Port La Tour
human settlement in Municipality of the District of Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada
Port La Tour is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Barrington of Shelburne County.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada asserts that Fort Saint Louis is located at Port La Tour, although this has been disputed. It has also been claimed that the fort at Port La Tour was Fort Lomeron (also known as Fort La Tour) and that Fort St. Louis was located at the neighbouring community of Villagedale, Nova Scotia.
French Colony
Cape Sable and Eel Bay, Nova Scotia were first settled by the Acadians who migrated from Port Royal in 1620. The French governor of Acadia, Charles de la Tour, colonized Cap de Sable giving it the present name, meaning Sandy Cape. La Tour built up a strong post at Cap de Sable (present-day Port La Tour, Nova Scotia) beginning in 1623, called Fort Lomeron in honour of David Lomeron who was his agent in France. (The fur trading post called Fort Lomeron was later renamed Fort La Tour although – erroneously – identified as Fort Saint-Louis in the writings of Samuel de Champlain.) Here he carried on a sizable trade in furs with the Mi'kmaq and farmed the land.
During the Anglo-French War (1627–1629), under Charles I, by 1629 the Kirkes took Quebec City, Sir James Stewart of Killeith, Lord Ochiltree planted a colony on Cape Breton Island at Baleine, and Alexander's son, William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling established the first incarnation of "New Scotland" at Port Royal, Nova Scotia. This set of British triumphs in what had otherwise been a disastrous war was not destined to last.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Port La Tour” is human settlement in Municipality of the District of Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Port, Tour and human, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “human settlement in Municipality of the District of Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7230747. Authority coordinates are 43.497, -65.475. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1620, 1623, 1627 and 1629.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Port La Tour”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Port La Tour primary sources, Port La Tour archive and Port research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Port La Tour”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Port La Tour” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.