Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island
It takes its name from several small forested islands, then located several hundred metres offshore in the Northumberland Strait.
[1][2] The community of Wood Islands falls within the larger PEI Township of Lot 62, which had a population in 2011 of 470 residents, a 13% decrease from the 2006 census count of 540.
The Department of Marine hired Donald MacMillian to complete the work; the then eight-room structure was finished during the autumn of 1876 and put into operation on 1 November 1876.
[13][14][15] The Prince Edward Island Railway (Mark PEIR c1875 - 1989) was set out originally to simply cross the Island only from Alberton (then Cascumpec) to Georgetown, thought it quickly added its first two subdivisions, one north-west to Tignish from Alberton and a second east into Souris from Mount Stewart.
[16] The 'initial' system of 198.5 miles was 'complete' by January 1875, and by 1880, with additional short spurs, there were two trains daily crossing PEI, one eastbound and one westbound.
[17][18] In 1905, the federal government funded the PEIR to build a new subdivision, from east of Charlottetown, out to Murray Harbour, seeing the construction of the 'new' Hillsborough River Bridge, built to support bringing rail service to southeastern corner of the Island.
[19] Under superintendent, Benjamin MacEachern, of Hopefield, on November 1, 1905, of 52.3 miles in length, it fully opened for traffic, the daily run taking a scheduled 3 hours and 35 minutes.
[22][23] From 1989, when the trains stopped running, there eventually developed an opportunity for a recreational trail to be set out crossing the Island.
Built by a group of dedicated community volunteers, the spur ends at a replica PEIR Booking Station, much like the one that sat beside Wood Island and Montague Road, with an original freight shed that once sat beside the old PEIR Belle River (Flag) Station.
[26] Ever since the federal government established a subsidized ferry service in 1917 between Borden, PEI and Cape Tormentine, NB under Crown corporation Canadian National Railways, residents of eastern Prince Edward Island had lobbied their elected representatives for an alternative service to Pictou, Nova Scotia; the Borden - Cape Tormentine ferry having replaced a government steamship service between Georgetown and Pictou.
Residents seized upon this opportunity and elicited a promise from the King government to establish a ferry service from southeastern PEI to Caribou, NS, near the town of Pictou.
The location of the PEI terminal was a source of controversy as the deepest water on the PEI shore suitable for a ferry dock was located just east of the Kings County boundary in Little Sands, Prince Edward Island, several kilometres east of Wood Islands.
A major redevelopment of the Wood Islands terminal took place in the early 1990s before the new high capacity M/V Confederation entered service in 1993.
[27] In 2002 Premier Binns opened a provincial Visitor Information Centre at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 4, located one-half kilometre from the Wood Islands ferry terminal, to welcome the more than 350,000 ferry passengers travel through Wood Islands each year.
Today, the corporation now manages the highly popular Wood Islands Lighthouse (c1876) and a commercial interest in a seasonal PEI LCC Agency Store.
[29] The Wood Islands - Welcome Centre and Eastern PEI are home to the 70-Mile Coastal Yard Sale held in September each year.
The first Scarlet warrant was granted July 24, 1859, at which time there were four primary lodges in the province, one in Wood Islands.
The McMillans were part of the migration of Scottish Highlanders sponsored by Lord Selkirk, coming originally from Colonsay in Argyle in 1806.
The congregation continued to receive services from itinerant ministers, and students from the Free Church Presbytery in Pictou, NS, until The Rev.
Financial difficulties in the 1930s and 1940s eventually led to the sharing of a minister by Wood Islands, Culloden, and Murray Harbour South.
It has undergone several renovations in its history, but it continues to be the site of local meetings, community socials, and political rallies in Wood Islands.
The post office was first run in the train station by Mrs Mary McMillan until her resignation in 1906, and operated until October 1915.
Wood Island East School opened in 1856 with Duncan Crawford as its first teacher, with forty-one pupils registered (23 boys and 18 girls).
In 1864, there was thought to close the school for reasons of under use, with so few attending, and to merge its students with those in the Upper Belle Creek District.
This did not happen and designated School District Number 137, it was registered with the Board of Education on August 10, 1882, and remained open until consolidation in 1968.
In 1775, Governor Walter Patterson initiated the iceboat service across the 22.5 km (14 miles) to Caribou, Nova Scotia.
