Photographs courtesy of Conrad Poirier

Jack Cape / James River / James River Station / Jimtown  

JACK CAPE, Antigonish County
    See CAPE JACK

JAMES RIVER, Antigonish County
    A river flowing south east into the West River and a settlement south west of Antigonish.
    It may have been named after the Rev. James Munro a pioneer Presbyterian minister who visited Antigonish in 1797 and was settled there from 1808 to 1818. It is reported that one night he became lost in the woods going to Antigonish and sheltered from the bears in a tree near the stream named after him. Others believe that it was called after three pioneers who took up land either on its banks or nearby: James Miller, James Nichols and James MacDonald.
    The district was part of the grant of 23,000 acres in 1804 to the Hon. Lawrence Hartshorne, Halifax business man. In the winter and spring of 1815 he had a clearing of about thirty acres made on the farm on which James River station stands. This was called the "Big Clearing" or "An Clerramore." John Cameron of Lochaber settled in "Clerramore" in 1816 on a farm he purchased from Mr. Hartshorne. James Nichols settled on the west side of James River and James McDonald (Seumas Mor) a native of Strathglass, settled on the lot west of James Nichols' place.
    By 1898 there was one store and a saw mill and a church.
    The school district was formerly part of Beaver Meadow but now extends to the Pictou line on the west, its boundaries being altered in 1876 and 1910.
    A ready-mix concrete plant was constructed in 1962 to serve the needs of the Antigonish district.
    The population in 1956 was 106.

JAMES RIVER STATION, Antigonish County
    A post office south west of Antigonish, so named because the C.N.R. station is there.
    See JAMES RIVER.

JIMTOWN, Antigonish County
    A settlement north-east of Antigonish on Georges Bay.
    Named after Captain James McDonald an early settler.
    In the 19th century vessels came here to load cattle to take to Newfoundland although there was no wharf and the animals had to be ferried out to the ships. This cattle trade gradually declined and ended about 1913. In the 1920's it became a summer colony.