Photographs courtesy of Conrad Poirier

Hallowell Grant / Harbour Centre / Harbour Road / Hartshorne Brook / Hattie Millstream / Havre Boucher / Havre Boucher Brook / Havre Island / Healy Lake / Heatherton / Heffernan's Brook / Hillcrest / Horseshoe Turn Brook /  Hurlbert Brook

HALLOWELL GRANT, Antigonish County
    See BIG MARSH, BROPHY and FAIRMONT.

HARBOUR CENTRE, Antigonish County
    Settlement north east of Antigonish.
    So named because it is the centre of the entrance to Antigonish Harbour. It was included in the grant in 1785 to Lt. Col. Timothy Hierlihy and his soldiers, where he intended to establish the town of Dorchester. The population in 1956 was 72.
    See also TOWN POINT.

HARBOUR ROAD, Antigonish County
    Locality N. E. of Antigonish.
    A descriptive term because it was located on the road leading from the town of Antigonish to the Village of Antigonish Harbour.
    In the term of 1847-48 John Sutton was teaching there eighteen scholars of the surnames Callahan, Grant, McDonald, Madden, Payne, Power and Sipples.
    There was a postal way office there from 1861 to 1867 and A. J. McGillivray was postmaster in 1868.

HARTSHORNE BROOK, Antigonish County
    A brook flowing south east into Beaver River so called because it runs through the land granted in 1804 to the Hon. Lawrence Hartshorne (1755-1822). He was a Loyalist merchant who came to Nova Scotia from New York and represented Halifax County in the House of Assembly from 1793 to 1799 and was appointed a member of His Majesty's Council in 1801.

HATTIE MILLSTREAM, Antigonish County
    A brook flowing east into South River Lake, probably named after the Hattie family.

HAVRE BOUCHER, Antigonish County
    A village north east of Antigonish and a harbour opening on George's Bay, five miles west of Canso Causeway on Trans Canada Highway.
    There have been various spellings - Bouche, Boucher, Bouchet and Bushee, and various explanations for the name. One version is that it derived  from the French bouche (blocked or closed) because the harbour entrance is almost closed by an island. Another tradition is that Captain Francois Boucher took refuge there in 1759. Before 1785 John and Paul Bushee were living near the harbour as was the Decoast or De Cost family. In 1811 the following who were already living at "Harbour au Bouchee" were given grants of land by the Crown - Philistine, John Baptist and James De Coast, Bernard Benwaugh (Benois) and Paul Bushee, Charles LeBlanc and John Baptist Melon and George Minette. The small group of original Acadian settlers were joined by some French settlers from Arichat and in the early days of the 19th century by some Irish families. There were thirty families when Bishop Plessis of Quebec paid and official visit in 1812, and more than one hundred families in 1858 when a parish was created to serve the area. There is a tradition that in 1790 there was a tiny chapel at Havre Boucher. In 1816 the chapel was replaced by another and the first school started by Father Manseau. On December 1, 1858, Havre Boucher became a separate parish with Father Hugh MacDonald serving as the first pastor. On June 30, 1861 Bishop MacIntyre of Charlottetown laid the cornerstone of the new Church at Havre Boucher. St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church was constructed in 1916 and a convent (Immaculate Conception) of the Sisters of Charity built in 1890.
    Neil Arbuckle was teaching fifteen pupils at "Harbour au Bouchet" in 1829. By 1876 the district was so populous that two separate school sections were carved out but were reunited to Havre Boucher in 1952.
    There was a postal way office in 1855 and in 1868 Edmund Corbett was postmaster. A new post office building was completed August 10, 1964.
    The harbour was important for fishing and by 1818 some small fishing vessels were being built by people from Arichat. There is some lobster and scallop harvesting.
    Population in 1956 was 307.

HAVRE BOUCHER BROOK, Antigonish County
    A brook which flows north into Havre Boucher.

HAVRE ISLAND, Antigonish County
    An island in Georges Bay, at entrance to Havre Boucher, named because of its position.

HEALY LAKE, Antigonish County
    A lake south of George Bay.
    Named for the Healy or Haley family which had land nearby. Also called Merland Lake because the village of Merland is in the vicinity.

HEATHERTON, Antigonish County
    A settlement east of Antigonish.
    Known as "Pomquette Forks" until part of the district was named Heatherton by act of the Nova Scotia Legislature in 1879.
    Many of the early settlers were from Scotland, e.g. John Chisholm, Donald Ban Gillis, John, Donald, Archy, Hugh, Ronald, Angus and Alexander McDonald, John Tolbert (blacksmith).
    The first school in section 25 was a log house on the west side of the Pomquet River which had belonged to John Chisholm (Donn) and the first teacher was Joseph Grant.
    A new post office building was completed June 3, 1965.
    A Roman Catholic Church was built about 1842 ministered by the priests of St. Andrew's later from Pomquet. A new church was started in 1867 and the mission became a separate parish of Immaculate Conception in 1875. The Sisters of St. Martha have Our Lady of Fatima Convent.
    By 1898 it contained three stores, one hotel, two sawmills, a cheese factory, and had a railway station on the Eastern Extension Railway to Cape Breton. It is now a mixed farming district with poultry and dairying and some lumbering.
    The population in 1956 was 203.

HEFFERNAN'S BROOK, Antigonish County
    A brook flowing south into North Lake Stream.
    Named after the Heffernan family.

HILLCREST, Antigonish County
    Settlement south west of Antigonish.
    Descriptive name for it overlooks the West River. Among the first grantees were John and Hugh MacDonald, Isabelle MacMillan and Ralph Fuller in 1813.

HORSESHOE TURN BROOK, Antigonish County
    Flows north west into Northumberland Strait.
    A descriptive term because the brook makes a turn which looks like a horseshoe.

HURLBERT BROOK, Antigonish County
    A brook which flows north west into Lochaber Lake.
    Named for the Hurlbert Family. Jonah Hulbert or Hurlbert came with his family from Connecticut to Antigonish about 1788, but returned to the United States. His two sons, Stephen and Gardner remained in Nova Scotia.