The town of Guysboro is quite an old settlement, for Nicholas St. Denys had a fishing station at the place now known as Fort Point. The fisheries here have always been very valuable, and Chedabucto, at the head of which Guysboro is, has been the resort of many vessels engaged in fishing for mackerel, herring, codfish and pollock. The settlement itself with its long street of most generous width lying along the water, at a little distance from it, and the grassy little streets on the overlooking hills, is very attractive as a quiet summer resort, with good boating and canoeing. As a centre for sailing and excursions by water, and also for drives in every direction, it is excellent. Being somewhat remote, it is a place where a restful summer may be spent, with cool air and genial surroundings. Like Antigonish, it is a place with a homelike air that takes the fancy from the very first; and here, of course, boating and fishing are at the very door. There are pleasant water trips nearby to Milford Haven and Boylston, and innumerable longer excursions to places on Chedabucto Bay, to Isle Madame and other Cape Breton points, as well as to Hawkesbury and Mulgrave on the Strait of Canso. There are good drives, also, with fishing sport, to Salmon River and surrounding lakes, as well as to Whitehead, Tor Bay and other places on the outer Atlantic coast. In summer the water of Chedabucto Bay is ordinarily quiet and smooth, and it takes just a moment to pass out into the open bay from Guysboro’s little shelter-harbor. When a gale blows from the east, the sea piles up in rollers and sweeps up to the harbor entrance in fine commotion. It is a place half-country and half-shore, with sea life predominating.
Guysboro
“I picked up shells with ruby lips
That spoke in whispers of the sea,
Upon a time, and watched the ships,
On white wings, sail away to sea.
The ships I saw go out that day
Live misty—dim in memory;