Through a lease agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), along with an appointed Harbour Master, the Harbour Authority of Port Hood is responsible for the management of Murphys Pond Harbour, located along the shores of Port Hood, Nova Scotia – Canada.
History
Two brothers by the names of Dennis (1770-1836) and James Murphy (1766-1816) came to Port Hood from Wexford, Ireland in the years 1802 and 1804 respectively. They received land grants in the north end of Port Hood. A well protected pond and harbour existed within their grants and this area was given the name Murphy’s Pond.
In 1924, the channel was dredged for the first time by Lewis MacIsaac – “Angy the Shepherd” – from Inverness.
By 1949 there were ten buildings at Murphy’s Pond. They were built by digging holes in the sand, putting posts in, and then setting the buildings on those posts. The buildings were all constructed of wood. Some shanties had a peaked roof, while others had a slanted roof. A doors was in the middle of some shanties and to the side in others. The number of windows varied between one, two, or four. Windows were important since baiting was done on the buildings either by daylight, kerosene lamp of flashlight.. Some of the buildings had bunks in them to allow the fishermen to catch some sleep.
Owners of the buildings were:
- Peter Dan Murphy*
- Charlie Breen
- Hadley Watts*
- George Spears
- Richard MacDonald
- John K. Murphy*
- Ed Langley
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Rob Spears
An asterisk (*) indicates the building had a stove.
There was also a large building on the west side of the pond that was used by the government for storing things off the dredge. These buildings were all destroyed by the Storm of ’63.
The road to the pond has changed over the years. The old road used to cut across the brook that runs between Ralph MacDonald’s and Eddie Spear’s. The road running along the shore was rebuilt a few times over the years. In 1959 that Woody MacLean built a better road with trucks and fill. The old road was steep and narrow so Colin R. MacDonald Construction was hired to build the present road This road does not cut across the brook. In 1993 fill was hauled from Glencoe for the road. It was then paved.
It was in 1964 that the present plan of Murphy’s Pond began to take shape. In large part this was due to the appointment of the Hon. Allan J. MacEachern as Minister of Labour in 1963. A very comprehensive program of permanent wharves and breakwaters was begun by the Department of Public Works along the Inverness County coast.
1964 – Albert “Allan Ian” MacDonald and Shorty Campbell were contracted by the federal government to build two stone breakwaters. Electricity was wired in at this time and part of a permanent wharf of creosote, concrete and stone was constructed.
1965 – The red light on the breakwater was erected and construction of the wharf was completed.
1970s – The government financed the construction of a large building that was to be leased out to buyers (United Maritime Fishermen and later Ceilidh Co-op). The building had an ice machine.
1980 – Jimmy Smith led the project to build a bait shed beside the Buyers building.
1981 – Jimmy Pellerine led the project to construct a building for the salting and processing of fish.
1983 – An additional wharf was constructed.
1985 – A double-sided building for housing the fishermen’s gear was constructed. The government owned the building and the fishermen were charged a fee for its use.
1990 – A middle pier was added as well as a floating wharf.
1991 – A single sided building for housing gear was added.
Every year the channel is dredged to keep the channel deep enough for use.
