The Natural History

Our beautiful resort is located on the traditional unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. This land has a long history.

Now inhabited mostly by cottagers and summer residents, at one time, St. Peters Harbour was the Island’s busiest and most prosperous area. The 300-year-old town has Acadian roots dating back to 1719, when it was the very first French settlement on this shore. It grew into an important fishing and shipbuilding community in the mid- to late-19th century.  It was often considered the commercial capital of Isle St. Jean (PEI), and reported the largest population of inhabitants on PEI in the 1728 census.

Long before the area was settled by Europeans, this area was covered in forest- Spruce, Fir, Beech, White and Yellow Birch, Ash and Maple trees. The forests were inhabited by deer, bears, raccoons, foxes and wolves. All the waters were abundant in salmon, oysters, clams, quahogs, trout and lobsters.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the indigenous people who have lived in the area for more than 8000 years. Proof of their existence was unearthed at Greenwich National Park, which is only 20 minutes from Nature Space. The artifacts that were found there, showed that the Greenwich Peninsula had been occupied by three different cultural areas of Indigenous People; The Paleo-Indian (8600-3500 B.C.), the Archaic or “Shellfish” People (3500-1000 B.C.) and the Algonquin tradition, of which the Mi’kmaq are descendants.

The Mi’kmaq people called St. Peters “Poogoosumkek Boktaba,” which, when translated, means “the place of clam digging” and called Prince Edward Island “Abegweit,” which means “cradled on the waves.”

The French occupation of the area began in the early 1700s and the French settlers and the Mi’kmaq people got along well and co-existed peacefully. The French families were attracted to the area for the same reason as the Mi’kmaq, because it offered a harbour and superior fishing grounds.  In 1758, when the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, NS surrendered to the British Forces, Isle St. Jean was also surrendered. Most of the French population of Isle. St. Jean was subsequently deported.

After the French were deported, the British started to settle. While the Mi’kmaq people had a good relationship with the French, the same could not be said about their relationship with the British. The forests quickly disappeared along with the animals that lived in the areas, making it very difficult for the Mi’kmaq people to survive. Eventually only a few small settlements that were scattered around the area were all that was left of the indigenous population. 

The British in this area focused largely on shipbuilding. In St. Peter’s Bay alone, there were three shipyards.  If you wander down to the Harbour you can find the old pilings from the large shipbuilding wharf near the lighthouse. The original St. Peters Harbour Lighthouse was built in 1878 and evolved into a warning light in 1951 after the harbour was abandoned, and was decommissioned entirely in 2008. The lighthouse has been completely restored by the St. Peters Harbour Lighthouse Society. As founding members of the Lighthouse Society, we are proud to introduce the lighthouse to our guests, and Heather teaches yoga in front of this landmark during the summer months.

Despite the lighthouse, the North Shore of Prince Edward Island was once considered to be a graveyard for many large ships. In the summer of 2020 a wreck from ~200 years ago was unearthed at the top of the lake run (a short paddle from Nature Space Resort).

As fishing stocks declined and ship building became a thing of the past, this once bustling community became quieter. Home now to a large blueberry factory (Wyman’s), a sizeable mussel and oyster plant (Mussel King and Atlantic Shellfish), agriculture and fishing are the main industries, in addition to tourism, which we are proud to be a part of.