mi), it had a population density of 12.0/km2 (31.2/sq mi) in 2021.[10]

References
  1. "Contact Us | BUSINESS NAME".
  2. "Municipal Councils and Contact Information" (PDF). Government of Prince Edward Island. January 27, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  3. "The Community of Malpeque Bay History". malpequebay.ca. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  4. Day, Jim (6 September 2014). "Great find on P.E.I." The Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  5. "Sieur de la Rocque 1752 Census for Prince Edward Island/Ile Saint Jean". The Island Register. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  6. "A Legend in P.E.I. - Chapel Bells Buried For Two Centuries". Yarmouth Vanguard. 6 March 1990. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  7. Campbell, Duncan (1875). History of Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown: Bremner Brothers. p. Chapter 1.
  8. "Accounts and Papers: Thirty Volumes". 34. 1849: 63. Retrieved 28 September 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "PlaceFinder: Malpeque". Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  10. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Prince Edward Island". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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