Pictou

The Hector arrived at Pictou in September 1773 carrying about one hundred and eighty-nine Highland Scots after a crossing of eleven weeks in which eighteen died, mostly children, of smallpox and dysentery; the survivors landed in an unprepared wilderness weeks before winter. It was not the first Scottish arrival but it became the symbolic one, and the migration it began reshaped the province. A full-size replica of the ship was built at the waterfront and launched in 2000, with a museum alongside; the replica underwent a long restoration and returned to the water in 2024. Pictou is the ferry port for Prince Edward Island.

History

The name comes from the Mi'kmaq Piktuk, explosive place, and the site was a Mi'kmaq summer community before Europeans came. A few families had arrived on the Betsy six years before the Hector landed the first wave of Highland Scots on 15 September 1773, recognised as the first immigrant ship to sail directly from Scotland to what is now Canada; in 1812 Sir Hector Maclean brought almost the whole population of 500 from Glensanda and Kingairloch, and through the 19th century the railway, coal shipping and shipbuilding made Pictou an industrial port (Wikipedia, Pictou).

What's there

• The Hector replica - a full-size ship on the waterfront where she landed.
• The interpretive centre - the 1773 crossing and what followed.
• The harbour front - stone and brick buildings along the water.
• The Scottish connection - the migration this arrival is taken to have begun.

When to go

June to September for the ship and full opening; the site closes or reduces in winter. The Hector Festival brings Gaelic music and culture in August.

Things to know

The ship is a modern replica and has spent long periods under restoration and out of the water. The town is small. The site closes for much of the winter.

Nearby

Antigonish lies east; the PEI ferry runs from Caribou nearby.

Key facts