The Story of the Settlement of East Lake AinslieCape Breton Island, Nova ScotiaThis Community Memory traces the settlement of East Lake Ainslie from its beginning in 1820to 2003. Located in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, the settlement began on the shores and inthe hills above the lake.The settlers were Scottish Presbyterian immigrants who emigrated from the Western Islands of Scotland. They came in the hope of finding free land, a better life and the freedom to practicetheir religion and cultured as they wished.They were subsistence farmers, able to support themselves from the land. They cleared the landand pushed the forest back from the shore. They produced good crops on the virgin land. Theybuilt houses of stone and better ones of wood. They learned to withstand the weather, and wereindebted to the Native people for help in that regard. They learned to fish eels, make sugar, using the maple sapand use the tall pines for homes and fuel. They wore the moccasins, fashioned theway the Indian people made them. Many were crofters or fisher folk in Scotland so the ways ofsurviving in Canada were new to them.Sometime after 1871, the farms began to be less productive. As a result, they could not live offthe land. Large families began to break up and out migration began in the last part of the 1800's.The years went by. By the turn of the century, and the interruption of two World Wars, farmsbecame less and less viable. In the fifties, the settlement knew that they could not all supportthemselves on the farms. This period saw more out-migration, smaller farms, as land began to besubdivide among families, and an understanding of a"new reality", that of the difficult transitionof moving toward work of another nature or of moving away. .The change in land use brought new people of other cultures. Among them Americans,Germans, Dutch, Swiss, and French. Many of them are retired. They have brought with themtheir skills, their talents and their culture. Although land use has changed in a drastic way, a senseof community exists and remains strong. This community memory endeavors to trace this evolution through a virtual museum of pictures,documents, maps, and stories.The Lake Ainslie Historical Society, and Mac Donald House Museum which they own andoperate wish to showcase the community of East Lake Ainslie for nearly two centuries.Enjoy your visit!