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Founded in 1605, the Port Royal Habitation was the earliest permanent settlement in North America north of Florida and therefore can boast several `firsts':
Reconstruction The Habitation at Port Royal was reconstructed by the Canadian government in 1939, after a decade of lobbying and research by several dedicated preservationists in the Annapolis Valley. Local craftsmen reconstructed the buildings in the same manner as farms in Normandy. Today, the Habitation not only commemorates historic events of the distant past but is still a landmark in Canada's historic preservation movement. We are proud to have our school named after an historic landmark, which represents the first European settlement in Canada.1603 – 1605 In 1603, a French gentleman, Sieur de Monts received a fur trade monopoly for the area of Acadia in North America (present day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine) on condition that he establish a colony there. His first expedition arrived in May 1604 and after a summer of exploration selected an island at the mouth of the St. Croix River for settlement. After a disastrous winter in which nearly half of the 100 colonists died, de Monts decided to resettle across the Bay of Fundy, in a basin named Port Royal. A plan for the new settlement, drawn by Champlain showed a group of buildings surrounded a courtyard similar to farms in Normandy. Despite the mild weather of a dreary winter and adequate provisions, several of the men died of scurvy. 1606 – 1607 New recruits for the
colony arrived during the summer of 1606. After a busy summer of
farming and exploration, French explorers, Samuel de Champlain and
Jean de Poutrincourt wintered in some comfort at Port Royal. In the
spring the fields and gardens were planted and grew very
successfully. Ironically, just as the colony seemed capable of
sustaining itself, word arrived that de Monts' monopoly was revoked.
Before September 1607, all the colonists were en route to France and
the Habitation was left in the care of a Micmac leader. Poutrincourt
continued efforts to finance the reestablishment of the colony at
Port Royal hoping eventually to settle his family there. Despite
difficult winters, lack of support and supplies from France, and
Pourincourt's own imprisonment in France due to conflict with the
Jesuits, his men remained at Port Royal and subsisted off the land
and hunted with the Native Peoples (Micmacs). An English expedition
from Jamestown, Virginia, was sent out to destroy all French
settlement on the Atlantic seaboard. The Habitation was looted and
burned, ending Poutrincourt's hopes for the settlement. The chief
centre of the French settlement subsequently moved to the south
shore of the Annapolis Basin, where another community also known as
Port Royal was established. Port Royal continued to change hands
from France to England for the next 100 years. It was the most
fought over `real estate' in Canada, if not in North America. Renamed Annapolis Royal after its final capture by the British in 1710, the area was the heartland of the Acadian settlements.
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